Longwood Gardens' Indoor Living Walls

A Series of 2011 Round-up Posts .. Stories & Photos

Longwood Gardens indoor living walls installed by Ambius, winner of the Hall of Fame Judges Award for creativity and execution at the 19th annual Plantscape Industry Expo 2011. 

Landscape architecture - Conservatory Plaza: Kim Wilkie 

These lush walls comprise more than 47,000 plants covering some 3500 square feet, including many fern species: Holly, Rabbit's Foot, Button, Asparagus and Maidenhair ferns. 

Longwood Gardens Blog - New East Conservatory Plaza

A Garden Landmark: Mexico City

via Wikimedia Commons

Wordless Wednesday

Photographer: Anna Maj Michelson - Portland

Cactus fence at the House of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Mexico City

Perennial 'Pamina' Puts on a Show

Another iPhone Photo

Anemone 'Pamina' at the peak of its Fall bloom. 

Now that the garden is being tidied in anticipation of winter, the long-blooming anemones have finally been cut back. Pink is not a color that appears much in Alice's Garden, but when Spring and Summer have passed, I welcome these deep rose-pink flowers that have spread to fill an entire bed. 

By the way, I failed to mention that my new phone is Apple's 3G, not the latest version with a spiffy camera. I really can't expect great photos, but it does provide an option when I haven't brought my 'real' camera along. 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to comment on taking photos with their phones. Seems like using or not using a phone camera is on the minds of many bloggers. Meanwhile, if you noticed my signature avatar has become an '!' ... exclamation point, it's because I've been reconfiguring things. Hope to correct that soon. 

On another note,

I reviewed a terrific new book, Wildflower Wonders, by Bob Gibbons.

Photo Copyright Bob Gibbons: Mazama Ridge - Mount Rainier

Published by Princeton University Press, the book overflows with Bob's heavenly images of the world's most magnificent sites for wild species blanket vast areas. 

To read the review and to see more photos, visit Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Wood Line: Land Art by Andy Goldsworthy

I wonder whether many of my blogging friends upload photos from their phones?

This process is new to me, having just acquired an iPhone recently. When I stopped to do a bit of exploring at The Presidio of San Francisco, I made my way to the latest Andy Goldsworthy installation: Wood Line - Perhaps you can get a sense of the connected cut log segments snaking through the opening in the trees. The quality of the photo is nothing like what I have come to expect from my Canon camera.

The image was posted as a Twit Pic: http://twitpic.com/73qgto - An app I'm using to stay connected to my Twitter peeps! 

An amazing work by Goldsworthy is permanently on view at the Hess Collection Winery. Click below to see the post:

 Andy Goldsworthy:  Surface Tension

Glittering Gardens Designed by Andy Cao

Two new installations have emerged at Cornerstone Sonoma ..

...both designed by Andy Cao of Cao:Perrot Studio

Red Lantern

is a work in progress, to be completed within the next month: In time for a reception with Andy on November 20th and a no-host dinner co-sponsored by The Garden Conservancy.

Bai Yun / White Cloud

represents a transformation of Andy's initial work installed at Cornerstone - the Lullaby Garden.

I found it enchanting to get lost in the austere landscape of Bai Yun,

an atmosphere that effectively contrasts with the glittering clouds overhead. 

Vertical Garden Virtuoso!

The design of the garden is now quite apparent as the plants have produced lush growth 6 months after the installation. Many species are continuing to bloom as we enter the Bay Area's Fall season.

Drew School Vertical Garden October 2011 ... San Francisco 

Photos @ Alice Joyce

Look carefully in the upper bay window and you'll catch a glimpse of Patrick Blanc gesturing to a journalist before the reception and presentation.

The afternoon winds had picked up and the light was fading when I photographed this lupine bloom, waving about some 18 inches or so from the green wall. Patrick expressed delight in the progress of the plantings!

Read more about Patrick's visit on ... Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

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Patrick Blanc .. Tonight at Drew School

Tonight in San Francisco,

Patrick Blanc, aka His Greenness, will be speaking at Drew School, where he designed a vertical garden of native plants. I'll be reporting back after hearing his presentation.

It's always exciting to have a chance to talk with Patrick about his latest projects spanning the globe.

I'll allow time to photograph the garden before the cocktail party, having been able to document its progress since the installation in Spring. Photo below shows how it looked in July of this year. Quite a few plants were blooming.

Read more: Green Roofs ... Vertical Gardens Revisited ....

Elegant Amethyst .. Tricyrtis lasiocarpa

Statuesque Tricyrtis lasiocarpa...

[Photo © Alice Joyce]

has spread widely to fill a large bed with its delightful display, a show that goes on and on for many weeks. Looking ever so much like orchid flowers, this 'toad lily' has taken over much of the space where another variety, Tricyrtis hirta 'Variegata' had been growing and thriving. Clearly T. lasiocarpa is proving to be the more vigorous species.

Growing in Alice's Garden...

Lurie Garden Lyrical

Piet Oudolf plantings: September at Chicago's Lurie Garden - Millennium Park

Echinacea seedheads cosseted by grasses.

It's official: I've transitioned to the new Blogger interface and can attest to the enhanced features.

Like any change, it simply takes some getting used to, but I'd say it's definitely a step up from the old.

Late-Summer Gardens .. Chicago River Cruise

It seems I'm always looking forward to visiting my home town.

 Chicago is vibrant in its approach to arts and culture, a dream destination for anyone who appreciates historic and contemporary architecture. The brilliant river cruise I took last week was a high point! 


Visit  ... www.architecture.org to get the full details on the city's most informative architecture cruise:

 Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady Cruises 

  Leaving from the Riverside Gardens Dock – look for the blue awnings – on the lower level of the Michigan Avenue bridge at Wacker Drive.

Garden lovers must be sure to take a stroll down north Michigan Avenue toward Water Tower to see what's been planted. Lush, eye-catching displays are enlarged upon each year by temporary installations.

As the sign indicates, a new, upcoming event - Chicago Ideas Week will be held from October 10-16, to feature a host of speakers and innovative workshops taking place all around town. The event exemplifies the kind of energetic approach Chicago is known for.

A Most Beautiful Blue: Interlude at the Lurie Garden

Arrived home tired but enthused after from my annual pilgrimage to the Lurie Garden in Chicago's Millennium Park.

 My visits often coincide with the bloom of Bottle Gentian / Gentiana andrewsii 

[Photo © Alice Joyce]

Would anyone care to provide an I.D. for the tiny white sparkly blooms in the background? 

Gardening in the Blogosphere

Summer Bouquet: Zinnia 'Berry Basket' - a cultivar from Renee's Seeds that deserves high praise!

The zinnia plants have been blooming non-stop at T's community garden, where there has been no problem at all with mildew. T brings home big bunches that I take delight in. I'm lucky that he gardens in a plot in full sun, as Alice's Garden receives decreasing sunlight with each passing year; certainly not enough to grow vigorous annuals such as this.

I've spent some time this morning connecting with new bloggers via the Blotanical web site. It's a great place to discover gardening blogs of every kind, foodies to exotic gardens filled with tropicals. I find it to be a great place to find blogs from countries as diverse as the gardening realm itself.

Amber Lanterns & Fiery Sprays: Clematis and Cuphea

Rare Clematis tibetana, with its delicate amber lantern-like flowers, scrambles up the rather brittle stalks of Cuphea ignea in Alice's Garden. The silky seedheads are shown below!

Hummingbirds adore the fiery blooms of C. ignea, a tender perennial sub-shrub that thrives in my Northern California garden. I've grown various Cuphea species and cultivars, but C. ignea has proven to be the most vigorous of all, blooming for months on end except in the coldest weather. If you garden in a colder climate, I recommend growing C. ignea as an annual: it's a great selection for a wildlife habitat.

As my garden has matured, plants such as this Cuphea deserve pride of place in the garden's beds the borders, having proved themselves worthy of repetition in the garden design.

Clematis tibetana, a late-bloomer is only now putting on a show. It boasts lovely blue-green ferny foliage that's an asset throughout the season. And I love the fluffy seedheads that follow.

Of course the plant's tendrils have made it famous!

In a good year, a new plant will pop up in an unexpected spot, even as the 'mother' plant vanishes.

Andy Goldsworthy: Wood Line - San Francisco Presidio

Wood Line

[Photo by Monique Deschaines]

Aficionados of Andy Goldsworthy's artworks are legion. All the more reason to make your way to the Presidio of San Francisco, where the artist's newest installation has been created in a grove of eucalyptus. You'll find Wood Line just inside the park's Presidio Gate along Presidio Boulevard. The work represents a project commissioned by the FOR-SITE Foundation, partnering with the Presidio Trust.

Read about Goldsworthy's earlier Presidio installation: the Spire

Note: The Presidio Habitats exhibition featured on Bay Area Tendrils in April will close Oct. 2nd.

A permanent site-specific work by Goldsworthy is located in the entry courtyard

of the de Young Museum: Drawn Stone

"takes its inspiration from the unique character of California’s tectonic topography. Goldsworthy has created a continuous crack running north from the edge of the Music Concourse roadway in front of the museum, up the main walkway, into the exterior courtyard, and to the main entrance door. Along its path, this crack bisects -- and cleaves in two -- large rough-hewn stone slabs that serve as seating for museum visitors."

Naughty Neptune! Villa Lante Reprise

Villa Lante Parterre : Fontana dei Mori

Photo © Alice Joyce

When I wrote my contributions to the book, 1001 Gardens You Must See Before You Die, I did not have the pleasure of writing the entry for Villa Lante.

Still, every so often I feel the urge to reprise this magnificent setting when I'm caught up in the reverie of touring Italy to visit gardens. I hope you'll enjoy these glimpses of an Italian gem, located near Viterbo in Lazio Province, not terribly far from Rome.

Text  and Photos © Alice Joyce - All rights reserved

East Bay Birds, Butterflies, Wildlife: UCBG Faunal Guide

The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley has published a foldout guide to illustrate the wealth of birds, butterflies, and wildlife inhabiting the East Bay Hills... "bounded by Hayward and Wildcat earthquake faults... of the Pacific Coast Range."

Both trained zoologists, Garden Director, Paul Licht and Chris Carmichael, Associate Director of Collections & Horticulture, have created an informative, beautifully produced, pocket-size and plasticized pamphlet to enhance any area outing you might undertake.

The guide is available in the UCB Garden Shop...

Click on this link to read more

Read more about UCBG at Berkeley on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

A Sinuous Sussex Landscape: Land Art in Lewes

During my Springtime sojourn to England, I basked in the horticulture and garden design of London's Chelsea Flower Show. And after all the hustle and bustle of London, one of my favorite destinations, I took a side trip to the county town of Lewes in East Sussex. At the edge of town in a local nature reserve, I encountered the sinuous pattern of a land art installation by Chris Drury: Heart of Reeds.

[Photos © Alice Joyce]

From the overlook you can discern the twists and turns emerging in the artist's design for the wetland planting. A double vortex pattern is meant to symbolize the connection between the environment and those of us who care for it.

Overlooking Alfriston: Cuckmere Valley [Photo © Alice Joyce]

The surrounding landscape of the South Downs is picture perfect in every way.

Even on a damp day in May, the vistas are breathtaking.

Read more about the Chelsea Flower Show and Sussex on my web site: 
Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Nature Beckons... Morro Rock

Morro Rock (Photo: Kjkolb Wikipedia)

Morro Rock Photo © Alice Joyce

Not far from the cities of Paso Robles & San Luis Obispo on California's Central Coast, the magnificent outcrop of Morro Rock emerges from the Pacific Ocean. One element of the so-called Nine Sisters, Morro Rock is referred to as a 'volcanic plug' on Wikipedia. "There are nine volcanic peaks and hills between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo... The peaks were created over 20,000,000 years ago as volcanic ... magma which welled up .. inside softer rock which has since eroded."

Read more on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Stapelia ~ Striking, If A Bit Stinky Show

In a small, terracotta planter,

a Stapelia plant has been growing in my garden for a number of years.

Maybe I imagine that it might have bloomed once before.

But did I jump up and down when I discovered this flower the other day?

Yes, there was a dance of sorts to witness had you been around.

Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens - Desert Garden

(Photo: Wikipedia)

More than a decade ago I visited the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens for the first time, touring the magnificent Desert Garden while

researching my book, Gardenwalks in California.

I'll never forget seeing a mass planting of Stapelia gigantea, with many of the large, strange blooms like starfish... resting on the earth. Each, perhaps 12 inches across.

My flower measures about 2 1/2 inches. I don't mind that it's tiny in comparison.

Also called the Carrion Flower, Stapelia has a reputation for being stinky

to attract flies that pollinate the plant.

Before opening, the flower's early stage begins as a strange, puffy pod-like form.

Altogether odd.

It's been one of my favorite, if all too rare, sights since entering the gardening realm.

Now my own pass-along plant has rewarded me after years of benign neglect.

Succulent plants are fascinating in their diversity. So unlike the beautiful blooms I generally cultivate. But Stapelia stands alone in my mind. I really couldn't conjure up a more intriguing flower form if I tried.

Farm Fresh & Fun! Happy Acres, Paso Robles

Had the greatest time touring... Happy Acres Family Farm with Coy Barnes of The Wine Wrangler during a visit to Paso Robles. 

Read more about my Central Coast sojourn on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Happy Acres is a family run Goat Milk Dairy operation that produces the finest artisan cheeses featured in Farmer's Markets and restaurants.

A certified organic farm, they also produce fresh produce and eggs.

Children and their parents delight in touring the property to learn about farming and animal care. You can visit the web site to book a tour!

It's a setting filled with the energetic activity of pigs and dogs, chickens and alpacas, horses and a miniature donkey, along with the 200 or so goats that owner Stephanie Simonin can readily identify by name!

Four women and some younger family members work together milking, collecting eggs, or preparing goats for 4H events and shows. They also create luxurious goat's milk skin care products, another Happy Acres speciality. All are handmade and paraben-free, from moisturizing creams and cleansers to lip butters and lotions in a variety of scents.

Happy Acres Family Farm is located in Templeton, California, a bit south of Paso Robles.

Thanks, Stephanie! The White Tea Ginger Lotion feels wonderful on my skin.

www.HappyAcresFamilyFarm.com