GardenBook

 If I ruled the world, Marin County Open Gardens would commence at 7:am and end at 11.  There was no heatwave for a change (that event happened the following week)  but the only year I have been able to capture decent images was when the gardens were on the coast-Bolinas and Stinson Beach specifically. That tour was posted about here and  here. The sun is not soft in our Mediterranean climate,   I visited four gardens on this June Garden Conservancy tour, and batted 500- two were good one was ok, just not to my taste , and one was well, kinda bad.I won't include the latter two in this post .  First ups is the garden of Roger-all owner IDs on this day were first name only . There were areas of deep shade and full sun and they were adjacent  so I didn't come back with many usable photos. I found this garden to be extremely pleasant to be in. The low profile of the house never intruded and there was a nice mixture of colorful areas and artful c...

 I'm not really sure  why I loved this garden. I'm not  usually a fan of  clipped and formed shrubs , I obsess about the topped Phormiums and the meatball Loropetalums seen in commercial landscapes around town. Why do people think that looks good ? A few years ago I posted on this topic here  and here . I will admit though , that I have often seen admirable uses of this device . It's helpful if the gardener actually knows what they are doing, and knows the name and habit of the plant they are working on.    Bolinas is a beach town on Tomales Bay, and the climate is ideal for almost everything except tomatoes and peppers. It never gets hot and it never gets cold. The garden here is the creation of watercolor artist Sally Robertson. From the Garden Conservancy guide: "As a painter, I often choose plants as inspiration for a watercolor, but I give much thought to their placement, for the garden itself is a highly orchestrated color palette ." ...

 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...