White Sapote

Casimiroa edulis
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Casimiroa
Species: C. edulis

Conejo Valley Botanic Garden has a rare fruit area showcases several kinds of sapote trees. White sapote is native to eastern Mexico, Central America, and south to Costa Rica. The fruit is averagely about the same or slightly bigger than an apple. Like avocado, you have to pick the fruit when it's green, wait for a few days until it is ripe and soft. I always tell people who;s not familiar with the fruit that it tastes custardy and creamy. It's actually similar to atemoya (a hybrid of sugarapple and cherimoya).

This is a colored pencil drawing I made in the early winter of 2014. Of course, after being my model for 3 days, this sweet and delicious sapote was eaten! The luxury of being a botanical artist is that you get to eat your models sometimes! (Of course it's not fun when I work on a poison oak illustration recently...)

Here is a closeup of the stem part:

About this artwork:
Original size: 11" x 14"
Paper: Fabriano Hot Press 140 Lb.
Colored pencils: Faber-Castell and Caran d'Ache

May The Bb Power Be With You,
Ellie

Ceanothus gloriosus

Ceanothus gloriosus J.T Howell
Family: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Ceanothus
Species: C. gloriosus

A quick sketch with ink pen and watercolor.
Ceanothus gloriosus is endemic to California. Some people call the genus California Lilac. Generally they are 0.5 to 3 meters tall and burst crazily with white or purplish blue clusters of flowers in spring.

This may be the last ceanothus blossom of this year at the native plant garden of Channel Island National Park. When spring comes, there are so many flowers to draw and to paint! But this year I'm very distracted and couldn't spend too much time to study the ceanothus bushes in the CINP garden. I will have to wait for another 11 months to see the striking blue blooming again.

The most interesting part of the this ceanothus is the color of the flower. It's a purplish blue and kind of tricky to capture it right.

May The Bb Power Be With You,
Ellie

Beach Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis)

Fragaria chiloensis
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Fragaria
Species: F. chiloensis

You may see them labeled as "Pacific Beach Strawberry". This is not a native plant to the U.S, but is a common ground cover in coastal areas. I bought a 5" pot beach strawberry at Santa Barbara Botanical Garden last October. It started to bear berries in mid-March. The tiny berries are about 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) in diameter and are covered with achenes. The flavor is a bit tangy and very different from commercial strawberries. I really look forward to seeing it taking over the bare patch of my backyard!
The sketch is done with ink pen and watercolor.

May The Bb Power Be With You,
Ellie