There’s plenty of beauty to enjoy this weekend in Balboa Park, at the San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society’s Winter Show and Sale!
The public is invited to check out tables full of amazing displays inside Room 101 of the Casa del Prado. There are jewel-like flowers, exotic species, and bizarre plant forms will make you look twice!
If you’d like to take a potted cactus or succulent home, there’s also a big sale in the Casa del Prado’s outdoor courtyard.
Have you seen that huge wall of colorful flowers in North Park?
I glimpsed the artwork in passing a few days ago, so this morning I got a better look!
The mural, by Hanna of @HannasMurals, was painted last year on the parking lot wall at Dave’s Flower Box. It’s hard to miss these gigantic blooms near the intersection of Texas Street and El Cajon Boulevard.
Check it out!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Last weekend I hiked down part of Manzanita Canyon in City Heights. I started at the trailhead just east of the Ocean Discovery Institute and walked along the dry creek bed to a place where the trail splits, then I climbed a short distance up Jamie’s Way trail into Azalea Park.
It was an easy walk full of nature’s beauty. Manzanita Canyon is one of many canyons sprinkled throughout San Diego. These narrow semi-wild corridors provide habitat for birds and a bit of wildlife, and when there are trails like this one, they provide refuge for the spirit.
Jamie’s Way is named after a beloved child from the Azalea Park neighborhood who perished in a car crash. If you’d like to learn more about this amazing little person, who seemed like an angel, click here.
It appears the small rocks along the trailhead at the beginning of my hike were painted by kids at the nearby Ocean Discovery Institute. I saw many sea creatures. I once was told students walk into the canyon here to explore our natural environment.
To learn more about the small park area where Jamie’s Way begins (and where my short, easy hike ended), at the 4200 block of Manzanita Drive, click here. You’ll also see a photograph of a plaque on the bench which is dedicated to Jamie. I took a photo of the plaque, but it is severely weathered beyond recognition, so I’ve chosen not to post it.
Just ahead a few steps I turned to the left and began the short climb up Jamie’s Way.
If you’d like to see an amazing mural that depicts and celebrates the canyon trails in this area, and Jamie’s Trail in particular, click here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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Some of the most beautiful gardens in San Diego County can be found in Encinitas. I visited one of those gardens this weekend.
The Meditation Gardens at Self-Realization Fellowship is a quiet retreat for those who like to walk or sit quietly in a place where the mind can find peace and the spirit, inspiration.
Pathways wind through a lush, carefully tended world. Benches in green nooks invite rest and reflection. There are exotic plants, trees and flowers, ponds filled with bright koi, and breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. Like distant poetry, surfers far below ride the curling rhythmic waves of Swami’s.
The Meditation Gardens recently reopened after a long closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Visitors to the garden, as the Self-Realization Fellowship website suggests, might discover “a greater realization of the Divine Presence that lies within.”
The amazing garden is free to the public.
Enjoy a sample of its beauty…
This is the site of the Golden Lotus Temple, built in 1937. Here thousands came to services conducted by Paramahansa Yogananda… In 1942 cliff erosion made the temple unstable and later it had to be dismantled…
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
It looks like the Garden Stewards of Balboa Park have been busy in the Alcazar Garden!
I walked through Balboa Park today and discovered rows of beautiful, newly planted flowers in several areas of the garden. As you can see in my photos, it appears the larger sections will soon be planted, too!
A couple days ago I got an email newsletter from Forever Balboa Park that talked about this project. But, alas, it appears that email got deleted. So if it mentioned what sort of flowers these are, I don’t have the information.
If you know more about flowers than me (which means practically everybody), and you recognize what these are, leave a comment with your observation!
And if you’d like to volunteer to help beautify Balboa Park, San Diego’s magnificent crown jewel, here’s the website you need to check out!
UPDATE!
Days later, I noticed more flowers planted!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Travel down Palm Avenue in Imperial Beach with perceptive eyes and you might discover My Wish For You. The long mural on an alley wall is located just west of Florida Street. It was created by Imperial Beach artist Michelle Lubin and installed in 2018.
According to a sign at the mural, My Wish For You was inspired by the love of the artist’s daughter for all things, including butterflies, ladybugs, dandelions, flowers, sticks, leaves and rocks. Do you see and love these things, too?
These simple things, so easily taken for granted, are among the infinite wonders all around us.
The beautiful mural is a project of the Imperial Beach Arts Bureau.
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The Botanical Building in Balboa Park is set to be closed next year as the historic lath structure undergoes its major restoration. So this holiday season is your last chance for a while to see the popular annual poinsettia display.
I walked through the Botanical Building today to experience the bright Christmas reds and floral beauty. I took these photographs.
If you’d like to learn more about the Botanical Building’s upcoming renovation, check out the Forever Balboa Park web page concerning the project here!
This year’s 35th Annual Poinsettia Display lasts through December 31, 2021.
As many history buffs know, poinsettias have an important connection to San Diego’s North County city of Encinitas. That’s where years ago the Paul Ecke Poinsettia Ranch was located. Paul Ecke, Sr. was almost singlehandedly responsible for making the poinsettia an important part of Christmas celebrations around the world.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
The San Diego County Orchid Society had one of their flower shows in Balboa Park today. As I walked near the Casa del Prado, I noticed the Fall Show event sign, and my feet turned toward amazing natural beauty.
I love the many different gardening, art and craft shows that are held nearly every weekend in Balboa Park. But the Orchid Society‘s shows might be my favorite.
Want to know why?
Simply look at these photos from the 2021 “Orchids in the Park” Fall Show!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
A very fun Harvest Fair and Marketplace could be enjoyed today in Balboa Park!
The San Diego Floral Association hosted this annual event–which they call Birds, Bees, Flowers and Trees–at the Casa del Prado’s outdoor courtyards.
During my walk through Balboa Park, I lingered at this autumn festival to look about and meet some cool people.
This is what I discovered…
The family friendly event provided many educational opportunities.Vendors had all sorts of unique crafts and art for sale.Representatives from the organization Senior Gleaners pose for a photo. They’ll pick your fruit and donate to local agencies that feed the hungry. Or you can volunteer and help pick fruit!Ikebana International had a table with some beautiful flower arrangements.The San Diego Audubon Society was present. We talked about local estuaries, lagoons and feral parrots in my Cortez Hill neighborhood!I learned there’s a College Area Community Garden in a canyon near San Diego State University.These cool folks in costume were representing the San Diego Costume Guild!The San Diego Beekeeping Society was showing this hive of bees. Hundreds of people around San Diego County keep bees. Many are hobbyists.If you happen to come upon an injured parrot, call these friendly ladies at SoCalParrot.org. They perform urban wild parrot rescues.The San Diego Floral Association had lots of helpful and interesting information on display.The colorful Harvest Fair included a “Flower Power” floral design competition!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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