France Canal Cruise ~ Saltworks of Aigues-Mortes

What a pleasure it is to experience the South of France while cruising the canals on a barge tour.

 A high point of the journey through the Camargue region is a visit to the saltworks located in the village of Aigues-Mortes. As you can see in the second photo, the colors of the salt marsh are beguiling shades of rose and pale pink!

Brilliant Blues .. Voluptuous Summer Perennial Plants

Trachelium caeruleum was a voluptuous, prize perennial in my garden.

Perhaps a tender perennial or an annual in yours?

I so look forward to summer's panoply of blooms. Trachelium, aka Blue throatwort flowerheads are abundant and incredibly billowy; reaching 5 feet tall with a branching habit.

The second brilliant show of the season.

Trachelium partners with Crocosmia 'Solfatare' .. established in two separate areas now.

The hue of C. 'Solfatare' is quite different than in earlier photos. Year to year and throughout the day, the light in the garden shifts from the cool, early morning to clear, sunny skies by mid-day. The garden itself goes through an artistic metamorphosis.

Content and Photos © Alice Joyce

Another stunner from Proven Winners: Hibiscus 'Blue Chiffon' .. the bloom is reason enough to invite friends over to sip a glass of chilled herbal tea while the plant preens.

Two 'Blue Chiffon' plants were sent to to trial in 2009, and although they were quite small, both bloomed the first year. I swooned!

Flower color goes through interesting changes on cooler days to hot spells, and from when the flower opens to when it fades.

I've had to transplant both specimens, as the sun pattern has changed with the growth of my neighbor's huge Deodar cedar tree, spreading ever wider and higher over my plantings.

Still...there's nothing quite like the sight of blue in the garden during overcast early morning hours or in the softest light bathing the space at dusk.

These are the best times to photograph the summer's most beguiling blooms.

Hibiscus Sugar Tip .. One Sweet Shrub!

I've always been dotty about variegated foliage. Combine splashed leaves with a flower that's so alluring and it's difficult to imagine one lovelier. I'm over the moon about this stand-out shrub in Alice's Garden.

Hibiscus 'Sugar Tip' offers a delicate white tracery on its leaves, while the petite blooms with their colorful centers are sweet additions to flower arrangements. The double frilly flowers are subtle, about 1 and 1/2 inches wide with an eye-catching vermillion center.

 It's won me over completely.

And I'm not known for selecting pale pink flowers.

This ProvenWinners Color Choice Shrub arrived as a trial plant, and remained a beloved summer bloomer in my California garden.

Revisiting the Blue Poppy

Among the most magical of plants,

the Himalayan Blue Poppy (Meconopsis) is quite the mythic character within our community of avid gardeners.

At one time it could be found growing to perfection in the Pacific Northwest

at the Berry Botanic Garden, which sadly now, has shuttered its gates.

It was in this setting of rare flora that I first came upon a vigorous stand of blue poppies
intermingled with blooms of pink, peach, and red!

An unforgettable sight.

Be that as it may, I'm currently enjoying a very wet San Francisco Bay Area winter,
where Napa & Sonoma Wine Country always beckons.
Especially when the sun decides to peep through the clouds.

Paris in the Fall ...

These delectable cheeses featured in a picnic lunch last Fall, while traveling through the South of France: 

purchased at a market in the delightful town of Uzès, in this instance.

But the fact is, I'm mired in the technical so-called 'back-end' of the blog today.

While I would love to do nothing more than reflect on the magnificent sights, sounds and flavors experienced in Paris & Provence last September ... Case in point, this terrific potager in the charming wine village of Tavel,

I'm engaged instead in a frustrating battle with an advertisement that I have been unable to remove from my posts here.

I would much prefer to recall the jaw-dropping beauty of Gordes, 

and the wonderful Sunday in Paris, when I strolled along the elevated gardens of the 'Promenade Plantee' - where a staircase right outside the door of my Air B&B allowed access.

C'est la vie!

Magnolias .. Spring in the Bay Area

Magnolia sighting while strolling a lovely side street north of the Golden Gate Bridge:                                                                                 

A sure sign of Springtime in the San Francisco Bay Area!

Point Lobos Vista

A day of hiking in California ... Point Lobos State Nature Reserve

Life is good.

"Walk Gently, Breathe Deeply, Reflect"

Adieu, My Sweet California Garden

Greetings my friends, 

today marks the 4th Year Anniversary of Bay Area Tendrils ...

It's a celebratory day, yet one that is bittersweet as I'm preparing to say farewell to my garden.

Perhaps the dearth of posts has hinted at a major life change on the horizon. 

And so, for the second time I am parting from a garden I've nurtured from the ground up, having worked for nearly 15 years to create a sanctuary space from scratch in Northern California. The Bay Area Tendrils archives tell the tale of my move from Chicago, where I left behind a beloved small-space town garden.

The Midwestern winters had taken their toll after decades of shoveling snow, together with the endless challenges of icy winters and a flat-roof building. The temperate climate of California held the promise of a kinder environment: Year-round gardening with a breathtaking palette of plant material.

In the past I've posted photos to illustrate the transition: The process of designing an outdoor room for relaxation, to share meals, and bask in the company of birds, bees and butterflies. But first, I would spend the better part of two years extricating brambles and shoveling out loads of rubble in preparation for planting. Digging deep, then mounding up a series of beds and borders filled with compost and fresh soil amendment. All toted back and forth, bag-by-bag in my Honda hatchback, along with pavers and plants to transform the blank slate into my own lush botanical wonderland. 

When I leave here I'll take a small selection of container plants: 

 Indispensable herbs like rosemary and lavender;

Cupheas to invite hummingbirds to my new balcony; 

Succulent beauties like Aeonium 'Schwarzkopf' & 'Sunburst.'

"The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied.  The more one gardens, the more one learns; And the more one learns, the more one realizes how little one knows."   ~  Vita Sackville-West

Rancho La Puerta ~ La Cocina Que Canta

The rainy season has arrived in Northern California, a long-awaited drenching for garden beds and borders.

La Cocina Que Canta Cooking School

I rarely have time to post these days. Life seems to be getting in the way.

As Fall moves toward the Winter season, I sit with a cup of tea and dream about my visit a few years ago to Rancho La Puerta. The inspiring landscape of Tecate, Mexico remains in my mind's eye, along with a high point of my week long-stay at the spa: a cooking class at The Kitchen That Sings! ... La Cocina Que Canta. 

With the sound of falling rain outside my office window, I'm imagining the scent of something wonderful baking in the oven. A savory tart for dinner? Or, I might just step out into the garden to pick Lemon Verbena leaves before the first frost of the season. If I turn the oven on very low, the leaves can be quickly dried for tea to enjoy in the months ahead. The wonderful aroma of the drying herb will fill the house!

Garden Glory in Italy and Alice's Garden

Vignettes from my forays in Venice & the Veneto...

 Villa Barbaro Nymphaeum: a glassy pool and the sculptural extravagance of the architecture could only be glimpsed through the villa's expansive windows   ~ Maser, the Veneto.

A mosaic design accents the richly adorned paved paths ~ André Heller Botanic Garden

Gardone, Lago di Garda

Austere hedging and meticulous pebble pathways surround a private villa garden in Bardolino, Italy   ~  Lago di Garda

... while here, in Alice's Garden the Red Cestrum ~ Cestrum newellii is a top performer. 

Blooming nearly year-long, it's a shrubby specimen that invites hummingbirds, bees and butterflies to the waxy red flower clusters!

  

Visions of Venice

Decorative metalwork .. Peggy Guggenheim Museum gateway.

When in Venice .. If  you find yourself yearning to leave the crowds behind, continue strolling along the canal, away from the tourists that gather round St. Mark's ...

... and eventually you'll come to the expansive public parklands - the Giardini at the eastern edge of the city. This green space was quiet during my June sojourn, but I believe the Architecture Biennale is taking place there this Fall.

A favorite meal ~ Misto alla Griglia

Nothing is more exciting for a lover of fine food than happening upon an inviting cafe, especially when the skies have opened to rain down on me.  The small bar/restaurant where I enjoyed this meal was very much off-the-beaten path, a spot I wouldn't have found had I not been searching for a 'secret garden' my B&B host told me about.

Though the garden was locked when I finally located it, the cafe provided a cozy table where we sipped a lovely white wine from the Veneto region, accompanied by the freshly prepared meal of roasted vegetables ~ a highlight of my day.

After leaving Venice to tour Lago di Garda for a week or so, we had returned to Venice to stay in a hotel in the Castello sestiere. [Our initial stay had been at a B&B in the Cannaregio.]

A yearning to get to know a city more intimately always motivates my journeys. As in choosing to walk away from Venice's popular tourist attractions in an attempt to discover the city of the modern-day Venetian. 

Venice is not a city to dash into and out of, in my opinion. It is no longer the city I visited years ago, but it remains a unique destination. A glistening city at twilight; entrancing if you allow a languid approach to exploring its rare wonders. 

Veneto Vista - Italian Gardens

One of the hauntingly romantic landscapes visited during my sojourn in Italy's Veneto region:

Villa Arvedi allowed me to experience the hospitality of a contemporary setting that remains true to 

the sophistication and elegance of another era.

To read more, visit AlicesGardenTravelBuzz.com

Brilliant! San Francisco Tiled Steps

Have you noticed the dearth of posts recently?

Yesterday I spent the entire day working in the garden. It's the time of year when I like to revamp the design; editing plants, cutting back, deadheading, and other such tasks.

Friday I took a day off, going into San Francisco on a cool, foggy summer day - typical weather.

The aim: to hike up the beautifully worked 'Tiled Steps' - a project completed at 16th Avenue & Moraga, Inner Sunset neighborhood. Followed by a tasty lunch at The Liberty Cafe in Bernal Heights. 

www.tiledsteps.org

Check it out!

Dreaming of Italy .. Lago di Garda

All the months of planning that go into travel abroad...

and all too soon the trip is over. 

Thankfully, the memories remain vivid in my mind's eye. At times, a flashback will trigger the excitement of a beautiful vista, as when I first glimpsed the magnificent Dolomites towering above Riva del Garda. Or I'll be going about my usual activities, and suddenly the day comes alive with the sensory recollections of a rainy summer day exploring Lake Garda.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection ... a revelation!

Art lovers swoon over the masterpieces housed in the stunning white palace on Venice's Grand Canal. I found it difficult to pull myself away from this fascinating museum, a setting that resonates with the imagined voices of the artists and literary figures who visited Peggy's famous gatherings.

Reviewing my photos, I'll find a simple vignette brings to mind a treasured experience. Like when I gazed upon a patch of colorful poppies while trekking through the Roman Ruins in the town of Sirmione: One of Lake Garda's most picturesque towns, located on a peninsula that juts into the southern end of the lake.

Just strolling the streets of Bardolino was a joy, taking in the sights and aromas of the lively, bustling community. Bardolino served to anchor our time on Lago di Garda, a perfect base to take ferries that criss-cross the lake, or comfortable bus rides, following the coastline from one fascinating village to another.

Garden Travel .. Venice, Italy

My travels in Italy continue ... 

You're invited to visit & ... 'Like'

http://www.facebook.com/alicesgardentravelbuzz

To discover beautiful Italian garden destinations visit:

https://www.alicesgardentravelbuzz.com/

Gardone, Italy - André Heller Botanic Garden

An entrancing surprise during my sojourn in Northern Italy:

After an early-morning ferry across Lake Garda from my hotel in Bardolino, on the eastern side, I set my sights on the lovely town of Gardone Riviera. 

Strolling up the hill from the waterfront, I dodged raindrops in anticipation of my

visit to the André Heller Botanic Garden.

The Keith Haring sculpture is one of the iconic installations among countless artworks in the garden,

set amidst lavish plantings & paths enlivened by ebullient water features.

* Visit Alice's Garden Travel Buzz to read more. *

The magnificent Dolomites loom above the town of Riva del Garda,

located at the northern edge of the Lake Garda.

Turning Towards Torcello

One of the great surprises of my Italian sojourn:

Historic Torcello, barely populated, yet at one time, the beating heart of the Veneto.

Some 20 people now occupy this island in the Venetian lagoon where 10,000 or more once thrived. 

Wild meadows and fenced areas under cultivation caught my eye,

along with Ristorante Villa 600, where we stopped to sip an afternoon 'Spritz' in the peaceful gardens.

Ponte del diavolo / Photo: Wikipedia

The ancient bridge found on Torcello is a popular place for tourist shutterbugs to pose.

The only other bridge of its kind in the region is Ponte Chiodo,

leading directly to the door of the Ponte Chiodo Guest House, where I was welcomed upon arrival in Venice.

Buddleia Bliss! Miss Ruby Is A Stunner

Alice's Garden is a rather petite plot. 

Thankfully, I can expand upon the plants I insist upon cultivating by taking advantage of T's community garden.

At times, when a shipment of plants arrives to trial from Proven Winners - Color Choice shrubs, I'll choose to 'install' certain choice cultivars at T's veggie allotment - aka: our community garden plot, located about one mile from our house.

The community gardens are laid out in our town's parkland, where Buddleia 'Miss Ruby' has had plenty of room to flourish. Indeed, she stops folks in their tracks as they're strolling past.

While T. might be weeding or tending to the veggies, and cutting flowers he harvests for bouquets, he'll often hear someone call over the fence by the path, "What is that... a butterfly bush?"  Followed by, "it doesn't look like my buddleia!"

My 'Miss Ruby' butterfly bush is currently covered in long-stemmed blooms that beg to be admired. 

We do our part, dutifully oohing and aahing over the fragrant, deep toned ruby spires that I can't get enough of.

Paradise in Mill Valley: Don Worth Garden

The Garden Conservancy 'Open Days' Program in June of 2012

featured a Marin County garden created by Don Worth.

This magical Mill Valley paradise created by artist/photographer Don Worth was one of the gardens opening to the public, allowing for a rare opportunity to visit a unique West Coast landscape.

 I wrote an in-depth feature on the garden at: 

 Alice's Garden Travel Buzz:  Drop by to see a photo portfolio of the garden and learn more about Worth's exceptional vision.

Queen of the Bog Garden .. Lovely Lobelia

Magnificent dark-leaved Lobelia 'Queen Victoria' ...

photographed at Portland's South Waterfront Park.

Without a doubt, Portland is one of my favorite U.S. destinations for summertime garden splendor!