GardenBook

 Though the garden has been a companion for years , little thought has been given to it's internal architecure until I began to photograph, and in turn study the photographs of my own garden and those of others both public and private. This collection of pictures tells me what pleases me in shapes, design, and patterns of the plants themselves. It is easy to look outside now and see missteps -wrong size, wrong place. As a collector of plants, my garden will never reflect the perfect design, there will always be something that doesn't quite fit or needs to be moved, (multiple times I fear)or something that spoils the vignette. Still the plant will often stay earning it's keep on sheer likability. I cheerfully lack the discipline to create the types of scenes shown below. Photos are from the Ruth Bancroft Garden, the Knot Garden at Filoli, the Heather garden at  Mendocino Botanical Gardens, and the Lavender fields at Matanzas Creek Winery.

Was it the late 80's when it became acceptable for men to wear pink ? Pink shirts, pink ties, maybe even pink pants if the guy was  a golfer. I have both invited  and banished it in the garden over the years - at the moment it's tucked in everywhere- the only thing that seems to clash with pink is the wrong pink. I prefer clear baby pink, silvery pink, hot pink - but no coral-ish tones please ; I can't count the roses that have gotten eviction notices for being too warm, too salmon. Thought I admire these tones in OPG's , I rarely tolerate them in mine.

 The garden elitist within has broken free . The accumulated visits to gardens that are creative , beautifully designed, sometimes downright astonishing, jades the view of these very pretty but somewhat mundane venues. 10 years ago these may have thrilled, and sent me home with a laundry list of ideas to try in  my own modest garden, but instead it was a pleasant day in a scenic and well-heeled enclave of Northern California where the only 'wow' moments were the views from 2 of the gardens, and the lovely Victorian home that anchored another. A bit of whimsy in a garden with an enviable location on Belvedere Lagoon. I'm a sucker for Papyrus. Wow vistas. A lovely clump of foxgloves and Delphs, though obviously planted from 1 gallon nursery containers very recently.That Berberis looks hot off the presses too. Did I say elitist ? Maybe snarky is a better term. Here was a favorite , a  charming little greenhouse packed with interest ..perhaps a real garde...