This is a guest post by my talented friend and colleague Liz Ikiriko:

An unexpected surprise of visiting Southern California, and actually of most of my travels, is discovering the plant life. It’s incredible to see how much vegetation transforms and frames our understanding of a space. Los Angeles, and much of Southern California is rugged, arid and painfully in the midst of a devastating drought. It’s evident when you see the dried up concrete water basins that cut through the city. But the palm trees, agave, cactus and aloe are surviving. They are the bastions of a hardy, vibrant, exaggerated and alien-like city.

This is Part II of Liz Ikiriko's sunny adventure, for more (including her visit to The Getty, Dessert Springs & The Coachella Valley) see her previous guest post: The SoCal Escape.

ps. Check out this giant century plant!