Showing posts with label Botanical Gardens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Botanical Gardens. Show all posts

Monday, September 12, 2011

East Bay Birds, Butterflies, Wildlife: UCBG Faunal Guide


The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley has published a foldout guide to illustrate the wealth of birds, butterflies, and wildlife inhabiting the East Bay Hills... "bounded by Hayward and Wildcat earthquake faults... of the Pacific Coast Range."

Both trained zoologists, Garden Director, Paul Licht and Chris Carmichael, Associate Director of Collections & Horticulture, have created an informative, beautifully produced, pocket-size and plasticized pamphlet to enhance any area outing you might undertake.

The guide is available in the UCB Garden Shop...



Tuesday, August 2, 2011

A Welcome Visitor: U.C. Botanical Garden, Berkeley


University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley
Mantis created by Patrick E

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Heritage Rose Garden: Quarryhill Botanical Garden


Rosa chinensis var spontanea
A magnificent setting year-round! Quarryhill Botanical Garden
Photo courtesy, Christine Walker - Quarryhill

From the garden: Quarryhill director, Bill McNamara returned from a trip to New York City after accepting an award marking Quarryhill's induction into the Great Rosarian's Rose Garden Hall of Fame. Bill received the award at the headquarters of the Manhattan Rose Society in recognition of the outstanding dedication to the preservation of Asian species roses and cultivars.

This honor comes at the same time as the Heritage Rose Garden takes shape at Quarryhill. A new feature at Quarryhill, it will trace the lineage of hybrid tea roses back to their Chinese ancestry, and expand the scope, beauty, and accessibility of the public garden. New attention is being paid to species or wild roses that require less chemical pesticide and fertilizer use.

www.quarryhillbg.org

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.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Plant Hunting! 'Blue Heaven' .. VanDusen Botanical Garden


(Photo courtesy VanDusen Botanical Garden)
Wish I could attend this upcoming event at VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, BC.
Bill Terry will be presenting at 7:30 pm in the Garden's Floral Hall on November 11, sharing vignettes of his plant-hunting sojourn at 2700 km while traveling through Sichuan and Tibet.

Bill's tales include sightings of lovely alpine plants, including Meconopsis, the mythic blue poppy known to provoke plant lust in many a gardener. Author of 'Blue Heaven - Encounters with the Blue Poppy' (book will be available), and a grower of the genus, Bill can boast the most diverse collection of Asiatic poppies in North America. Visiting the collection is going on my bucket list!
Tickets in advance or at the door subject to availability.
If you're on FaceBook .. check out this link:

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Magnificent Succulents at Mrs. Bancroft's Garden




(Bancroft Garden Photo: Brian Kemble)
The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek is hosting a Workshop Series,
to include a Succulent Propagation workshop on Sunday, May 9th, 2010.
Visit: www.ruthbancroftgarden.org for details.

Link to an earlier post:
Remarkable Australians! Australian plants at The Ruth Bancroft Garden

Friday, April 16, 2010

Sumptuous Springtime Garden Travel!


May I suggest:

Sumptuous settings for Springtime Travel!

Sonoma County Getaway

Click on garden to read full feature on Bay Area Tendrils Garden Travel.




Sonoma Hort Display Gardens - Sebastopol, California

Van Dusen Botanical Garden .. Vancouver, British Columbia


Surface Tension: A Permanent Installation by Andy Goldsworthy
Hess Collection Winery Napa Valley, California


Jardin de l'Alchimiste - Garden of the Alchemist
Photo Courtesy of the Garden
Note: No longer open
Eygalieres, France


Ira Keller Fountain .. Portland, Oregon
Exquisite Rush of Cascading Water .. Multnomah Falls & Ira's Fountain


Cherry blossoms! 2010 Sakura Matsuri Festival takes place May 1 & 2 at:
...you'll see Trillium & slipper orchids,
peonies, shooting stars and wisteria amid the garden's glorious blooming displays.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Blue... but not Sad - Hail to the Horticulturists!


Hail to the horticulturists!
A look back at display gardens & plant nurseries ...
garden installations & public gardens ...
 featured in 2009.
Perhaps, like me, you can't get enough of the magical blue poppy.
Above Photo:  Garden Valley Ranch
Petaluma, California
Click on garden links to view the original posts.

Berry Botanic Garden  Portland : Photo: Kris Freitag  

Cornerstone Sonoma
Photos: Alice Joyce unless otherwise indicated


Sebastopol, California

Eryngium  -  Cistus Nursery
Sauvie Island, Oregon
Photos Copyright Alice Joyce
Looking back on  2009:

Words and photos (unless otherwise noted) © Alice Joyce, Bay Area Tendrils Garden Travel
The theft of content and photos on the Internet is widespread.
For now, I'll be taking steps to insert links back to my site.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Besotted in Berkeley! UC Botanical Garden


Babiana ringens - the South African baboon flower grows in the South Africa - Karoo section of the UC Botanical Garden. The Great Karoo, a region of hot, arid plains: A vast landscape where an amazing 9000 plant species appear (www.centralkaroo.ca.za/).
Photos Courtesy : University of California Botanical Garden

Arisaema sikokianum - the cobra lily grows in the Garden's Asia section, encompassing microclimates and habitats from sunny havens to shady glens. I'm besotted by the dazzling shapes and forms of these botanical treasures!
Regardless of the time of year,  a visit to the UC Botanical Garden surprises and delights.

Cornus florida urbiana ... Mexican dogwood, growing in the UCBG Mesoamerica section.

Plants from mountainous areas, as well as the cloud forests of Mexico and Central America 
appear in this area of the Garden. Gardeners in the San Francisco Bay Area incorporate many of these species into our mixed borders, from agaves and dahlias to salvias and fuchsias. Click on link for more on the University of California Botanical Garden:

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Enchanted Flora .. U.C. Botanical Garden


Enchanted Flora
University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley - Part II
Chiranthodendron pentadactylon .. Monkey Paw or Monkey's Hand Tree,
- a relative of California Fremontodendron, the flannel bush -
this evergreen tree grows in the Garden's MesoAmerica Section.
Photos Courtesy: University of California Botanical Garden

Doryanthes palmeri, the spear lily, blooming in the Garden's Australasia Section.

On a brisk Fall Day, glowing reminders of a World of Flora. Other continents ... other seasons. The Garden's Canary Island section is located above the Garden of Old Roses, at the acme of the Garden, overlooking breathtaking views of the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Here, a vigorous shrub, Salvia canariensis blooms in the foreground and also further back.

A detail of the Canary Island section, with the flowers of Aeonium lancerottense
taking center stage.
Click on link for more on UCBG:

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Autumn in the East Bay and A Preview of Spring


Dawn Redwood Glade in Winter

Obata Gate to the Japanese Pool

 University of California Botanical Garden ... A Preview
Photos Courtesy : University of California Botanical Garden

Autumn in the Asian Collection  
With its hilly topography, Strawberry Canyon is a dramatic setting for the U.C. Botanical Garden in Berkeley, 
located across the Bay Bridge to the east of San Francisco. Stretching over thirty-four acres, the grounds feature a geographical arrangement of gardens, displaying plants from around the world. Rhododendrons are well represented in the Asian gardens, along with maples and hydrangeas,  witch hazels and epimediums. Pictured above in a wintery scene, the Botanical Garden's lovely grove of Dawn redwood trees,  Metasequoia glyptostroboides, are another highlight in this collection. The unusual trees are deciduous conifers:  Having been believed to be extinct, they were discovered growing in western China  some sixty-five years ago. The trees at UCBG are among the first grown outside of China.
More to follow on the U.C. Botanical Gardens.

Friday, August 7, 2009

San Francisco Botanical Garden Vignettes


Leucodendron argenteum - Silver tree - South African Garden
Endangered in its native habitat of Cape Province
Photos © Alice Joyce
Himalayan Blue Bamboo - Entry Garden
Vignettes from a stroll through the San Francisco Botanical Garden

New Rhododendron Pavilion - stonework by Edwin Hamilton




Elegia capensis - above - Library Terrace Garden
Entry Garden plantings - below
Photos © Alice Joyce

New Zealand Garden - below - Norfolk Island Pine

Eastern Australia Garden - below - Reed Madden Design, Sculptural Wall



Photos © Alice Joyce



Oxalis deppei 'Iron Cross'
Native to Mexico, North America

Faux flower - Entry Garden

Monday, June 22, 2009

Inspiration... Behind the Scenes - Making A Garden

San Francisco Botanical Garden  Entry Border / Shade / Blue Bamboo

June 2009  -  Making A Garden ... Chapter 2

The Agony & ...the Word that Must not be Spoken

(the 'E' word having generated an inappropriate advertisement with Chapter 1)



San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum

Entry Border -  Sun

Designed by 'Planet Horticulture'


Inspiration / Behind the Scenes
While waiting for slides of my garden's early days to be converted to digital images, I offer another bit of background:







On January 13 when BayAreaTendrils was brand spankin' new, I wrote about designers Roger Raiche and David McCrory, aka Planet Horticulture. The entry borders they designed for the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum opened my eyes, providing limitless inspiration, and helping to lead the way in the creation of my garden's plant palette.

Now, for one of those secrets promised in Chapter 1. I chose a customized blue, always referred to as Moroccan blue, as the main accent color for my garden. After a few years, I decided to introduce a contrasting color; to be an earthy terra cotta. Ready to begin painting, I dashed around from store to store, to buy a ready-mixed enamel paint. But my impatience won over. Unable to find what I was looking for, I seized upon the saturated yellow that appears in my garden today.






Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' SFBG Library Garden below

More about 'Planet Horticulture' on link below:

Monday, May 25, 2009

Wildflowers - Native Flora at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden


Spring in the Native Flora Garden


Trillium vaseyi


Trillium luteum


Photos: Ulrich Lorimer
Curator, Native Flora Garden
Brooklyn Botanic Garden


Trillium luteum emerging




Uvularia sessilifolia






















Clematis viorna














Clematis ochroleua seed heads


"What of the future of rare native wildflowers? Because of the attrition of habitat, some are in a very precarious position."
Roger Tory Peterson/Margaret McKenny, from Introduction to Wildflowers - Peterson Field Guide




It's been my great pleasure to review the photographs included in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Flickr collection. And in particular, to look through the images taken by Ulrich Lorimer, Curator of the BBG's Native Flora Garden.

As mentioned in my previous post, I found the Native Flora Garden and its wildflowers entrancing. In the same way, I'm drawn to the subtle beauty of trilliums and clematis when I see them in wild places.

After taking in the woodsy tableau I've put together here, you can view the full photo set, along with portfolios of all the BBG gardens, at:


Kudos to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for their preservation of the region's native plants,
& a personal note of thanks to Uli, for sharing his beautiful photographs.