Succulents and More™

This is part 2 of my post about landscape designer Mat McGrath’s personal garden in Rodeo, California. If you missed part 1 (front yard), click here . ⸻ ⸻ If you thought there were a lot of plants in Mat and Mali’s front yard, you’ll be blown away by the backyard. It’s a large space, and virtually every square inch that’s covered with soil has something growing in it. This is what you see as you walk into the backyard: Epiphyte wall (a few small staghorn ferns, too) Potted tropicals on the patio: Bromeliads, ferns, begonias, and other tropicals Bamboo fern ( Coniogramme japonica ) and Vriesea fosteriana Vriesea sp. and a variegated crassula named in honor of Mat’s wife Mali ( Crassula multicava ‘Mali’s Thai-Dye’ ) Bromeliads, red pagoda plant ( Crassula capitella ), and Mexican fencepost cactus ( Lophocereus marginatus ). And cool rain chain, too! Tropical corner on the patio. The tall variegated plant is  Tupidanthus calyptratus  (formerly Schefflera pueckleri ). Potted succulents ag

Last weekend I had the opportunity to revisit the garden of landscape designer Mathew McGrath of Farallon Gardens and his wife Mali in the East Bay town of Rodeo . I had been there last in June 2023 . Back then, the garden was 1½ years old. Now, 16 months later, it’s 3 years old. but looking far more mature than its age suggests. That’s what you get when you combine design experience, smart plant selection, and fertile new soil. I took 150+ photos and I've split up this post into two installments: the front yard (this post) and the backyard ( here ). The company van parked in the driveway sports two of Farallon Gardens’ designs: one symbolizing succulents, the other tropical plants. These are Mat’s primary design focuses. The company’s clientele is mostly in the Bay Area where succulents and tropical plants flourish side by side. In the three years since starting his garden, Mat’s plant preferences have begun to shift a little from succulents towards tropical plants, especially p