Adieu, My Sweet California Garden

Greetings my friends, 

today marks the 4th Year Anniversary of Bay Area Tendrils ...

It's a celebratory day, yet one that is bittersweet as I'm preparing to say farewell to my garden.

Perhaps the dearth of posts has hinted at a major life change on the horizon. 

And so, for the second time I am parting from a garden I've nurtured from the ground up, having worked for nearly 15 years to create a sanctuary space from scratch in Northern California. The Bay Area Tendrils archives tell the tale of my move from Chicago, where I left behind a beloved small-space town garden.

The Midwestern winters had taken their toll after decades of shoveling snow, together with the endless challenges of icy winters and a flat-roof building. The temperate climate of California held the promise of a kinder environment: Year-round gardening with a breathtaking palette of plant material.

In the past I've posted photos to illustrate the transition: The process of designing an outdoor room for relaxation, to share meals, and bask in the company of birds, bees and butterflies. But first, I would spend the better part of two years extricating brambles and shoveling out loads of rubble in preparation for planting. Digging deep, then mounding up a series of beds and borders filled with compost and fresh soil amendment. All toted back and forth, bag-by-bag in my Honda hatchback, along with pavers and plants to transform the blank slate into my own lush botanical wonderland. 

When I leave here I'll take a small selection of container plants: 

 Indispensable herbs like rosemary and lavender;

Cupheas to invite hummingbirds to my new balcony; 

Succulent beauties like Aeonium 'Schwarzkopf' & 'Sunburst.'

"The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied.  The more one gardens, the more one learns; And the more one learns, the more one realizes how little one knows."   ~  Vita Sackville-West

Rancho La Puerta ~ La Cocina Que Canta

The rainy season has arrived in Northern California, a long-awaited drenching for garden beds and borders.

La Cocina Que Canta Cooking School

I rarely have time to post these days. Life seems to be getting in the way.

As Fall moves toward the Winter season, I sit with a cup of tea and dream about my visit a few years ago to Rancho La Puerta. The inspiring landscape of Tecate, Mexico remains in my mind's eye, along with a high point of my week long-stay at the spa: a cooking class at The Kitchen That Sings! ... La Cocina Que Canta. 

With the sound of falling rain outside my office window, I'm imagining the scent of something wonderful baking in the oven. A savory tart for dinner? Or, I might just step out into the garden to pick Lemon Verbena leaves before the first frost of the season. If I turn the oven on very low, the leaves can be quickly dried for tea to enjoy in the months ahead. The wonderful aroma of the drying herb will fill the house!

Garden Glory in Italy and Alice's Garden

Vignettes from my forays in Venice & the Veneto...

 Villa Barbaro Nymphaeum: a glassy pool and the sculptural extravagance of the architecture could only be glimpsed through the villa's expansive windows   ~ Maser, the Veneto.

A mosaic design accents the richly adorned paved paths ~ André Heller Botanic Garden

Gardone, Lago di Garda

Austere hedging and meticulous pebble pathways surround a private villa garden in Bardolino, Italy   ~  Lago di Garda

... while here, in Alice's Garden the Red Cestrum ~ Cestrum newellii is a top performer. 

Blooming nearly year-long, it's a shrubby specimen that invites hummingbirds, bees and butterflies to the waxy red flower clusters!

  

Visions of Venice

Decorative metalwork .. Peggy Guggenheim Museum gateway.

When in Venice .. If  you find yourself yearning to leave the crowds behind, continue strolling along the canal, away from the tourists that gather round St. Mark's ...

... and eventually you'll come to the expansive public parklands - the Giardini at the eastern edge of the city. This green space was quiet during my June sojourn, but I believe the Architecture Biennale is taking place there this Fall.

A favorite meal ~ Misto alla Griglia

Nothing is more exciting for a lover of fine food than happening upon an inviting cafe, especially when the skies have opened to rain down on me.  The small bar/restaurant where I enjoyed this meal was very much off-the-beaten path, a spot I wouldn't have found had I not been searching for a 'secret garden' my B&B host told me about.

Though the garden was locked when I finally located it, the cafe provided a cozy table where we sipped a lovely white wine from the Veneto region, accompanied by the freshly prepared meal of roasted vegetables ~ a highlight of my day.

After leaving Venice to tour Lago di Garda for a week or so, we had returned to Venice to stay in a hotel in the Castello sestiere. [Our initial stay had been at a B&B in the Cannaregio.]

A yearning to get to know a city more intimately always motivates my journeys. As in choosing to walk away from Venice's popular tourist attractions in an attempt to discover the city of the modern-day Venetian. 

Venice is not a city to dash into and out of, in my opinion. It is no longer the city I visited years ago, but it remains a unique destination. A glistening city at twilight; entrancing if you allow a languid approach to exploring its rare wonders. 

Veneto Vista - Italian Gardens

One of the hauntingly romantic landscapes visited during my sojourn in Italy's Veneto region:

Villa Arvedi allowed me to experience the hospitality of a contemporary setting that remains true to 

the sophistication and elegance of another era.

To read more, visit AlicesGardenTravelBuzz.com