The Enchanted Camellia Forest

I didn't think we had a shot of getting Iris out of the house to go to Descanso Gardens today. So I asked her if she would like to visit the enchanted camellia forest. It worked.

This winter was kinder to the camellias than last year.


The cherry trees were also in bloom.

As were the magnolias.





Interpretive dance for the horticultural set.

Like our trip last year, we stopped at downtown Montrose's Honolulu avenue for lunch first at Pho 21. (We were sorely tempted by the BBQ at Zeke's Smokehouse.) We tried a tart frozen yogurt at Yolicious yogurt and then I bought a couple of skeins of Alpaca Silk at Needle in a Haystack.

We were saddened to see that Once Upon a Time Bookstore, one of the finest children's bookstores around, had to move to much smaller quarters. Color me mine, a chain where you can paint your own ceramics, will soon open at their old location.

There was some sort of street fair in addition to the regular farmer's market. It is hard to believe that Montrose is 13 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It's picture perfect today.