Howell Mountain Hillside: O'Shaughnessy Winery

O'Shaughnessy Winery Vista: Slopes of Howell Mountain in the hills above St. Helena.

(Photos © Alice Joyce)

Jack Chandler, Landscape Architect

Spent a lively day buzzing around Napa Wine Country with Jack Chandler, looking at various projects of Jack's spanning private estates to inviting wineries.

One project we toured, O'Shaughnessy Winery in Angwin was new to me. Difficult to imagine a more beautiful site than this East Napa County landscape, with its terraces that take full advantage of the view.

An off-the-beaten path locale for wine loving cognescenti, the winery boasts a scented entry path lined in fragrant roses, befitting a tasting of their 2007 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, which proved to be delectably stimulating. A full-bodied melding of blackberry and chocolate, blueberry, black raspberry and plum notes with cinnamon and vanilla aromas that distinguish the varietal, there are still more complex flavors to tease the palate and emerge at the finish. ((A Robert Parker rating of 95 points.))

Landscape architecture by Jack Chandler.

Sanctuary for Succulents: Ruth Bancroft Garden Reprise

View with Hesperaloe parviflora -- Photos: Brian Kemble

Echinopsis hybrid

Displaying an originality that outshines traditional garden settings, The Ruth Bancroft Garden reveals an eccentric cast of characters and an enthusiasm for succulent plants that traces back to the 1950s, when Mrs. Bancroft first began collecting potted specimens.

View with Agave salmiana

Mrs. Bancroft celebrated her 100th birthday, and another milestone is just around the corner!

Agave celsii Flower

Bancroft Garden Views

Garden Encounters with Wildlife!

Strutting in a hidden Garden in Granada ... Carmen de los Martires

Gargoyle .. Grotesque? A creature encountered

 in Valencia's Turia Gardens,

keeping watch over the Bridge of the Guardian Angel.

Perhaps you can identify this lizard species.

Enjoying a sunbath in the Anza-Borrego desert landscape, while hiding in plain sight:

Its coloration perfectly matches the environment.

[My thanks to Hugh at Rock Paper Lizard

for helping to I.D. the Desert Iguana, Dipsosaurus dorsalis]

We're certain we saw this roadrunner in the hotel parking lot when we were in Desert Hot Springs a few years ago. Such fun to see him again!

Hedgehog (cactus:-)

Worth the Wait... Mexican Lily - Countdown to Bloom

Beschorneria yuccoides : Emerging Bud of Mexican Lily

Photo © Alice Joyce

Another milestone in Alice's Garden: Truly, I nearly fell over the other day when I happened to glance at the garden's one and only Beschorneria yuccoides. Emerging after a decade more or less, the succulent with gorgeous leaf color is only now preparing to send up a flowering stalk, which will tower above the strappy leaves.

In 2004 I witnessed a stunning mass planting of the species growing in the Mill Valley garden of artist/photographer Don Worth: Featured in one of my 'Garden Walks' columns for the San Francisco Chronicle, Don's garden opened to the public at the time as part of the Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program.

You can read the original story by clicking here.

There's an interesting back story, as well.

Don and I crossed paths 2 decades prior when I studied for a Master of Arts in Sculpture, and he was a senior faculty member in the Art Department at San Francisco State University. Life so often seems to surprise us with such serendipitous encounters.

Art in Nature: Presidio Habitats Extended!

Good news! The Presidio Habitats Exhibition has been extended through summer.

If you're in the Bay Area, or have planned a visit to San Francisco, you'll want to stop by The Presidio to take a self-guided tour or guided walk to explore the diverse approaches of these

temporary, outdoor site-based installations set amidst the Fort Scott area.

The Presidio is a beautiful landscape with a fascinating history. Amazing to think that for more than 200 years the land was a military site, encompassing Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. eras. Architecture buffs will appreciate the significance of the Presidio's buildings, now part of a wide-ranging preservation project.

http://www.presidio.gov/history/history/

And near the Presidio's Arguello Gate, you won't want to miss seeing

Andy Goldworthy's installation: The Spire

Regarding the special PRESIDIO HABITATS exhibition: Each work is about a 'habitat' meant to serve "an animal client," as the brochure explains.

Before walking the grounds to see the 11 installations, you'll want to begin at the Exhibition Pavilion where a larger group of submitted proposals are on view. For more information, visit:

http://www.presidio.gov/experiences/habitats/

The show is organized by the FOR-SITE FOUNDATION - web site:

http://www.for-site.org/

Desolate, Yet Strangely Compelling...

Heading south toward Anza-Borrego State Park...

Photo © Alice Joyce

....a short detour from the highway leads to a desolate stretch of seashore, where the Salton Sea appears like a futuristic, post-apocalyptic landscape.

Abandoned buildings and heaps of trash surround the area where we parked the car, while on the northeastern shoreline across the water, a State Recreation Area spans 14 miles along Highway 111. To read more about this strangely compelling inland body of water, its history and current conditions, visit the Salton Sea home page on: www.sci.sdsu.edu/

The Bad Tempered Gardener: Anne Wareham

A special day.

My review copy of Anne Wareham's new book, The Bad Tempered Gardener arrived and I'm immersed in reading her chronicle of creating the brilliant garden at Veddw, on the Welsh borders.

Anne's unmistakable voice had me in its grip from the Introduction. And after reading one chapter, I'm impressed by the way Anne turns a critical eye on the act of making gardens.

Her insights on design, and advocacy for thinking about gardens as a distinctive art form are qualities I expected from her writing.

Visiting Veddw on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Meet me at Cottage Gardens! Wine Country Landscape Design

 Should you be in Northern California on Sunday, April 10th around 11 a.m., Cottage Gardens in Petaluma I hope you'll drop by and say hello!  I'm pleased to be a part of the Springtime schedule of events taking place at this wonderful plant nursery. 

Photographed at Darioush Winery

My presentation will feature my favorite destination wineries, along with aspects of landscape design, and...

I'll be giving away a limited number of complimentary wine tasting cards.

Matanzas Creek Winery Dry Stream Bed

Cottage Gardens is located at 3995 Emerald Drive, Petaluma. 
Photos © Alice Joyce

Chateau St. Jean's romantic setting.

Benziger Winery's Biodynamic Flow Form Water Feature in the 'Discovery Trail'

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Hope to see you at Cottage Gardens!

White on White Wednesday: Desert, Mountains, Wildflowers

Anza-Borrego Desert Vista  --  Clark Dry Lake

All Rights Reserved: 
PHOTOS & TEXT Copyright Alice Joyce

Snow-capped San Jacinto Mountains - Wind Farm in Foreground:

Palm Springs

Photos © Alice Joyce

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Among the White Wildflowers: Chicory - Rafinesquia neomexicana

Photo © COPYRIGHT Alice Joyce

A Desert Spectacle in Borrego Springs

Dozens of these fascinating sculptures arise from the desert floor as you drive through

the town of Borrego Springs.

Owner of the 'Galleta Meadows Estate,' Dennis Avery is the person to thank for the spectacle.

Brittlebush: Encelia farinosa (Photo: Alice Joyce)

Outstanding arrays of golden, daisy-like flowers covered myriad brittlebush during my mid-March desert journey. The plant's form is an interesting dome-shape, with mounded silver-gray foliage below the abundant flowers. A member of the Asteraceae family, the brittlebush boasts new, white foliage with a texture like velvet in summer.

Avery commissioned Ricardo Breceda to work his magic with welded steel. In the past few years, Breceda has created giant sloths and baby camels, mammoths and raptors, elephants and tortoises, and to the delight of all who unknowingly come upon them, extinct prehistoric species: Gomphotheriums and Sabertooths that once roamed the land. Historical figure, Juan Bautista de Anza has joined the open-air exhibition.

All text and photos: Copyright © Alice Joyce

Fouqueria splendens bloom (Photo © Alice Joyce) Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Common names: Ocotillo .. Desert Coral

Among the desert's flora, I found the sculptural form of the plant's linear stems entrancing, not to mention the springtime display of fiery flower heads -- countless ocotillos were in-bloom!

Visit www.galletameadows.com