GardenBook

  My first post written about my April visit to the Taft Garden focused primarily on the Aloes which were abundant and happily for me, blooming . But Aloes , though they felt to me like the signature plant of that garden, were certainly not all there was to see. There was plenty of breadth to the plant inventory.    There  was no shortage of Agaves  Rock walls and the natural arrangement of rocks themselves within the loosely defined planted areas, along with the bright green of our winter grasses looked very fine with the backdrop of the surrounding landscape.It was as though the plants just belonged there.  This has to be  the largest planting of Xanthorrhoea I've ever encountered in one garden -it was essentially a grove.  A Grevillea I presume , but my research failed to confirm it's specific ID. I'm going with G. 'Frosty Pink' as my best guess.   There were Acacias , all beyond my Acacia nami...

 Eucalyptus is an introduced presence that looms over and defines many regions of California , rows of them providing windbreaks in agricultural areas and lining highways . Many consider them to be 'weed trees' , with their year round leaf-drop and reputation for flammability-a notable example of the latter being the devastating  Oakland Hills fire of 1991 . Debates abound over the wisdom or foolishness of their presence here-Eucs are second only to Redwood in the arena of controversial trees in our fair state.  I admit that I love them. I love their looks, I love the fragrance-they are the most significant  tree of my childhood and the first tree I ever planted as a homeowner. Like a wayward and beloved friend I forgive them over and over for their defects. Ironically I don't currently own one, and in all likelihood I never will-they are far too large for my tiny lot. But I can step outside and see them along the river to the east,and on the hillside to the south....