Balboa Park Spring Colors

This time of year brings Irish Festivals and the one in Balboa Park had some good Celtic music from the group Skelpin. There was also great spring colors with trees and other plants in bloom.

Near the festival is a Lawn Bowling area and on this sunny, warm Saturday lots of people were using it. The area was bordered by flowering shrubs along with blooming trees. Centered in the background is the Balboa Tower and to its left is a little of the dome of California Building. These were built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and served as the entry to the Expo. The buildings were designed by architect Bertram Goodhue.

This view better shows the shrubs and trees.

The California Tower is 198 feet tall and its design is Spanish while the details are Mexican in style. The tower is composed of three tiers that shift from a quadrangle, octagon, and then a circle. The California Building had the Expo’s theme exhibit, an anthropological display called “The Story of Man through the Ages.” After the Expo ended the exhibit was retained and is now in the San Diego Museum of Man.

This Redbud tree was in full bloom.

Here the buds of the Redbud are showcased against the blue sky.

Another tree in bloom was the Coral Tree which grows in temperate climates. The flowers start appearing in winter and continue through much of spring. There are over 100 species of  the Coral Tree and this one is Erythina caffra or also called Erythina fusca. It has a little better frost hardiness then other varieties and is popular in southern California. The Coral Tree originated in South Africa.

The showy flowers are attractive to hummingbirds and here are two closer views

To avoid stepping on plants this picture was taken with a telephoto lense. I thought this plant has an interesting blooming flower. When I looked the plant up I found it to be two plants. The flower blooming on the tall stem is a snapdragon and the rest is a Leucadendron shrub. The Leucadendron has cone shaped bracts which are not yet in color but can be partially seen inside the leaves. The Leucadendron shrub also originated in South Africa.

A closer view of the snapdragon.

These pictures and a couple of others can be seen in the Balboa Park Spring Colors picture gallery.

The information about the Balboa  Building and Tower  came from this California Quadrangle Wiki article.