Travel & Hotspots

Marie Claire in Malibu

Oh, how I love spring. You would think that here in Malibu, where it is almost always nice weather, you wouldn't see a difference in seasons, but nothing could be further from the truth. Don't ask me how nature here feels the difference between 23 degrees in winter and 23 degrees in spring, but you can notice everywhere that it is spring. The birds are busy looking for a mate. The seals are nesting on the beach to have their young. The whale families are happily surfacing along the coastline. And the flowers and plants are in full bloom. While I joyfully enjoy the happy posts about the first rays of sunshine, terrace happiness, and blooming blossoms in the Netherlands on Facebook and Instagram, I am just as happy here with the blooming Jacaranda tree. I thought my favorite Japanese cherry was lonely at number one, but this purple tropical flowering tree comes very close. It's also special that this tree only grows here in the south of California and a few other tropical regions.

”It's also special that this tree only grows here in the south of California and a few other tropical regions”

Now I absolutely love nature, but I'm not very good at taking care of plants. The nice thing is that the garden is full of plants that we in the Netherlands could only have as rare houseplants (if you have green fingers) and bloom without having to do anything. Still, I have fulfilled a long-held wish. I have indulged myself with a Bonsai tree. I had the quiet wish to have one someday. Along the side of the road in the mountains, I bought a beautiful specimen from a friendly Japanese gentleman who stands there every day in the scorching heat with his stall. He told me that this little tree was twenty years old. I need to soak it in a bath of water for ten minutes twice a week and put it outside in the sun a lot. Then it would last a long time. His mother and he had let all the trees grow big through perfect care. A bit nervous and as if I were buying a child from him, I took over the little tree. I have read that caring for a Bonsai is very precise, and I am setting the bar very high for myself. After my diligent little plant in group five wilted in the pot after a week while I really had given it water, I haven't taken care of any plant since. I have completely dedicated myself to the care of my Bonsai tree. I am going to make it work.