Asian Species .. Quarryhill Botanical Garden

Photo: Christine Walker

(Photo: San Francisco Chronicle)

Some years ago one of my San Francisco Chronicle 'Garden Walks' columns

highlighted Quarryhill Botanical Garden

The site is a horticultural paradise that is surprising to discover when touring Sonoma's Valley of the Moon in wine country. What sets Quarryhill apart is the fact that most all the plants - trees, shrubs, bulbs, roses - have been grown from wild collected seed gathered during plant expeditions undertaken by the garden's director, Bill McNamara, who travels extensively to China, Japan and the Himalayas. You can click below to read...

...the original feature in the archives on SFgate.com...

More photos of the garden are posted on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Writing about garden travel is especially gratifying when sharing information about a place like Quarryhill.

Fertility .. Abundance : Pomegranates for Turkey Day!

via Wikipedia .. Illustration by Otto Wilhelm Thome - 1885

Pomegranates - Symbol of fertility and abundance, befitting a Thanksgiving afternoon.

à votre Santé my friends... to your health!

Garden travel enthusiasts are invited to peruse my web site:

Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Curving.. Flowing.. Sinuous Design - Wave Garden Part II

Another look at the Wave Garden: Hardscape, artwork and plantings. Kellee Adams, the plant-scape designer selected species from the 5 Mediterranean regions of the world to enliven a drought-tolerant landscape.

The rosettes of Aeonium 'Sunburst' effectively repeat the harmonious lines appearing throughout the garden, where Victor Amador, the garden's third-generation concrete contractor/designer worked intuitively, applying an organic approach to the creation of walls, stairs, walkways, and special focal points.

The curving planes of a wall embrace a bevy of drought tolerant plants.

The alluring, sinuous lines of hand-crafted iron work are outstanding.

Red Conebush .. The Wave Garden - A Sneak Peek

UNDER CONSTRUCTION...







The glory of South African plants .. bringing color to Bay Area gardens in Winter!

Here's a sneak peek of an amazing landscape created in the East Bay over the previous decade:

-- The Wave Garden --

filled with an incredible palette of plants and an exceptional hardscape.

Leucadendron salignum .. aka Summer Red Conebush is looking especially beautiful right now.

The garden takes in vistas of San Francisco Bay, Richmond Bridge, and Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County.

An in-depth feature on the Wave Garden appears on: Alice's Garden Travel Buzz.

To all my garden blogging amigos, Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

Thank you May Dreams Gardens : Now following @IndyGardener on Twitter!

Last Bouquet of Fall?

Will this be the final blowsy bouquet of the year?

Colorful fall foliage is a cutting from Weigela florida 'Eyecatcher' ... growing in my garden.

But I'm so pleased to have a cutting garden at T's plot! In spite of the rain of the past month or so, T's allotment/community garden is drenched in sunshine most days. 

With each bouquet picked these past few weeks, he's told me it would be the last. Not so, as you can see: The Zinnias from Renee's Garden Seeds - 'Berry Basket' - are continuing to produce abundant blooms. So, too, new Buddleia 'Miss Ruby' is proving to be a winning variety (appropriately perhaps, a plant from Proven Winners).

Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to photograph the bouquet when it was freshly picked, so it's already fading a bit as pictured.

Click here to see a post with Weigela 'Eyecatcher' in bloom .. Very showy.

Ravishing 'Miss Ruby' .. Butterfly Love!

Click here to see .. What's going on in Alice's Garden