A slave to the Goddess Flora shares his garden adventures.
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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.
The end of the Garden Bloggers' Fling in San Francisco, that is. On the final evening of the fling, there was a reception at Flora Grubb Gardens. Before we take one more fond look back at that incredible place, here's a garden within walking distance of the store that was designed by the Flora Grubb team. The garden is on a site which is popular with women of ill repute and their clientele. The plants in this garden needed to be able to withstand some horizontal activity. (Californication?) I'm thinking that the yuccas don't look too welcoming. That must be why they're labeled "control plant." (The full sign reads "Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant.")
The plant choices are wonderful. Ah, California...
Definitely a control plant!
It's not a Bismarkia nobilis but it is huge and impressive! Heavy sigh.
And there were several of them!
Our guide from Flora Grubb extolling the virtues of Grevillea ('moonlight'?)
This is a fairly young garden and it would be great to see it in a few years as the plants grow larger! One more reason to revisit this area!
By the last garden tour of the last day of the Garden Bloggers' Fling in San Francisco, we were all feeling a little overwhelmed by having seen so many incredible gardens and awesome plants. The last garden (well almost) we visited was a smallish one and we had some extra time after touring and before the bus picked us up so a few of us decided to take a stroll around the Berkley neighborhood in which we found ourselves. There were signs and wonders that seemed to be leading us to something, but what could it be?
Were these trying to tell us something or were they some sort of winter protection for the plants that someone forgot to remove?
Who wouldn't want a picture of this? I wonder if we'll see hats popping up in Rhone Street Gardens this summer?
The hat led us to these pants with a slow sign mounted above them. Do you suppose this is some new clothing marketing scheme? Are slow pants the latest fad with the kids these days? Does this fall in line with the slow food and slow flowers movement? Anyway, the slow sign was obviously alerting us to the tree covered in white blossoms in the distance, obviously our destination.
Looking like a huge broccoli floret, it drew us ever closer.
to see the gorgeous foliage and sweet flowers.
We four Pacific Northwesterners looked at each other hoping that one of us could identify the tree. Many plants in this area were familiar to us because some of them are hardy in our area and we grow numerous others in pots, coddling them through the winter. Trees, not so much.
While the blooms and foliage were great, it was the bark of the tree that seemed to fall at the slightest breeze that was especially intriguing.
The bark was spongy, cork-like and fun to play with.
Were we drunk with having taken in so many gardens, enchanted by this magic tree, excited at a new discovery or simply giddy from the heat?
Maybe it was something in the flowers
that caused this strange ritual of tree worship to occur.
For more sights from our walk, go here and to experience the fun of a garden bloggers' fling, make sure you plan to attend next summers event in Toronto as there are no open spots left for the Portland fling. For those of you going to Portlnad, you may not find yourself fondling a tree but Portland has lots of great specimens and is a delightfully weird city* so one never knows what could happen!
*Could be just the places I hang out.
The team assures us that the following will be over before fling time.
On the third and final day of the garden bloggers' fling, we visited some amazing places. We started the morning at the Ruth Bancroft Garden, a zeric paradise showcasing the result of 40 years of passionate collecting of cacti and succulents. Next came the Dudan Garden with great living spaces and awesome views enhanced by the garden which absolutely fit the space to a T. We're now on our third garden which couldn't be more different from the other two gardens if it tried. You may notice some of the same plants in these gardens which illustrates how differently each artist utilizes a similar palette. I loved all of the gardens on the fling but this one was extra special for a variety of reasons that Hoover Boo explains beautifully here.
One of the things that has resonated with me is that this was a smallish garden, only a little larger than my own but it was packed with interest. Great plants extremely well grown, wonderful garden art well displayed, and touches of whimsy. I was so excited that I started to take pictures as the bus pulled up in front of the garden. The two first shots are not the best because they're taken through the tinted glass of the bus. We weren't aware yet whether this was our destination or simply an exceptional garden on the way so I snapped away.
Do you think that folks who live here get used to the sight of these palms and don't constantly look up and worship their beauty?
The Nichols Garden has something to please both the plant-obsessed collector and the controlled designer.
Aloe polyphylla grown to perfection. I have one but it's a pile of mush.
The play of color and form in this garden is delightful!
Almost feels like an announcer should begin speaking about the undersea environment of the coral reef.
Everyone should have a palm trunk planted with tillandsias!
My recent bromeliad purchases were inspired by walking through this garden. Well, that and a 30% off sale.
Begonias are well represented in this garden as you may notice later on in the post.
A creative and beautiful way to protect one's koi from predators.
Fun mosaic work in the pavers around one of the ponds.
Two more begonias with which I fell in love.
Does anyone have an idea about the name of this begonia? Notice the large caudex on the Agepetes on the right.
Little and Lewis?
Door to the garden shed with a trompe-l'œil painting to resemble the actual gate to the right.
I'd love to have this view from my kitchen windows! Notice in the foreground the treats that Ann had waiting for us.
Looking back down the side yard slope garden/series of ponds.
Here are Ann's garden helper and Ann. Such a kind and gracious host. Thank you so much Ann and all of the gardeners who opened their private gardens to us!
Only two more San Francisco Fling entries left. I hope that you will come to the Portland Fling this summer; you'll have a fabulous time!
