In Search of Wildflowers .. Anza-Borrego Desert Journey

Blooming Beavertail Cactus - Opuntia Basilaris
Photos ©  Alice Joyce

Dune Evening Primrose

The Anza-Borrego Desert has long been on my bucket list! This State Park has a reputation for spectacular wildflower displays when all the conditions of water, rain, wind and sun play out in harmony. I've begun to write about my recent sojourn on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz, where views of the spectacular landscape and canyons where I hiked are featured.

2011 is proving to be a good bloom year in Anza-Borrego. The timing of my trip was fine, if too early for most cacti.

All text and photos: Copyright Alice Joyce

Funastrum hirtellum   Photo © Alice Joyce

I came upon it only once in 8 days. A twining plant with tiny, star-shaped flower clusters.

(Many thanks, James of LostLandscape: plant indeed appears to be Funastrum hirtellum - hairy milkweed.)

The native California Fan Palm is the star here!

Justicia californica blooms in front of the stately tree.

Sandy expanses of the desert floor were covered with Sand Verbena: Abronia villosa

You may recognize Datura wrightii Regel: the poisonous Jimson Weed has quite a reputation. This member of the Solanaceae family is also known as Sacred Datura.

A Landmark Living Wall of Native Plants

Photo, Courtesy Patrick Blanc

The Bay Area is abuzz, and I'm exhilarated! The very thought of innovative botanist, Patrick Blanc creating a large-scale project in San Francisco - my back yard so to speak - has the entire horticultural community in a state of excitement! And the general public, too, especially the Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood. Imagine going out for a stroll and discovering a living wall taking shape before your eyes: It's the largest project Blanc has undertaken to-date in the United States.

Patrick Blanc at the February 10th press briefing.

(photo: Alice Joyce)

The placards flanking Patrick show: to the left in the photo - a selection of the native California species being planted; and on the right, Patrick's sketch of the design with the plant names indicated.

A detailed post about the project taking place at The Drew School is now posted on:

Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

You might like to read about Patrick's...

Verdantly Vertical Living Wall at London's Athenaeum Hotel

Native Plant Restoration & Andy Goldsworthy at The Presidio

Winter blooming California Lilac - Ceanothus thrysiflorus at The Presidio of San Francisco, where reforestation & restoration of native plant habitats is ongoing.

At The Presidio: The Spire, a sculptural installation by Andy Goldsworthy. 

Redirect:  Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

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.)

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:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklynbotanicgarden/

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.

Link to A Springtime Stroll ... Brooklyn Botanic Garden

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.