Bulbs for Spring 2017

Here's some of the bulbs and tubers I ordered for next year.   If you like iries, your must check out Schreiner's Iris Gardens.

San Francisco Botanical Garden

A perfect sunny September day in the California garden at the San Francisco Botanical Garden.  This beautiful dry garden is in fall glory.  

Summer dormant Aesculus californica

Devil's Mountain Nursery

Here's some nice plants I saw while shopping at Devil's Mountain Nursery in San Ramon.  It's only open to the trade.

Aster ericoides 'Monte Cassino'

Pennisetum setaceum

Dutch & English Garden Tour with Mike & Frank - Summer 2016

 2016 trip with Dino, Frank and Jeannine. 

Click on the Garden Title to show more photos:

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - London, England - July 31, 2016

The Garden House - England

 Visited on August 24, 2016 -  For the overview of this tour, click here ==>>

Recently I was reading the tour itinerary led by a garden writer and she included The Garden House on her tour.  It got me thinking,  I recall this garden was clever and I really liked a couple of the gardens and their line of sharp A framed hedges.  So I wanted to review and update this old post from 2016.

I found this slope of interlocking ovals a thoughtful way to make a sloping lot more interesting.  The fact that the dimensions of this garden is almost exactly that of the typical San Francisco garden.  We have lots of typography too. 

Montisfont - England

 

Scouting French & English Gardens

 Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte - France

Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte - France

Nymans

 

Pan Global Plants - Nursery

 

Special Plants Nursery & Garden

 

Powis Castle and Gardens - Wales

 

Allt-y-Bela - Wales

Arne Maynard’s garden in Wales. 

Biddulph Grange Garden

 

Trentham Gardens

 

Chatsworth House and Gardens - England

 

Haddon Hall and Gardens - England

 

Broughton Grange Gardens

Kiftsgate Court Gardens - England

Upton House and Gardens

Stowe House Gardens - England

Rousham House and Gardens

RHS Hyde Hall - England

 

Beth Chatto's Garden - England

 

Rotterdam Park - Netherlands, Aug 7

Paleis Het Loo - Netherlands, Aug 7

The Priona Garden - Nethersland, Aug 6th

Tuinen Mien Ruys - Netherlands

Piet Oudolf’s Garden - Hummelo, Netherlands

De Hessenhof Nursery - Netherlands

Hever Castle - England

Pashley Manor Garden

Great Dixter

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

Second day we drove to Sissinghurst Castle, home of Vita Sackville-West.   The day was completely overcast and intermittent showers.   Great light for taking photographs.

Gravetye Manor - England

Borde Hill Garden - England

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London

Summer Snapshots

Here's some snapshots from July 2016.

Marina's English Border in June Glory

A typical back yard of a San Francisco residence is rectangular about 25 feet wide by 50 so feet deep. This turned out to be an interesting project. One I enjoyed and pleased the client.

June Snapshots

Snapshots of my gardens in June 2016.


Glen Park

May Snapshots

Snapshots of my San Francisco gardens in May 2016.

Oylara in custom built containers for roof deck.

Gabrielle Cameron Alamo Heights Garden

Gabrielle's Garden, 11am-1125am:

This Alamo Square treasure is a contemporary vertical garden created by Gabrielle Cameron in back of a classic SF Victorian. The garden consists of a large collection of epiphytes and bromeliads. Visually decadent while providing a sanctuary for the owners in the heart of the city. "Quiet, handsome and exotic."

Dino's Garden and Hell Strip

Dino's Garden, 1140am-1210am:

When we asked Dean Oullette how he would describe his garden he replied, "A Bay Area version of California Cottage; toss Sunset Magazine and go hiking in the country. This garden is an ongoing experiment in how to artfully nourish a sense of wonder while integrating multiple uses in a small space."

Ted Kipping's Collection Garden

Garden 3, 1230pm-1pm: 257 Joost Ave

Ted Kipping's collection of some of the most fabulous and unusual plants. The garden started it's life as a simple city lot, how it has been transformed will blow your mind. He describes his garden as a "rocky outcrop in a cloud forest."

Marcia's Bernal Heights Garden

Mike's Garden, 120am-150pm:

I created and maintain this garden, a quintessential Bernal Heights cottage garden with mixed borders including historic zen botanicals used for alter displays along with big dose of English garden inspiration: roses, viburnums, clematis, plums, weigelias,...."

Nader's Garden Noe Valley

Nader's Garden, 210-3pm:

The elegant and masculine city garden of Nader Meykedah. A personal garden designed equally for living and enjoying from the deck. The living structural elements frame an abundance of greens and flowers. The garden is shared by Nader's adorable dogs, Paris and Coco.

April Snapshots

Here's some of the things blooming in May 2016.

Kitchen Deck Revival

A rainy day is a great time to write a new post.  Over the last three months I have been working on three new projects.  The first is a revival of a container deck planting I installed over 10 years ago. Here I replaced the aging containers and tired plants surrounding this kitchen garden.   The small 24" fiberclay containers were crumbling.  I designed a 30" box made of galvanized steel and locally fabricated by NuStar on Otis.

10 Grey Plants for San Francisco Herbaceous Borders

How can I bring supportive light into my borders, containers and vignettes? Bright white, silver and grey foliage will support any color scheme by reflexing the ambient color of your vignette back to your eye. So what are some good plants for San Francisco?

1) Centaurea gymnocarpa 'Velvet Centaurea' - shrub, with Ricinus communis 'New Zealand Purple'
2) Ballota pseudodictamnus (False Dittany)
3) Onopordum acanthium - Need a character, a real prima donna. Likes to reseed.
4) Stachys byzantina - ground cove
5) Verbascum bombyciferum 'Arctic Summer' - specimen reseeder
6) Artemisia - shrub
7) Dudleya - Succulent for rock wall
8) Cerastium tomentosum - ground cove
9) Dymondia margaretae - tight low ground cover
10) Lychnis white flowered variety- annual (Playing a true supporting role to the Wisteria, Rosa and Iris. Mid-lower right.)

Norfolk, England - Xmas & NYE

My Holiday in England, December 2015.  Being in the spirit of vacation, I kept a safe distance from my phone.   Here are the few highlights from London & Norfolk.  

 Saint Pancras Hotel clock tower with international train station.  And Kings Cross train station across the street.  Two glorious train stations, I'm in heaven.