Where succulents go to university: Pitzer College (2 of 2)
This post continues my visit to Pitzer College in Claremont, CA on New Year’s Day. Click here to go back to part 1.
Here is a handy map to help you get your bearings. We’re still at Mead Hall (#11 on the map). It may be one of the older buildings on campus, but its graffiti walls are a highly photogenic backdrop for the succulent plantings.
Sedum nussbaumerianum
Agave attenuata ‘Boutin Blue’
Agave attenuata ‘Boutin Blue’
Euphorbia trio
Monstrose Peruvian apple cactus (Cereus repandus)
Agave guiengola
Atherton Hall
Quiver tree (Aloidendron dichotomum) and Mexican fence post cactus (Pachycereus marginatus)
Aloidendron dichotomum in front of the Admissions Office
Now I’m at McConnell Center (#9 on the map). It fronts 9th Street, one of the streets bordering the Pitzer College campus.
Aloe dorotheae
Agave titanota
Tree grape (Cyphostemma juttae)
The lot where my car was parked (illegally, I’m sure) is just beyond.
Aloe vanbalenii and Senecio serpens
Agave tequilana ‘Sunrise’
Agave parryi var. truncata
Since I visited on New Year’s Day, the campus was deserted. But on a regular day, visitors need to park in the East Mesa lot at the corner of Claremont Blvd and 9th St (#15 on the map). This lot is pretty much the first thing you see as you enter the Claremont Colleges from Claremont Blvd. The Pitzer College website has more information for visitors.
If you aren’t pressed for time like I was, you should check out Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens, the largest botanical garden dedicated to California natives. It’s literally 10 minutes from Pitzer College. I wasn’t able to visit because I was running out of daylight, but it’s on my list for my next trip to Southern California.
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The cacti and succulents look surprisingly good backed by the graffiti-styled walls. I bet it did get plenty hot there earlier this week but I suspect their garden fared better than mine did in the heat.
ReplyDeleteIf Kelly Griffin hadn't done that video showing how Agave guiengola is such a great specimen, I'd never have believed they ever stop pupping. Your photo is more proof. I love seeing more photos of this great place. That Boutin's Blue is killnig me. I have a beat up one in a pot around here somewhere.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely stunningly beautiful; plants, setting, placement. Much appreciation for the photos.
ReplyDeleteSigh. So breathtakingly beautiful.
ReplyDeleteA far cry from Claremont in the 70's when my friends and I visited there from our base of operations at Univ of Redlands . I hope this stretch of the I10 corridor has solved the hideous smog issues they had back then- December and Jan were the only tolerable months, and barely so. This is so beautiful, I wonder who is responsible for the design ?
ReplyDelete