Desert Travel

Joshua Tree Journey

Joshua Tree Silhouettes Photo © Alice Joyce

Joshua Tree National Park: The parkland spans diverse ecosystems; taking in a section of the Colorado Desert – part of the vast Sonoran Desert, the Mojave, and an area of the Little San Bernardino Mountain range. The flora encompasses Palo verde (Cercidium) and pencil cholla (Cylindropuntia), smoketree, ocotillo (Fouqueria), and chuparosa (Justicia). It’s the north part of the park that is, in fact, the southern boundary of the Mojave Desert: the special habitat where you’ll see the Joshua tree – Yucca brevifolia.

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Desert Travel

Majestic Vistas .. Anza-Borrego Interlude

Anza-Borrego: Font's Point Photo © Alice Joyce

One of the most compelling aspects to emerge when exploring Anza-Borrego is the striking contrast between the State Park’s sweeping vistas and the diminutive flora and fauna of the desert floor and rugged overlooks. I must confess: I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon. Any expectations I’d formed about Font’s Point were greatly exceeded, as I found myself swept away by the magnificence of the breathtaking canyonland that is one aspect of the vast topography of Anza-Borrego.

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Historic Gardens

Greystone Park and Formal Gardens

Greystone Mansion Gardens- Beverly Hills (Photo: Alice Joyce)

The City of Beverly Hills maintains the inviting landscape of Greystone Park and Mansion. Oil baron Edward Lawrence Doheny’s son, ‘Ned’ had Greystone built as his family residence in the late 1920s, calling upon a celebrated Southern California architect, Gordon B.Kaumann, to design the mansion. as a Southern California public park, Greystone is unique: A must-see destination. You’ll encounter restored terraces and extravagant sweeping lawns, myriad water features erected as focal points and the property’s meticulously maintained stonework; exhibiting the extensive use of pale Indiana limestone to set apart the mansion itself and the landscape architecture. The formal gardens are enhanced by handsome slate walkways, echoing the Welsh slate used for the mansion’s roof.

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3 comments - (Comments are closed)   Historic Gardens, Landscape Architecture, Los Angeles, Southern California   , , ,  
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