At this moment I am taking a brake from madly running around the house preparing to head out to the airport. Thanks in part to her bountiful frequent flyer miles, Judy and I are flying to Paris tonight. We will be in France and England for two weeks: in and around Paris, in Amboise in …
One of the most exciting gardens we visited during the 2013 Garden Bloggers’ Fling was that of Berkeley artist and garden designer Keeyla Meadows. Keeyla is also the author of the book Fearless Color Gardens, in which she advocates “Jumping off the color wheel.” I’ve just started reading Keeyla’s inspiring book, but having seen her …
In the flatlands where I live, gardens with dramatic views are something of a rarity. I was left pretty much speechless, as a result, by the Dudan garden in Walnut Creek. For me, the dominant features of this garden were the far off hills, stone, and water. It was a very hot day – this …
The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek was the first garden we visited on the third day of the Fling. I found it exciting, surprising, and sometimes entertaining (largely due to the sculptures). I don’t see gardens built around succulents as beautiful, though, and this was not an exception to that rule. I realize there …
What’s your reaction when you see fake plantation-style columns in front of a fairly modest home, or a circular driveway in front of a house on a quarter acre lot? Do a bit of eye-rolling, perhaps? Then I must tell you that when I saw the grand sweep of Salvia (known as the River of …
The Wave is a private garden overlooking the San Francisco Bay. The homeowners bought the lot between their house and the water and turned it into a garden. A great idea, if you have the cash. We Flingers got there late in the afternoon. We staggered out of the coaches, hot and tired, yet this …
The second garden we visited as part of the Garden Bloggers’ Fling was something of a secret garden. Like the garden in the novel by Frances Burnett, this garden is hidden away. Not on an English estate, but rather in an apartment building courtyard in a slightly dicey part of San Francisco. To get there, …
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 …
After the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Lurie Garden should be the next must-see item on the agenda of any avid gardener visiting Chicago. It is a five acre garden in the heart of downtown, designed by Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel. Truly a garden in a city. The Lurie Garden has a prairie-style design, but …
I’ve written before about the glorious display of crabapple blossoms at the Chicago Botanic Garden every spring. But getting to the garden at the right time to see the display is rather challenging. It is at its height for just a few days, a period that can be cut short or eliminated altogether by a …
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