Remembering the sun in Mission San Juan Capistrano.

I so wanted to take pictures of the garden this weekend, but the constant rain has made it impossible today.  I guess I'll save that for another day.  Instead I decided to share some pictures from a beautiful place we visited on our recent trip to Southern California.  Just north of where we stayed is one of the Catholic Missions called Mission San Juan Capistrano.  I remembered going there when I was really young with my family and thought it would be an interesting place to show my family.  
In California there are 21 Spanish missionaries.  San Juan Capistrano was established in 1776.  Not only was the mission full of history, but it was also full of beautiful gardens.  I don't remember the gardens from when I was a child visiting.  Knowing how I was, it was probably the gift shop that interested me the most back then. 
Included in the entrance fee is a headset that gives a guided tour to the mission.

 It was a beautiful day when we visited, so sunny and warm.  These planters of various Cacti lined the outside of the Mission.  Many of them were blooming or had buds.

 While we were paying I noticed a sign that called attention to the plantings for birds and butterflies.  As we walked into the mission this is what we were greeted with.  I can't even begin to guess how many varieties of butterflies were flying everywhere.  The only time I've ever seen that many has been inside butterfly houses in exhibits at the zoo.

 There was a beautiful large raised lily pond.  I wish I had taken a picture of the whole thing.  It was full of lily blooms.

 It was also full of very friendly large Koi.  They would come splashing up to any visitor that came close to the side.

 I think if I ever move to a warmer zone I would use the plantings here as inspiration.  Pictures can't capture the beauty of it.

 The buildings are full of history.  I love the beautiful Spanish architecture.

 On the other side of the Mission was this lush area which had many trees for shade.  Another raised pond is behind the people.

 One of the cactus gardens.

 The second lily pond.  I had to keep stopping so I could take in the beauty of this place.  Of course my kids by now were asking about where the gift shop was.

 Beautiful Water lilies which I'm guessing are a tropical variety that wouldn't grow for me.  There was also a vegetable and herb garden and an amazing grape arbor.  They are all used for educational purposes.

 This altar was brought from Spain 300 years ago.  The Serra chapel (named for Father Juniperro Serra who established the Mission) is still used.

These are the ruins from the Great Stone Church that was badly damaged during an earthquake while mass was taking place in 1812.  It is a historical landmark and one of the oldest building on the West Coast.

I did see that there are garden tours that take place here, which one day I would love to be able to go on.   For more information on the history of San Juan Capistrano go here. 

Just looking back at these pictures reminds me of how good the sun felt that day.  I think it will be a long while before we see that type of weather again. 

A walk down the path.

The path garden has had a very good summer and is probably looking the best it ever has this year.  Because there are several large trees here the ground tends to dry out quickly during the summer.  Trying to give the plants here enough supplemental water during a dry summer is pretty much impossible.  So, with the cool weather and wet spring we had everything is looking much fresher than it normally does at the beginning of September.

A look down the path shows there are still several things blooming.  The only downside to this time of year are the pine needles that have started dropping and will soon be tangled in everything.

This is the first year I ever remember the Oakleaf Hydrangea 'Snow Queen' flowers turning pink.  Most years by now they are very dry and turning brown.

The big Ponderosa Pine that will be keeping me busy for many months to come.  With every rain and or wind that comes through I will be raking and sweeping needles and pine cones.  I know that people in other places use pine needles to mulch, but after all the untangling and raking to clean them up I just want them out of my yard, so into the yard waste or compost bins they go.

I'm glad I made the effort to plant so many evergreen shrubs here that keep it interesting all year.  The shrubs along the the deck are Sarcococca which bloom with the sweetest smelling flowers late winter.

Hydrangea 'Ayesha' blooms are drying.  I'm so glad this one got a chance to bloom this year.

Even the Solomon's Seal is still green.  This time last year it was long dormant by now.

Heading back down the path you can see that the Hydrangea 'Pia' in the container loved all the rain we had.

How did I not notice these flowers earlier?  Finally the Clematis 'Comtesse de Bouchard' is blooming!  I've been looking and looking and never even saw a bud up until the day before.

And just because the lighting on the pond was so pretty I thought I'd finish the end of the walk here.

It sounds like we may get a couple of more days in the mid 70's after lots of rain.  That means I should be breaking out the rake soon to start on the pine needles.  Luckily raking them is one of Sweet Pea's favorite jobs, in fact she tells me to go back inside when she's raking.  It's funny that she loves to do that type of work outside when her room is so messy that a rake is needed to clear the mess. 

So, how's the weather?

I've realized that I talk about our weather fairly often in my blog.  I guess that's what people bring up when they are having a hard time trying to start up a conversation.  Aside from the rain today, there really isn't much happening garden related.  I tried to be creative and take pictures by standing on the porch and showing views from our front door, but realized that this is the day before garbage day and the background would be full of garbage cans and parked cars.  So that topic was out.  Then I thought I'd take some nice raindrop pictures, but the wind kept blowing as I tried to focus the camera.  The thought of taking the end of month view pictures came up, but after looking at the dying Japanese Maple I decided it was too depressing to show the tree even worse looking than last month (click here to see last month's end of month view).
One new thing I noticed was that the magnolia tree seems to have flower buds forming.  It never bloomed this spring... is it normal to bloom in the fall?  Other than that, not much is happening today.
So instead I just took pictures with no real topic behind this post other than I thought they looked pretty.

Fuchsia 'Pat's Dream'

Rose 'Lady Emma Hamilton' is finally trying to bloom.   Her last buds were all broken off by a basketball mishap.  I guess the rain will prevent anyone from playing sports in the driveway.

The unknown pink rose.

Pink Flower Carpet rose

Juicy looking pears!  I'm trying to figure out when to pick them, any suggestions?

Salvia on it's second bloom after being cut all the way back a month ago.

Black-eyed Susans

This Salvia is just now blooming for the first time this "summer".

How do you come up with topics, especially on days that there doesn't seem to be something going on but have some pictures to share?  Do you like the topic to be thought provoking or educational?  Do you talk about your weather?  I know some people may find weather topics uninteresting, but I honestly like hearing what it's doing in other parts of the world and how it affects the garden.  

So, how is your weather today?