Succulents and More™

On Sunday, November 26, Ruth Bancroft passed away at her home in Walnut Creek. She was 109 years old. I will miss her greatly even though I met her only once, briefly. Somehow I had thought she would live forever and that at some point there would be another opportunity to visit with her. Ruth Bancroft and RBG curator Brian Kemble who has been working alongside Ruth since 1980. Photo © 2016 by Stephen Lysaght. Used with Stephen's permission. Ruth started her now iconic succulent garden in 1972 at the age of 63. I bet she had no idea that she would live another 47 years to see her labor of love mature and inspire tens of thousands of gardeners to plant dry gardens as well. At the time, she was often asked why she would embark on such a big project at her age when it was more than likely that she would never see the plants grow to maturity. This was her reply: “Well, who cares if I’m around or not? Someone will be around. And if I don’t plant it then nobody will get to see ...

I’ve read countless book on plants and gardens, and I’ve reviewed a few for this blog. Many of them struck a chord with me for one reason or another. But no book has even been as personal as the one I’m reviewing today, The Bold Dry Garden: Lessons from the Ruth Bancroft Garden . Why? Because the Ruth Bancroft Garden (RBG) in Walnut Creek, just about an hour from my house in Davis, is my happy place. I love the plants, but more than that, I love the spirit of the garden. I knew the story of the garden in rough strokes, but after having read The Bold Dry Garden , I have much better insight into how it came to be and what Ruth Bancroft set out to do. Kudos to the Timber Press design team on the very attractive layout of the book, including the choice of font for the cover. The Bold Dry Garden was written by Johanna Silver, the garden editor of Sunset Magazine. Sunset is headquartered in Oakland, a 20-minute drive but apparently a world away. “Before I started on this book, I had n...

Ruth Bancroft was 63 years old when she started her dry garden on three acres surrounding her home in Walnut Creek, California. At the time, she was often asked why she would embark on such a big project at her age when it was more than likely that she would never see the plants grow to maturity.  This was her reply: “Well, who cares if I’m around or not? Someone will be around. And if I don’t plant it then nobody will get to see it.” I think of that every time I visit the Ruth Bancroft Garden . That—and the fact that Ruth lived another 47 years. She did get to see her garden mature after all, and she inspired thousands of gardeners with her vision and perseverance. Ruth died on November 26, 2017 at the age of 109. Her legacy lives on and, if anything, is more vital today than ever before. Garden curator Brian Kemble, who has been with the garden for an impressive 41 years, and assistant curator Walker Young, who joined the team nine years ago, have transformed the garden fro...

Like last December , my final post of the year is a month-by-month recap of what I blogged about in 2025. I didn’t travel beyond the borders of California (our massive siding project was expensive, so no big vacations), but I still managed to visit quite a few fantastic gardens, all of which provided inspiration. On the homefront, I continued tweaking and refining, completing the rock border around the individual beds both in the front and the back, and building a few new beds. Above all, I wanted to thank you for letting me share my garden adventures with you. Reading your comments is always a highlight for me, so please keep them coming! No trip to the desert for me in 2025, so I asked AI to bring my vision of a drive through a cactus- and agave-studded landscape to life January Highlights: I updated you on my greenhouse, highlighted some pretty vignettes in our garden, and showed you how I gained an extra 40 sq.ft. in the front yard by moving the fence. I also g...