GardenBook

   June is a month of abundance, everything it seems is in bloom. I was focused on editing my choices for this Bloomday post , and still have 15 photos. Thanks to our mistress of ceremonies , Carol over yonder at May Dreams Gardens who provides us with links to blooms across the globe on the 15th of each month.  Angelica stricta pupurea , taller than me -vertical drama. This is my best effort with these plants; I have been careful to give them water and I'm sure our winter of real live rain contributed to their success. And speaking of success , I have been trying to produce a blooming Astrantia for several years..I am ridiculously pleased to have my first ever bloom. I finally found the right spot. The right spot is everything with plants that may be borderline for ones' zone-not a cold hardiness issue for me, but  heat hardiness . Anigozanthus, this one lives in a large container, next door to Elegia capensis.  Lily season is upon us , and I c...

 I was happy to see Marin County Open Days venture out to the coast; I have had bad luck with the weather in past years (hot! ) even though Marin is typically moderated by San Francisco Bay. Three gardens were on the roster and I planned my route to take advantage of light Saturday morning traffic and avoidance of more congestion in the afternoon. My first stop was garden perched on the hillside overlooking Bolinas Bay and adjacent to Mt Tamalpias State Park.  The garden is mature, having been created 20 years ago from undeveloped land reportedly choked with poison oak and other undesirables  surrounding an imposing rock outcropping .Elevation changes were numerous, but the gardener built a network of paths that allowed for relatively easy navigation of the property. It was hard to resist multiple photos of this stand of Poppies near the entry.   Beyond the poppies and through the main entry gate into  the garden, this view reveals itself. It w...

 Full disclosure, this Wednesday vignette was taken on Saturday at a Garden Conservancy open garden in Marin County. The design here was very spare -who could argue with that when you are on the edge of the Pacific -specifically Bolinas Bay.  The grassy berm on the left is man made and melds seamlessly with the open grassland down the bluff to the sea.

 My trip to the central coast of California in late April placed me within a two hour drive of the iconic Seaside Gardens Nursery in the Socal beach city of Carpenteria , to the immediate south of Santa Barbara. I was on a very brief holiday, but spending  a day motoring along  highway 101-one of my favorite road trip drives-was appealing. I was at liberty to do whatever the hell I wanted to, and  this was an excellent way to spend the day.   My first visit to Seaside was in April of 2010, briefly blogged about here , and again in 2011. In my experience,  display gardens in California nurseries are a rarity and this one is so well done and beautifully maintained I  assume that the design business here is able to support the upkeep. In fact, I have never seen this nursery busy with retail customers, and you might have to search out an employee to make your purchase.  Admittedly I always have visited as soon as they open on a weekday , traditiona...