Succulents and More™

In my mind, hammocks conjure up the ultimate in tropical relaxation. Lying on your back on what feels like a cushion of air, watching the clouds go by overhead, enjoying the gentle swaying motion from the wind—what could be better!   For years I’ve been trying to come up with a way to string a hammock between the bay trees in our back yard, but the spacing is just not right. Finally I have what I’ve always wanted: a freestanding hammock stand that is not only eminently practical, it’s also darn good looking. Yes, it takes up quite a bit of space (13 x 9 ft.) but it’s space that wasn’t much used anyway except to walk on.

This week I finally had the opportunity to visit Hakone, the oldest Asian estate and gardens in the Western hemisphere. Located in Saratoga, CA, about 20 minutes from San Jose and the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley, Hakone occupies 18 acres in the hills just outside of town. Hakone was established in 1915 by Isabel and Oliver Stine, a wealthy couple from San Francisco. It went through several changes of ownership over the years, fell into disrepair, was lovingly restored, and then sold to the City of Saratoga in 1966. Entrance gate to Japanese garden I’m by no means an expert on Japanese gardens. However, having visited the Portland Japanese Garden (PJG) several time in recent years (see 1 2 3 4 5 6 ), I knew I would start comparing the two. Both are magnificent places of tranquility and beauty. The PJG seems to be built on a grander scale and feels more like a public garden; Hakone has the feeling of an intimate retreat and it is indeed much used for corporate events

The biggest plant sale in Northern California is just days away: The UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley will have its spring sale this coming weekend. This is the mother of all plants sales. Sale tables will be spread throughout the UC Botanical Garden, and experts will be on hand to answer questions. To quote their website : We specialize in regionally-appropriate Mediterranean climate plants. We also sell rare cycads and palms, carnivorous plants, cacti and succulents, rare bulbs, Asian plants, glorious vines, tropical and houseplants, dry-growing Mexican and Central American plants, and much more.

The other day I posted a photo of Cooper’s hardy ice plants ( Delosperma cooperi ) nestled against a clump of Cape balsam ( Bulbine frutescens ) and Jerusalem sage ( Phlomis fructicosa ). The color of these ice plant flowers is so intense, it looks almost fake. Delosperma cooperi , flowers open But like so many plants commonly given the moniker “ice plants,” Delosperma cooperi produces flower colors that border on the fluorescent. If they didn’t close up at night, they might light up your entire yard! This is what the same clump looks like in the morning and evening: Delosperma cooperi , flowers closed

I haven’t done a “our yard in the month of xyz” post in a while, mostly because things were slow in taking off this year due to unseasonably cool weather. Now, however, spring is here with a vengeance. Plants that were just poking out of the ground last week are in full leaf this week. The planting strip outside the front yard fence is beginning to resemble the tapestry of color we so love. Finally the time of year is here when you can see changes from one day to the next. The bed inside the front yard fence may not look like much from a distance, but the ornamental grasses are going great guns, and herbaceous perennials like penstemons, echinaceas and salvias are trying to catch up. Planting strip inside our front yard fence

I’m sure somebody somewhere is working on a technology to transmit smells over the Internet. I wish I had that technology at my fingertips today to share with you the heady scent permeating the backyard and wafting into the house through the open windows: Our Washington navel orange tree is in full bloom. Not only that, it has more blossoms this year than ever before, adding to the intensity of the fragrance. Blossoms of Washington navel orange

In early 2011 I planted a Senecio vitalis on the edge of the succulent bed next to our front door. Closely related to the ever popular blue chalk fingers ( Senecio mandraliscae ), Senecio vitalis is more upright and has a greenish-gray coloration as opposed to Senecio mandraliscae ’s steely blue. Both plants are reasonably common in local nurseries, and I would recommend them both for a drought-tolerant landscaping scheme. Senecio vitalis   on 9/17/2011

Yesterday there was a lot of excitement on our street. Our neighbor across the street noticed in the morning that quite a few bees were buzzing around the butterfly bush (buddleia) in their front yard. In the next few hours, it became clear that this was a swarm in the midst of moving to a new place to live. While beekeeping in suburban backyards is gaining in popularity, our neighbors weren’t ready for a bee colony so they contacted the Sacramento Area Beekeeper Association and were referred to a local beekeeper who lives just a few streets away.

Last Saturday, after attending the Ruth Bancroft Garden’s spring plant sale , I made the 35-minute drive from Walnut Creek to Richmond to check out the Spring Party at Annie’s Annuals & Perennials . I’d been to Annie’s a couple of times since last summer ( 1 2 ), but their inventory is both vast and ever-changing so I knew that I would find something new to drool over and/or take home. Annie’s is located in a light-industrial area and the approach isn’t exactly welcoming (neither are the coils of barbed wire on top of the outside fence). But land is premium-priced in the Bay Area, and a production nursery that wants to remain competitive doesn’t have much choice when it comes to location, especially a multi-acre operation like Annie’s. Market Street railroad crossing. Annie’s is a few hundred yards down the road on the left. However, as soon as you step through the gate, you instantly forget that you’re not in the nicest part of town.  

Last Saturday I went to the spring plant sale at Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, CA. Click here to read my write up about the sale. After I had picked out what I wanted, I wandered through this 3-acre succulent wonderland to check up on my favorite plants and to take photos for this blog. I visit three or four times a year and every time I find something new and different—not surprising considering there are thousands upon thousands of plants. One of these days I’ll try to find out how many species of succulents there are in the Garden’s collections. Ruth Bancroft (104 years old now!) still lives in the house next to the garden

For Northern California succulent lovers, one of the biggest events in the spring is the April plant sale at Ruth Bancroft Garden (RBG) in Walnut Creek, CA. I’ve been to quite a few of them over the years and they’re always high-octane events but this sale seemed to draw even more people than usual. It’s a clear sign that a wider segment of the gardening public is taking an interest in succulents. Water is becoming ever more scarce and expensive in our part of the country and replacing at least some thirsty annuals and perennials with drought-tolerant succulents is a great way to conserve water. I arrived a few minutes early and took the opportunity to photograph the plantings along the entrance road. As you can see, they are stunning in their own right. North entrance. The road leads to the garden entrance on the right and to a parking area. View in the other direction toward Bancroft Road, a busy four-lane street  

Yesterday I blogged about our thwarted attempt at a planting party at my in-laws in the mountains of Northern California. We brought up a bunch of plants, but due to a series of freak snow storms we never got around to putting them in the ground. Not only did the snow not let up yesterday, it continued a good part of the night. This morning we woke up to 7 inches of fresh snow on the ground. A winter wonderland straight out of a postcard, albeit a few months late. We’re safely home in Davis now, but I wanted to share with you some of the photos I took before we left Mount Shasta. Not exactly plant-related, but I hope you’ll enjoy them nonetheless.

For the last six months I’ve been collecting a variety of plants for my in-laws who live in the mountains of Northern California. We delivered the plants a couple of days ago, expecting crisp but sunny spring weather. Well, the weather gods managed to surprise as again, as they already have many times this year. Instead of sunshine, we were greeted by rain. It did stop briefly—the sun even popped out for an hour or two—but then it resumed and overnight turned to snow. I could hardly believe my eyes when I woke up to a solid snow cover this morning! Post-Easter winter wonderland

If you live in Northern California, this coming Saturday, April 14, is shaping up to a blockbuster plant sale day. Not one, not two, not three but four plant sales sure to excite any gardener. It’ll be hard to decide which one(s) to go to! Where will I go? I’ll start at 9 am at Ruth Bancroft Garden, then hop over to Annie’s Annuals. I would love to go to Far Out Flora’s moving sale, but I’m not brave enough to face driving through San Francisco on a Saturday morning—although I’m mighty tempted and reserve the right to change my mind on short notice!

In yesterday’s post , I described the gardens on the east side of Alcatraz. Today we’ll continue our tour on the west side. I thought the gardens there would be similar to what I’d already seen on the other side of the island, but I was wrong. It was even better! A true paradise for succulent lovers, as you will see very shortly. Here is our trusty map again for orientation: Map of Alcatraz As you walk around the lighthouse (#8 on the map), you’re greeted by a carpet of pink Drosanthemum floribundum , one of the many kinds of iceplants from South Africa. It clearly thrives in this exposed spot which, like most of the west side, gets plenty of sun. Drosanthemum floribundum… …or “Persian carpet,” as the island residents used to call it I love how it trails over the edge of this retaining wall Not the most spectacular iceplant flowers up close but en masse the effect is spectacular Just a few hundred feet down the path is where the real spectacle begins. A