Having failed to see the Amorphophallus (Corpse plant) in full bloom, we wandered the botanical gardens in search of some other really exotic, photogenic plant. On the far side of the gardens, these strange cardboard signs appear with arrows on them pointing towards something called the Sapphire Tower. Now, being a bit of a Sci Fi fan, I immediately think of something fictional, perhaps a huge blue tower jutting into space. Whoa, but then we are in the botantical gardens, are we not? Perhaps a big, ugly blue piece of art scarring the natural beauty of the gardens? Of course, there is only one way to find out, follow the signs.
We weave through the floral plantings and blooming trees and see that suddenly the signs are pointing the other way. Obviously, we've gone too far. So, being a fan of binary search, we turn back and halfway between the last two signs is a blue flowered bromeliad with the most stunningly deep blue flowers I've ever seen on a natural plant. Had I seen them in a bucket, I'd swear someone had pulled a quickie on me and thrown some die in the bucket. However, these were still on the plant. No label. Just all these crazy cardboard signs pointing to the Sapphire Tower.
I snapped my dozen or so pictures, being absolutely enamored by the color and then come home to look up Sapphire Tower on the Web. I halfway expected to find nothing at all but irrelevant dribble but sure enough, there they were, Puya alpestris, a bromeliad from the Mountains of Chile. They are cold tolerant down to 20F, drought tolerant and a bit prickly. Perfect for Southern California. I note to myself that I should keep an eye out for them at the nursery. Overall, a fine adventure for a Sunday afternoon and another successful identification chalked up to the web.
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