Bloom's Bodacious Borders at Kendall-Jackson Winery

A few years ago, one of my San Francisco Chronicle 'Garden Walks' columns celebrated the opening of new perennial borders in Wine Country designed by British horticulturist Adrian Bloom.

(Above: Chronicle photo - All other photos: copyright Alice Joyce)

Son of famed plantsman, Alan Bloom,and author of numerous gardening books featuring Foggy Bottom, Adrian Bloom's personal 6-acre garden in Norfolk, Bloom shared his thoughts on the Blooms of Bressingham borders at Kendall-Jackson Winery. Here: a long view of the garden on a recent summer's day, with bees abuzz, flitting among the bountiful blooms.

I'll be returning to the winery's varied landscape in future posts, to visit K-J's vineyard demonstration & culinary gardens, where visitors can relax and enjoy a picnic.

To find the borders, amble from the formal parterre garden fronting the main chateau, and continue around the side of the building. A signpost heralds the Blooms of Bressingham garden, where drifts of plants meld together in what Bloom calls "macro and micro views."
Reflecting Bloom's refined gardening style, the garden plan revolves upon artful combinations of conifers, flowering perennials, ornamental grasses and shrubs. The tall, vertical shapes of evergreen Italian cypresses draw the eye, and as Bloom shared, "give you a bit of structure... whichever way you're looking.. on either side of the pathway to take the eye through," calling attention to the surrounding plant combinations.

One of the lessons I took home: "Even small gardens must have a vista."

The Kendall-Jackson Winery chateau and formal gardens

appear upon exiting the parking area.

Back to the Bloom Borders! Plant tableaux come into focus as you walk along the curving central pathway, where groupings are linked by contrasts in foliage and flower color, texture and form: Purple-toned leaves of heucheras and phormiums; blue-violet, long-blooming Geranium 'Rozanne;' mounding Anthemis 'Susanna Mitchell;' bushy Coreopsis 'Limerock Ruby.'

Geranium blooms weave through hydrangeas; salvias and feathery silver-filigree artemisias are backed by dark Cotinus foliage and butterfly-attracting buddleias.

A bee feasting on... Asclepias incarnata?

Flanking a bench, fragrant rosemary, lavender & Verbena bonariensis

envelop the visitor who stops here to bask in the setting.

Kendall Jackson Winery - www.kj.com

Rude, Rustic Rose Relative .. Rubus r. 'Coronarius'

Rubus rosifolius 'Coronarious'

Plant lust can make a gardener quite mad. In the early days of Alice's Garden, I would read about an unusual specimen in a gardening magazine and simply have to have it. The photo - scanned from a slide - illustrates a particularly spiny... or let's just say a painfully bristly, barbed relative of the genus Rosa: A Rubus species grown for its fluffy white multi-petaled blooms.

As mentioned, the beauty of Rubus rosifolius 'Coronarious' had been highly touted in-print by a beloved and renowned writer/plantsman. And I did swoon when the glowing flowers of this humble yet elegant long-blooming bramble appeared along the back fence in my secret garden.

Yet after a time I decided to remove it.

Plants come and plants go in the life of any garden, and certainly in the small space I cultivate in Northern California. I often look fondly upon this beauty when perusing my collection of 35 mm garden slides, recalling my tussles with its canes, as well as the excitement of observing the way the flowers would light up an out-of-the-way spot in the garden, alongside a narrow pathway.

Do you grow R. r. 'Coronarious' ... or another ornamental bramble?

Greenhouse with View! Rose Terrace - Alcatraz Gardens

Volunteer efforts enliven the Gardens of Alcatraz Island

...in countless ways.

Photos © Copyright Alice Joyce - Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Recently... 
these delightful beds and paths have taken shape,

...not to mention a beautiful new greenhouse on the Rose Terrace.

The structure is dedicated to Carola Ashford, The Garden Conservancy's first project manager for restoration of the Alcatraz gardens. The greenhouse fits inside the foundation of the original. In November 2009 volunteers started work, and by mid-February they had completed the task!

Link to:

The Garden Conservancy

Alcatraz Historic Gardens

A Floral "Berry Basket" ... Zinnias To Die For!

It's the 6th of July and I'm in a state of bliss, filling vases with the colorfully vibrant blooms of

Zinnia 'Berry Basket'

T., my personal veggie gardener, has been kind enough to make room in his allotment for these long-stemmed cutting flowers (another trial packet sent by Renee's Garden Seeds). Must say, I've been impressed by the incredible length of the stems, as with Cosmos 'Rose Bon Bon.'

As for the variety name for these Zinnias, it couldn't not be more spot-on: Luscious colors that conjure up a basket of succulent berries, though I'm not certain what the pink represents.

What petal pink berries do you grow?

Frilly, Rosy Blooms of Summer - Cosmos 'Rose Bon Bon'

Summer has officially arrived! And the season is heralded by some of the prettiest blooms for bouquets I could conjure up, were I in the business of developing long-stem cutting flowers.

In fact, Renee's Garden sent a few packets of seeds to trial.

And here is my first bouquet of Cosmos "Rose Bon Bon" - a new variety for 2010.

Plants began blooming last week in the full-sun of my 'cutting garden' ... aka T's allotment.

A plot at a community garden on the grounds of an old estate in our town.

Sadly, there's all too little full-sun in my garden these days.

Still, I planted a few seeds in a terra cotta pot, placing it in the sunniest spot on our tiny pebble patio, alongside a stone bench.

A large bloom opened yesterday, and I quickly clipped it and brought it inside to enjoy, along with flowers T brought home on Monday.

T. tells me there's quite a crop of my favorite Zinnias from Renee's Garden - 'Apricot Blush.'

He's promised to bring them home for a holiday gathering on Sunday, when friends are coming by for sparkling wine & antipasto.

I'm impressed by the fine quality seeds sent by Renee's Garden ...

... beguiling annuals that bloom lavishly.

Thank you, T., for setting aside a place to tend my flowers among your myriad tomato plants!!

Photo shows the flowers backlit on the kitchen counter, backed by glass-block windows.

The petals' translucent character is lovely.