Brooklyn Botanic Garden - A Springtime Stroll

A springtime stroll .... the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Slipper orchids and shooting stars were among the beguiling wildflowers that had emerged in the garden, which opened for the season on April 1st. 

My early-May sojourn to New York City coincided with the finale of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's exquisite displays of flowering cherries: a highlight of the garden during April in the Cherry Esplanade, Japanese Garden, and Daffodil Hill area. Around and about, cherries were still blooming as I rambled through the gardens with Scot Medbury, the President (and former director of the San Francisco Botanical Garden/Conservatory of Flowers).

Photos © Alice Joyce

The fallen petals floating on the pond were as captivating to my eye as the bounteous, blowsy blossoms themselves. Then too, there with fragrant lilacs, exuberant azaleas, and peonies to enjoy. A wisteria-draped pergola signaled the coming to life of the Cranford Rose Garden.

Spring seems to demonstrate a special kind of magic in the green haven of a woodland, and I found it difficult to tear myself away from the confines of the BBG's 2-acre Native Flora Garden, a section dating to 1911. (Visit the web site for background and history on this garden, and all other plant collections at:  www.bbg.org )

In an upcoming post, the garden will be explored in more depth, when I feature the photographs of Uli Lorimer, curator of the BBG's Native Flora Garden.

A Riot of Rhodies - Sonoma County Getaway

Sonoma Horticultural Nursery

It was a glorious day for a getaway! Driving west to the Coast, we aimed for Bodega Bay, site of Hitchcock's, The Birds. 

The route took us along the back roads, through Sebastopol, for a stopover at Sonoma Horticultural Nursery: A Northern California destination for plant geeks and garden aficionados. 

Sonoma Hort features 1-1/2 miles of pathways winding through moist woodland gardens. The magic touch of proprietor Polo de Lorenzo emerges throughout the nursery's leafy surroundings; an environment befitting the nursery's emphasis on rhododendrons and azaleas. 

Once, during a visit in early May, I witnessed the heart-stopping performance of a legendary dove tree (Davidia involucrata), its white bracts likened to fluttering handkerchiefs. In a circular driveway, one particularly enchanting dove tree has been designated a Sonoma County treasure--Heritage Tree #20. When blooming in May, Empress trees (Paulownia tomentosa) are another revelation!

The densely planted 8-acre property encompasses a pond & Blutcher Creek - a preserve for countless water-loving specimens, which add to Sonoma Hort's beguiling vignettes and picturesque vegetation. A lavish exhibition at this time of year - replete with the riotous colors of rhodies and azaleas - also takes in the strapping foliage of primitive-appearing Gunnera chilensis, accompanied by swathes of pretty primulas. Clematis cultivars are beginning to bloom, and soon, towering foxgloves will emerge along with masses of flamboyant clematis blooms decorating vertical posts and pillars placed along the paths. 

The nursery sells species, and choice cultivated varieties of rhododendrons and azaleas, along with exceptional selections of trees, shrubs, vines and shade-loving perennials. Scheduling a springtime stroll is a must for local gardeners & anyone touring Sonoma Wine Country.  As it's open year-round, Sonoma Hort is always a lovely spot for a getaway.... and plant shopping!

Rare Plants, San Francisco Botanical Garden, Deppea splendens

Photo San Francisco Botanical Garden Society

A Preview

Rare Plants - San Francisco Botanical Garden Plant Sale

at Strybing Arboretum

Visit the web site to see a schedule of Annual Plant Sales, with rare and unusual plants from the Garden's collections!

Pictured: Deppea splendens - a rare cloud forest plant, virtually unknown in cultivation and presumed to be extinct in the wild. One of the rarest plants in the world, Deppea splendens looks fuchsia-like (although it is gold with burgundy sepals), but is actually a close relative of the coffee plant. 

San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum

San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum

Eastern Australia Garden

Anigozanthos: Kangaroo paw - Photo © Alice Joyce

A fusion of horticulture and hardscape becomes a gateway to another realm in the Eastern Australia Garden at the San Francisco Botanical Garden on Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way.

Designed by Bernard Trainor, the garden takes its character from "materials both hard and soft," as Trainor articulates in his original concept for the space. A stroll through the garden reveals how fully Trainor succeeds in his aim to inspire garden visitors with an exciting collection of plant material from Eastern Australia, laid out to create "a sense of place."

An overall framework of flowing, decomposed granite pathways center upon a rock circle, where the artistry of Jennifer Madden and Jeffrey Reed of Reed Madden Designs emerges in a refined sculptural setting. The circle focuses attention on distinctive wall forms, poured in place. These concrete walls exhibit a warm-hued palette, and the gently curving, fluid striations of rock formations, which outline a distinctive, contemplative area surrounded by unusual flora: the Reed Madden vision, "echoing the ancient geology of Australia." 

Distinctive scenes unfold in Trainor's design, with a dry stream bed, akin to an arroyo, serving as a sinuous link in the garden plan. 

Visitors encounter the twisting trunk and peeling bark of a venerable Malaleuca linariifolia, and an aging bracelet honeymyrtle, Malaleuca armillaris, set apart by a reclining trunk that sprawls along the ground; its angular limbs gesturing unrestrained. And the craggy bark, a conspicuous contrast to feathery foliage.

Wall by Reed Madden Designs

VANCOUVER, VanDusen Botanical Garden

Photo Nancy Wong:  VanDusen Azaleas

Photo Raymond Chan: VanDusen Canadian Heritage Pond

VanDusen Botanical Garden

A city energized by cultural diversity, Vancouver is one of my favorite destinations. I prefer to stay at The Metropolitan, a small hotel downtown that employs feng shui principles, emerging in elegant ikebana by Hollis Ho. These asymmetrical floral arrangements act as subtle counterpoints to animate the hotel rooms, lobby and Diva restaurant.

VanDusen Botanical Garden, a hilly 55-acre setting, can be approached by the No. 17 city bus. Boasting a collection of contemporary sculpture, an Elizabethan maze,  and year-round blooms, VanDusen was recently invigorated by a new entry area. The Phylllis Bentall Garden, with paved terrace, pool, and mixed borders, invites you to explore VanDusen's springtime displays of magnolias. Eye-catching swathes of narcissi advance to a pathway replete with rhododendrons and scented azaleas. And from late May through early June, cascading golden panicles tumble from archways over the Laburnum Walk, juxtaposed by ground-covering bluebells and alliums.

Month by month the landscape turns heads as Himalayan blue poppies progress to a sea of wildflowers blanketing meadows followed by fiery fall color. Seasonal stars include alliances of heathers, hollies and hellebores. To contemplate VanDusen's charms, ramble along to the Cypress Pond, Heron Lake, or the restored Korean Pavilion, intricately carved with floral patterning in burnished tones.

Arboretum, U.C. Santa Cruz in Winter

Tomorrow I'll be tending to business, so we're taking a quick side trip, returning to Spain in a day or so.

These photos of exuberant Banksias resulted from my first journey to Santa Cruz, south of San Francisco, where the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum is especially spectacular around this time of year.

Banskia baueri
Photos © copyright Alice Joyce

Banksia ericifolia

I was freshly transplanted to the Bay Area, having left behind my tiny town garden in Chicago for the mild, year-round gardening climate of Marin County. In preparation for my inaugural 'Garden Walks' column for the San Francisco Chronicle, I realized I could find a garden with flowers in the middle of winter. I'd already written about the Arboretum for my first book, West Coast Gardenwalks, but had based the entry on lots of research.

Picture a Greyhound bus, my mode of transportation for the return leg of the trip. Unable to drive there, I hopped a ride one night with one of the savvy horticulturists on staff. And was also given a cozy place to sleep!

The next morning, I strolled through acres of flowering, sun-loving Australian plants. Banksia baueri
.... and B. ericifolia are covered in countless miniature blossoms that blanket the huge cone forms of these evergreen species.  Particularly from January through April, the U.C. Santa Cruz Arboretum puts on an incredible exhibition, although you'll find plants in bloom any time you visit.  (The Central Coast section of Gardenwalks in California goes into detail on the Arboretum's collections.)