Contemporary Design Shines Through

Artist, Richard Hestekind

Relentless rain could not dampen our spirits! The contemporary, 

environmentally-conscious architecture landscaping of Bardessono Hotel, Yountville: 

Click on Link below - redirect to:

Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Bardessono Culinary Garden ... Yountville

Alice Joyce Photo: Bardessono Resort & Spa - Culinary Garden, Napa 

Click on link below to visit the new web site ... under construction!

Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Gardens of Darioush Winery, Napa Valley

Darioush Winery, Napa Valley, California - Shahpar Khaledi selected antique French Tunisian oil jars over 100 years old to nestle among the plantings. Their assertive forms enhance the garden design at the front of the winery.

Darioush Winery Architects: Nozari & Nojari, Santa Monica

Landscape Design: Sabrina Tanner of Proscape, Napa

Proprietors: Darioush and Shahpar Khaledi

Cast stone seating at the entryway, where visitors can take in the scenery before going forward to the visitor center to taste the Bordeaux-style wines. The estate celebrates the Khaledis' Persian heritage in the ornate symmetry of the building's architecture, referencing Persepolis, and in myraid artistic details.

The organically farmed Darioush gardens use natural fertilizers made from sea kelp. Plants are selected for their ability to withstand the Napa Valley’s extreme temperature variations, with winter lows that reach 20 degrees to summer highs of 110 degrees. Looking across the winery building facade, you ‘ll see plants arranged to complement the building’s honey-colored imported Persian Straw Travertine. Apricot, orange and cinnabar with the a bit of blue here and there are prominent colors in a scheme composed of roses, succulents, lambs ears, Jerusalem sage, and Yucca specimens.

At the lawn's edge roses cosort with daylilies, flowering plums, bearberries, and cannas, native of Persia.

Tall, narrow maples and evergreen Thuja were planted to echo the archictectural columns. Dwarf Magnolia's stand sentry at the front lawn. Looking toward the vineyards, a color palette of purple and burgundy catches the eye.

Inside the visitor center, an eye-catching cascade takes center stage near the wine tasting area. The building's interior features rich detailing, in glazed tiles and polished stone, ceramics and floral color.

Along the driveway wind and heat resistant plants include lavender, roses, manzanita and society garlic. Alongside the winery entrance, pomegranates also native to Persia produce fruit that ripens in October. Tall, narrow maples and evergreen Thuja were chosen to echo the archictectural columns.

Surrounding the Darioush amphitheatre - Washingtonia robusta - Palms play off Pampas Grass.

George Altamura, the winery’s orignal owner planted olive trees on the property. Darioush now produces an Extra Virgin Olive Oil made from a blend of Frantoio, Leccino & Pendolino olives.

Click to see more... Winery Garden Destinations on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Harvest Season, Napa Valley - Before the Storm!

Formerly: Go Fish restaurant, St. Helena

Yesterday, the ebullient harvest season in Napa Valley reigned!

After a delicious lunch at Go Fish,

an afternoon spent photographing winery gardens beneath overcast skies.

On the drive home, the clouds forecast the threatening rain.

Après le deluge ... a drenching storm blew in overnight, 

its blustery winds and rain

unabated this morning.

Let's focus on the scene on Monday: 

Napa Valley restaurant gardens, featuring an abundance of edibles & ornamentals. 

Mustard's Grill, one of many Napa Valley restaurants that cultivate lush kitchen gardens.

A welcoming water feature at Brix restaurant, Yountville.

Mustard's Grill - another section of the gardens, with a structure providing some shelter.

Opus One Winery colonnade....

Fuyu Persimmon

Edible blooms ... the peppery flavor of nasturtiums adds spice to a salad.

Click on link below for entree to a trove of.... California Wine Country destinations

Fields of Roses, A Fragrant Oasis and Blue Poppies!

Garden Valley Ranch

featured in Gardenwalks in California

INSIDERS' Guide, The Globe Pequot Press

Rosa 'Blanchefleur' by the Pond

Rosa 'Trolius'

Third Pergola ... Garden Valley Ranch

Columbines & Cardoon with Foxgloves

Another nostalgic post, as I recall traveling from Chicago to San Francisco in the mid-1990s, 

crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in a rental car to explore the beauty of  Napa, Sonoma, & Mendocino.

 Intent upon finding the best nursery display gardens for a book idea -  a project that began as a basic guide to Northern California gardens - I encountered Garden Valley Ranch for the first time and returned home to write about it in The Chicago Tribune.

By the time I signed a contract with publisher Michael Kesend for my first book, West Coast Gardenwalks, it had become a guide to coastal destinations from Vancouver to San Diego!

And the memorable journey planted the seed for a move to the Bay Area!

Archways in Fragrance Garden

Garden Valley Ranch Rose Field - 'Climbing Iceberg' on Colonnade in the distance.

Border & the house at GVR, formerly owned by renowned rose expert and author Ray Reddell.

Now home to Mark Grim and Ron Robertson, Garden Valley boasts a long mixed border

 - 220 by 14 ft - with a color scheme inspired by Gertrude Jekyll.

Link to Garden Valley Ranch

on Bay Area Tendrils 

Garden Travel Buzz 

- column on the right -

for information on garden tours,

cottage rental,

bare root roses from Garden Valley Nursery,

& chemical-free cut flowers treated with compost tea.

American Meadow Garden - John Greenlee ~ The Late Show Gardens

Gentle paths wind through John Greenlee's

The Mediterranean Meadow

A Garden Installation at Cornerstone Sonoma

Greenlee's design for 'The Mediterranean Meadow'' takes its cue from the prairies that once blanketed the Sonoma landscape.

Greenlee weaves together grasses and sedges in a palette of soft hues and contrasting textures, in alliance with California poppies. Shifting with the changing seasons and the sky above, the garden's naturalistic style exhibits an atmosphere colored by the weather or time of day: Its contours subdued on an overcast morning; aglow in the setting sun; or brillantly basking in the sapphire haze of a summer afternoon.

Greenlee’s plant selections were chosen to fit the Cornerstone site’s heavy soils, hot summers, and windy conditions; taking into account that the garden is sited on a septic mound!

Used on walkways: Carex pansa "makes a fine natural lawn,"

according to The American Meadow Garden.

Other choice grasses used in the meadow: Dark green Carex divulsa, "one of the best groundcover grases for meadows."Pennisetum 'Fairy Tails' & P. 'Tall Tails.' Boer's Love Grass - the grass with glaucous blue fine-textured foliage. John’s new book, The American Meadow Garden (Timber Press, Nov. 2009) is illustrated with beautiful photographs by Saxon Holt. After reviewing the book recently, I expect it will become the go-to manual for professionals and keen gardeners.

Greenlee addresses the basics of grass ecology, explaining how grasses grow in different regions, so if you’re thinking about revamping an existing lawn, or creating a new planting with drought-tolerant grasses and companion plants, you'll find the book highly useful.

What is a Weed? - Native Plants at Hess Collection Winery

What is a weed?

A Plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Hess Collection Winery and Art Museum

View looking down on the courtyard from the visitor center.

The garden features a design by acclaimed landscape architect Peter Walker, with plantings by John Greenlee, noted expert in grass ecology.

"The Hess Collection Courtyard is designed as an integral part of our mountain landscape and a commitment to care for the land we farm. Our vineyards are rimmed by meadows and redwood forests, and although our garden aesthetic is wild and natural, it is well-tended to maintain the experience of a lushly undulating alpine meadow. Native and exotic grasses and ornamentals are chosen for variation in height and seasonal interest. Volunteer plants surprise us in Spring, seedheads are allowed to dry and drop their contents in Fall. Thus, the garden is allowed to propagate itself and actively evolve.

Because the Eastern-most boundary of the naturally occurring redwoods is here in the Mayacamas Mountains, we incorporated these trees with Western sword ferns to echo the nearby woods."

Plantings encourage beneficial insects, taking in native species of common yarrow, Western columbine, bush anemone, creeping ceanothus and blue beach aster.

To add further color, Mimulus 'Pumpkin,' Purdy's Foothill penstemon, Salvia cleavlandii & S. spathacea were selected, along with yellow-eyes grass and Zauschneria californica.

On a recent summer day I made my way to Napa wine country to revisit the artfully arranged, Modernist landscape at The Hess Collection Winery.

A rectilinear pool and wisteria-draped pergola wrap around the garden's central layout of pristine decomposed gravel pathways: Their angular, dynamic pattern extends an invitation to enjoy the spirited plantings where butterflies hover and dragonflies dart overhead.

The garden holds a special place in my memory, having first encountered it while researching the Winery Gardens chapter for West Coast Gardenwalks - before the pieces fell into place for my move from Chicago to California.

(The Hess Collection garden also features in Gardenwalks in California, INSIDERS' Guide, 2005.)

Surface Tension - Andy Goldsworthy in California Wine Country

Andy Goldsworthy - Hess Museum

Surface Tension

Rock Pools ... kiln melted stones on floor

Snow Ball Drawings ... shown on walls

Surface Tension

10 x 16 ft. - On permanent display at the Hess Art Museum - Hess Collection Winery - Mount Veeder, Napa Valley. (Installation photos above: Courtesy Hess Art Museum )

Assembled by Goldsworthy in 14 hours

'Leaf stalks from a Horse Chestnut wetted and then pinned

with Hawthorn thorns.

Thorns hold entire piece to wall, ceiling and floor.

No glue or hardware.'

Garden Hopping and Wine Tasting, Napa Valley

Conn Creek Winery - Napa Valley, California

Gardens are currently being replanted & the garden design refreshed:

New landscaping in front of building & driveway entrance designed by Jonathan Plant & Associates, St Helena.

On the way to the winery, a quick stop for a cold drink at the popular Oakville Grocery.

Under the shade of the pergola in the Garden at Conn Creek...

Outside the AVA Room

Conn Creek offers Cabernet Sauvignon tastings in their AVA Room as part of a blending seminar for small groups (no more than 10 people).

Participants take part in a guided walk-around barrel tasting, sampling wine from single-vineyard sites in 14 sub-appellations - AVAs - within the Napa Valley.

After learning about various techniques and approaches to winemaking, each guest will come away with a bottle they have blended. Creating your own unique label is part of the fun!

Portal to a Mediterranean Garden - Chateau St. Jean Winery

 Chateau St. Jean - Kenwood, Sonoma County

A classic pergola enhances the setting.

Clipped hedges - composed of evergreen boxwood, wax-leaf privet and rosemary - define the garden's elegant framework, and outline the decomposed gravel paths. A centrally placed fountain sets the tone for this oasis, where a sculpture of St. Jean holds sway.

Garden Plan - The Olin Partnership / At Chateau St. Jean winery in Kenwood (Sonoma County), the garden's formal layout draws inspiration from the Mediterranean-style villa, built in the 1920s: The landscape's graceful proportions and symmetry distinctively echoes traditional gardens of Italy and southern France. Cork oaks, fragrant lavender and ground-covering verbena braid together in the parking area's island beds,  while the arched portals of a masonry wall beckon visitors to enter and experience beautifully framed views of the central parterre garden appearing beyond.

Formal parterres....

Italian stone pine, London plane and windmill palm trees provide order and structure in the central parterre and adjoining garden rooms. American arborvitae hug metal arches to establish transitions between spaces.  

Decorative highlights include potted Citrus specimens, especially 'Dwarf Satsuma Mandarin.' The heady scents of 'Iceberg' roses and frothy 'Gourmet Popcorn' fill the air, while blue annuals, planted to evoke the alluring glaze of oil jars, harmonize with the pearly floral color.

Clytostoma callistegiodes  - Photo © Alice Joyce

Many showy shrubs reach their peak bloom in summer: Hydrangea 'Lanarth White' and H. 'Mariesii Variegata' thrive in a shady haven beneath California sycamores.

The tasting room terrace offers a welcoming spot to relax, where head-turning orange trumpet vines scramble up pillars. In an inner courtyard, unusual perennials grow in pots, and a stunning red camellia many decades old grows with Fatsia japonica.

Visitors can enjoy self-guided tours of the gardens during open hours.