Press Releases
San Clemente, CA – Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, a nonprofit organization, welcomes guests to visit the cultural center’s historic home and water-wise gardens this winter. Elsewhere, winter is when gardens go into hibernation. Casa Romantica is one of the few botanical gardens that thrive in the winter with drought-tolerant plants that bloom all season long.
These plants, originally from the tropics but well-suited to Southern California’s temperate Mediterranean climate, are characterized as having warm, rich colors, deep green shrubbery to attract pollinators, and heavenly scents. Winter is when red aloe arborescens, yellow ‘popcorn’ cassia, and the golden rain plant burst into bloom, along with many other plants that thrive in coastal Southern California’s mild winter climate. When summer-blooming perennials disappear, these hardy plants fill gaps in between other plants and bloom productively.
Some of the plants visitors can expect to see are:
Aloe Arborescens
Red aloe arborescens is a blooming aloe plant that bloom cylindrical flowers that grow 6-10 feet tall. It is valued by gardeners for its succulent green leaves, large vibrantly-colored flowers, winter blooming, and attraction for birds, bees, and butterflies. You can find them at Casa Romantica in our Story Circle.
‘Popcorn’ Cassia
Yellow ‘popcorn’ cassia is a hairy, aromatic shrub usually growing up to about 15 feet tall. Popcorn Cassia originally hails from tropical parts of central and eastern Africa. It gets its name from its smell: the flowers, when rubbed gently, emit the scent of buttered popcorn. The flowers are like their namesake in more ways than one, because the bright yellow blooms mimic both the shape and color similarity of movie theater popcorn! You can find them in our Spanky Chang children’s garden.
Golden Rain Plant
The Golden Rain plant is native to the Indian subcontinent, although it is cultivated all over the world, and is the national flower of Thailand. Although it traditionally blooms in spring, Southern California’s climate coaxes the plant (which can be cultivated both as a bush and as a tree) to achieve prolific blooms beginning in early November. Casa Romantica has large Golden Rain plants located just beyond the entrance to the Woodland Garden.
In addition to over a dozen main gardens and nearly two dozen smaller gardens, Casa Romantica’s historic home and galleries are open to the public daily for self-guided tours, with activities and events for children and adults happening onsite weekly. As a premier Southern California cultural center, Casa Romantica also has ticketed concerts, theater and performances, lectures, and films each month with artists from all over the country. Plan your visit: Go.CasaRomantica.org/Visit
