Succulents and More™

The third and final private garden we visited as part of Pacific Horticulture Society’s Summit 2016 belongs to Josh Williams, the manager of California Flora Nursery . According to the description in the Summit 2016 driving tour: [he ] converted the flat lawns and bare soils of his urban garden into a landscape dedicated to the striking diversity of plants native to California, particularly those of Sonoma County. You’ll find the half-acre parcel divided into ecological zones displaying distinct plant communities as they’re found in nature. I’m not an expert on California natives, and even after reading The Drought-Defying Garden: 230 Native Plants for a Lush, Low-Water Landscape by Greg Rubin and Lucy Warren I wouldn’t know how to begin creating an all-native garden. In addition, I’ve seen some insipid examples over the years that have left me anything but inspired. All this was going through my head as we we were driving from Mary and Lew Reid’s hilltop Eden in rural Sonoma Cou...

This post continues the tour of the private gardens in Sonoma County, California I had the privilege of visiting as part of Pacific Horticulture Society’s Summit 2016 . The first garden we saw was garden designer Roger Raiche’s place in Guerneville. Stop #2 was Mary and Lew Reid’s garden outside of Sebastopol. This is how it was described in the 2016 Summit program: Mary and Lew Reid’s garden is 25 years old and ever changing. Lew, who never passes up a chance to grow a plant, and Mary, a landscape designer, have the pure pleasure of creating this beautiful garden painting high above Sonoma County’s lowlands, The zone 8 setting makes it possible to grow just about anything, and their garden is filled with plants from all over the world. What matters most to them is the juxtaposition of foliage colors and textures. Carefully considered, these carry the garden throughout the year. You’ll see it in its autumn glory. It took quite a while to get there from the first garden. The roads we...

Last weekend, I attended the Pacific Horticulture Society’s Summit 2016 held at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, CA. Under the motto “Changing Times, Changing Charges: Shaping a New Environment,” the two-day event featured a series of diverse presentations exploring “how gardens are evolving in the face of climate change, with inspiration coming from our natural surroundings as well as from innovations in water conservation and land management.” The speakers ranged from landscape architects with experience in private and public projects (Thomas Rainer, Michelle Sullivan) to garden designers (Bob Hyland, Marilee Kuhlmann) to nursery owner and plantsman extraordinaire Phil Van Soelen, owner of Cal Flora Nursery in Sonoma County. Roger Raiche’s house: subtle clues notwithstanding, it’s often difficult to know what treasures might be hiding behind fences and gates Sunday’s program included a self-guided driving tour of Sonoma County with more than 30 stops—everyth...

We may not have the best selection of nurseries here in Northern California (the Portland area is hard to beat) but we have great public gardens. And many of them have one or even multiple plant sales in the fall. I’ve already been to the Ruth Bancroft Garden fall sale , always a personal favorite. Last Saturday I missed the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum sale (I was at the 2016 Pacific Horticulture Summit in Santa Rosa, CA). But this Saturday I will go to the second of three fall plant sales at the UC Davis Arboretum . I’ve been critical of their plant selections in the past (same old plants, nothing new and exciting) but they have dramatically changed the scope of what they offer. Yes, there are still the stalwarts Davis gardeners seem to like, but the number of succulents they offer has tripled or quadrupled in the last couple of years. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. They’re now also selling newly introduced hybrids in a wide variety of genera, from Agastache to Helleborus to...

In recent years we’ve focused almost exclusively on the front yard, from tearing out an old pittosporum hedge to replacing the front lawn . In the process, the backyard has gotten short shrift. Last weekend I completed what I hope was the first of many backyard projects to be tackled this fall: redoing the planting strip on the north side of house. This is what it looked like before: October 1, 2016 Not only was this bed completely overgrown, most of the aeoniums were infested with mealybugs. I had initially considered trying to save as many of the aeoniums as I could, but in the end I decided to toss them all and go a different route.

Last Saturday I took my first-ever photography workshop at the Ruth Bancroft Garden. I would have missed it if Kathy Stoner of GardenBook hadn’t brought it to my attention—thank you, Kathy. The workshop was billed for beginners, and while after 30+ years of taking photos I’m not exactly a novice, I thought it would be great to have early access to the garden (8 a.m.) in order to take advantage of the best light. And the light was sweet indeed! The silk floss tree ( Ceiba speciosa ) near the back fence, one of the garden’s signature trees and in full flower right now, was spectacular backlit by the morning sun. I think this might be the most beautiful photo I’ve ever taken at the Ruth Bancroft Garden: Agave ‘Mr Ripple’ and silk floss tree ( Ceiba speciosa )

After an unseasonal heat wave a week ago it’s finally beginning to feel like fall. And fall means plant sale time. Last weekend it was Ruth Bancroft Garden’s turn. Their spring and fall sales are always a personal highlight, especially since I use the opportunity to check out what’s new in the garden. Last Saturday I took a photography workshop at the RBG that allowed us early access (8 a.m.). I’ll show you my best photos later in the week. Today’s post is about the plant sale, which started at 10 a.m.. New banner in the nursery In the “old” days , the plant sales at the RBG were a big deal. The retail nursery was small and only offered a limited selection year round. For the sales, the garden staff brought in a large amount of plants that were not available otherwise. The expansion of the retail nursery in February 2015 has taken the pressure off the twice-a-year plant sales because the nursery has such a large permanent inventory now. Fortunately, they still bring in special pl...