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Showing posts from September, 2022

Belated Bloomday September 2022-Roadtrip Edition

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   It's just as well that I wasn't present in my own garden for Bloomday this month. The protracted heatwave on and around Labor Day was not kind to my plants-many either scorched, shut down or combinations thereof. . Septembers offerings instead are photos taken on a visit to Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens where Dahlias and tuberous Begonias were in peak bloom.  I haven't attempted to grow tuberous Begonias  for years. In  my inland zone 9 climate just the right garden location is key -preferably very bright shade with consistent protection from mid- or late day sun. Every few years I buy a few tubers to see if the golden spot has be found at last. I'm about due to give it another go-I continue to be a glutton for punishment. In the meantime I can travel out to the coast to enjoy the perfectly grown specimens in the Begonia House with their baseball sized flowers .   I timed this road trip right -the Dahlias were at their best, complete with absolute pristine foliag

Return to Garden Conservancy Open Days

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   It's been a very long time since private gardens have been open for touring here in Northern California. In late June, the Garden Conservancy had Open Days in Marin County-gardens I had visited in 2016 and well worth a return visit. Tickets had to be purchased in advance and visitor numbers were limited -not a bad thing since GC Open Gardens can be crowded. I took the scenic route through Point Reyes National Seashore which added another dimension to the day.   I only visited two of the three gardens open that day , the first being the Stinson Beach garden of a retired professor of medicine. This mature garden was ahead of it's time when it was created in the early 1990's . Many of the plants seen here were not in common use in Northern California at that time and we can be thankful for garden pioneers who took the chance to acquire rare but climate appropriate plants and nurseries like Western Hills that provided them.  The garden is on a steep rocky parcel at the base