Beaujolais Sweet Peas

 Here’s an annual I sowed last fall for an early start this year.  

Street of San Francisco - Jacaranda

Jacaranda mimosifolia in full bloom along 14th Street in San Francisco.

Plant Profile: Plectranthus neochilus

This lovely aromatic Plectranthus is an easy, non-stop flowering perennial here in San Francisco.   It is not at all cold tolerate and will turn to black mush anywhere near 32 degrees F.  Most places it must be considered an annual. What makes this plant so spectacular here is it's ability to root anywhere, any time of the year.   I toss my clippings where ever I want it to root and establish and it does!   I got mine at Plectranthus neochilus at Annie's Annuals.

Here it is with Verbena and Nigella.

Spring & Summer MUG Gardens

Here's a posting showing my professional gardens (MUG) for Spring & Summer this year, 2017. Starting in March, this garden is in Glen Park with lush green growth from a phenomenal season of rain. This years additions include the blue Dutch iris, Orlaya, Magnolia and Exochorda.

Potrero Hill, San Francisco

Front garden on Arkansas around where 20th would be.

Second Year English Borders

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

Noe Valley Garden

Last week I was invite over to my friend Nader's house for dinner and drinks. I arrived late due to confusion on my part but it was perfect lighting to view the garden. Nader's garden is always impeccable and constantly evolving. It's been well over a year since I been here and the first thing I noticed was the red. Nader doesn't do red so I was shocked. Is he ok?

Border with Bold Colors

Bold, Hot or exotic. Not sure which is correct when describing the facelift we gave to this large space around the barn's decks.

Planting a White Garden on the Pacific Coast

The garden tour is this Saturday.  The Garden Conservancy is hosting it's annual garden tours.  We spruced up this garden for the tour.

Frank and I are leaving early Wednesday and will be adding these plants. I'm so thrilled that I was able to find these gorgeous silver plants from Flora Grubb Gardens:

Stachys 'Bello Grigio'

Olio Lens on Dearborn Dahlias

I got a new four lens optical gadget for my iPhone. It lets me take 10x, 15x, wide angle and fish-eye photos. Here are some close ups of what's blooming here in June (Dahlias).

Dearborn Community Garden - An Urban Vegetable Plot

I have shared this 12' x 8' plot with my friend and colleague for a couple of seasons now. We sowed a few interesting new plants from our trip to England. We mostly grow edibles but have a few purely ornamental plants we are testing for our other gardens.

Vicksburg Terraced Dry Garden

Gertrude Jekyll and her garden at Hestercombe was my inspiration for this garden design. I picked mostly Mediterranean plants and laid them out in drifts. Silver plants, seed heads, yellow & purple, I wanted lots of hot colors along with the cool lavenders and blues. 

Glen Park Perennial Flower Bed

An English style perennial flower bed evolves over five years of weekly maintenance service.

Noe Valley Terraced Garden

I have been taking care of this garden for a couple years now. I am not sure who designed it or built it.  I come here on a monthly schedule.

Angel Island

In the San Francisco Bay, Angel Island has no bridges and no private cars. This is an extremely easy, completely undemanding, overnight bike camping trip.