GardenBook

  My four day holiday weekend extension provided a free morning to go on an outing to Walnut Creek . I had a full roster of chores and projects which even included actual indoor housework -something I always manage to avoid in spring. 'Spring Cleaning' around here means sweeping the patio.    It was quite windy , which has been very common this spring and I tried to get photos between gusts. Fortunately succulents do not blow around much , but everything else was.  Just inside the entry this Agave (horrida?) was engulfed by Mimulus auracantia .  Lots of Agaves in bloom . Kind of sad -this Agave ovatifolia is the anchor pant of this intersection of paths.  Had to get this one from more than one angle. These Agave franzosinii have been in the garden a very long time indeed.                                                     ...

    With no rain in the forecast and many Northern California counties on the verge of lockdown, I took a drive to Walnut Creek for a long overdue fall/winter stroll through the Ruth Bancroft Garden. As it turned out the new restrictions that were imposed the following Monday did not lead to closure of the garden. It was a pleasant sunny and cool morning , with some interesting goings on at the garden.    The ladder in the background is staged for staff who would be installing the frost cover over the newley renovated shade structure in the center of the garden. Renovated might not be completely accurate -the old structure which had seen better days was completely torn down and rebuilt .   RBG has also followed the lead of many other botanical gardens in the US with a holiday light spectacle to keep the revenue flowing in winter. I give events like this a pass but at least it gets people into the garden -maybe some who have never visited and might be promp...

 Botanical Gardens in the state of California have been given the green light to open again, provided the now familiar safety protocols are in place. If there is any public venue I feel completely comfortable visiting it is a public garden. I never touch anything except plants and my camera and  unless a plant sale or some other event is in progress most are relatively uncrowded. At this point events are pretty much all virtual. I waited a couple of weeks after the Ruth Bancroft Garden reopened before taking the journey to Walnut Creek and it felt quite liberating. And I even experienced filling the gas tank in my vehicle which I hadn't needed to do in many weeks.  I arrived at the garden close to opening time, showed my membership card at the kiosk and in I went -my first visit there since New Years Eve.  Agave franzosinii on the march.  There have been significant renovations to the planting spaces in the last few years-more are completed ...