In The Land Of Sunshine
So, Judy and I have been reunited here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yesterday I arrived and noticed at once that it wasn’t raining. The weather, in fact, has been just beautiful.
Wednesday night we stayed in Berkeley with our friend Margy and her faithful companion, Teddy The Dog With The Plastic Collar.
We all took Teddy for a walk and I noticed something else: I had  no idea what many of the plants were. When it comes to gardens, California is a different country.
Not that this is a bad thing. I loved the Bougainvillea, the Jacaranda trees, and above all the jasmine with its almost overpowering sweet scent.
The following day, after a leisurely morning and lunch, we took the BART into San Francisco and checked into our hotel.
After some rest, we were whisked by bus, along with other Fling attendees, to a reception at the Alameda home of Shirley Watts. We got to poke around her unique and beautiful garden while eating tamales and drinking beer and wine.
This pergola is topped with a large mound of wisteria.
Every garden needs a chandelier.
A very unusual water fountain.
Tomorrow we will have a busy day including a visit to Annie’s Annuals and the Matt Gill Sculpture Garden.
gardeninacity 
Jacaranda trees, Jasmine, beer and wine.. sounds like you are getting the Cali vibe 🙂 if you make it to my parts, you guys are welcome to drop by and soak up some SoCal 🙂
Thanks! I do have an old friend in LA and visited him last year. I would love to get back there. Don’t know if I will ever really have the Cali vibe but would be great to meet you and see your garden.
Wow, what a beautiful trip you guys are having! I’m impressed by that black eyed white flower and the jacaranda trees… but most of all I feel like tamales and chilly beer…
Looking forward to seeing your post about Annie’s annuals.
The tamales were very good, especially the chicken. The beer was also good. Either next post or one after that will be about Annie’s Annuals.
Seems like you are having a fab time :-). If you have not done it yet, please visit the Muir Wood Park in SF and any Eucalyptus forest in CA — mind blowing. Yes, that’s a gardener’s paradise place, I think.
We did not get to Muir Woods! Guess that means I’ll just have to go back.
Would love to be at the Fling. Thanks for posting about your experiences.
Maybe next year in Portland, or following year in Toronto?
It looks very much like a Passion Flower but is different from the one that I have.
Ah, we can’t grow them here at all, I think.
San Francisco Bay area! Lucky you. I look forward to pictures of the sculpture garden and your other adventures.
Working on it. Not sure how many hundreds of photos Judy took.
Your post is so vivid, I almost feel like I’m there with you!
Well, you have a vivid imagination.
On Fri, Jun 28, 2013 at 6:54 PM, gardeninacity
The latest national weather forecast makes it sound like you are in the one place in the entire country with decent weather.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Oh I miss the Bay area, I used to visit East Bay area every year when my parents were still alive. The vegetation is just beautiful. I love the juniper and the succulents, the ice plant…I miss the California Jays and the Mockingbirds too. Guess I have to think about visiting some friends… Great photos.
So you moved from Northern California to Chicago? I didn’t think that ever happened.
No, you’re right, that never happens. My dad went out there to retire. To complicate matters I spent a couple years in Southern California around ’69/’70. I never thought I’d get over leaving the Pacific ocean, but you literally cannot eat the sunshine. 🙂
Jason,
glad you see sunshine every day! I didn’t know that ‘every garden needs a chandelier’, so I will try to get it for mine. Can’t wait to see the sculpture park.
Have a nice weekend!
There was definitely sunshine while I was out there! In fact, they had a record heat wave!
We missed the reception party, so I am glad you posted the images. I was wondering on the garden.
As you can see, the garden was very interesting. I had a chance to talk to the designer, learned her feelings about Jasmine and Wisteria (negative in both cases).
Looks like you are having a great time…wish I could have attended.
Me too, would have been great to meet you.
The flower posted under Teddy-the-plastic-collar-wonder-dog is Dietes bicolor, a.k.a. peacock flower, bicolor iris, evergreen iris, spanish iris or african iris.
I’m so glad you got a picture of the wall at Shirely’s garden, the garden theme was so intriguing there…