Friday, December 10, 2010

Asian Species .. Quarryhill Botanical Garden


Photo: Christine Walker

(Photo: San Francisco Chronicle)
Some years ago one of my San Francisco Chronicle 'Garden Walks' columns
highlighted Quarryhill Botanical Garden
The site is a horticultural paradise that is surprising to discover when touring Sonoma's Valley of the Moon in wine country. What sets Quarryhill apart is the fact that most all the plants - trees, shrubs, bulbs, roses - have been grown from wild collected seed gathered during plant expeditions undertaken by the garden's director, Bill McNamara, who travels extensively to China, Japan and the Himalayas. You can click below to read...
Writing about garden travel is especially gratifying when sharing information about a place like Quarryhill.

5 comments:

  1. How lovely, a bit of the world reproduced here for all of us to enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Alice, beautiful gardens really capturing the wild and simulating normal habitat. I have not been to temperate Asian countries like temperate China or Japan but this garden really looks like a wild one. Our tropical wilderness somehow looks the same except more green and more wild-looking. Even just our second growth forest looks abandoned wilderness, where plants exhibit 'survival of the fittest".

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lakeviewer,
    The garden does capture far corners of the world in its Sonoma habitat!

    Hi Andrea,
    Now I wish I could visit your very own 'tropical wilderness and ..second growth forest' ... which sounds wonderfully intriguing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alice:
    Oooh, just in time to provide the perfect escape from the snow that is falling and is supposed to continue to do so for the next three days. hina, Japan and the Himalaya - is there really any other haven for the rare and unusual species? I am headed over to see the other photos and to check out the link. Hope all is well with you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Barry,
    My Asian-oriented plant geek pal, all is going along swimmingly here!
    xo

    ReplyDelete