Gardening for nature, walks with my dogs and the books I’m reading.

[MarkD]

Fort Funston at the beach in San Francisco is our favorite dog walk destination but Point Isabel in Richmond (Eastbay) is the one we visit more often since it is closer and doesn’t require bridge crossings.

Some pics from there this week my wife just shared with me. She really shows her skills in the first, entirely missing the repository of most my adipose tissue.









Sunsets here can be fun as this one I took a couple years ago.

 

[MarkD]

Okay, back to the garden. It has been surprisingly cold, windy and wet this winter. We'll never turn down the wet but the wind especially and the cold have marked a few plants though I expect all to recover. Today was the first time I've walked around the garden to get a close look at how plants are doing. All are focused on particular plants but these first five are somewhat wider views. I'll make one more post of some more closely cropped pics.

On the north side of a ten foot fence this Fuschia boliviana along our southern border.



Lobelia aguana flowering orange facing the pond.



From the center of the garden facing southeast past these Lachnalia blooms to Cleistocactus beyond.



In the side garden just outside the side door this Beginia luxuriant hasn’t been at all bothered by the colder weather.



Toward the bottom of the side garden I have planted out this young Australian beauty, Hakea petiolaris.l with the side door in the distance.

 

[MountainRa]

The variety of plants in your garden is just amazing. Good photos too.

 

[MarkD]

The variety of plants in your garden is just amazing. Good photos too.

Thank you for checking them out and saying so. I have no technical skills for photography so I tend to shoot many but discard all but the best. Also I always feel like it is the quality of the light that draws me. If it’s flat there is no point taking any given my limited skills.
But I am adventurous about plant choices as long as they’re not equipped for and set on world conquest, why not? Always looking for plants that make me say wow which are suited to the slots available.

 

[RobinWren]

I’m feeling inspired by #Gary's diary about building his cabin in retirement to share what I’m doing in retirement.

Until the pandemic hit working out at the YMCA was a big part of retirement and made a huge difference in how I felt. Even before that I decided to lose the extra weight I’d put on as the teaching I used to love became more stressful and less fulfilling after No Child Left Behind. I lost more than 20 pounds as part of a New Year’s resolution in my first year of retirement seven years ago. I joined a Healthy Eating class at Kaiser which met ten times, once a week. I did another class in the fall and one last one the following January losing 50 pounds in all. But quitting the Y has resulted in gaining back 15.

Anyhow the best parts of retirement has been more time to develop my garden, walk my dogs and read great books.

Here are a couple of plot plans I once made of my garden before it was as finished as it is now. (No garden is ever truly finished.) I didn’t make a plan at the beginning and then stick with it. The garden and my vision for it evolved together unhurriedly.

I started making the back garden soon after I started teaching, more than thirty years ago. Our back fence abuts a city park to the east. To the south is a community orchard and on the north a year around creek separates our parcel from our neighbor. Our place is a a little cracker box of a warehouse, 40 by 80 feet situated in the southwest corner of our 100 feet wide by 120 feet deep lot. It isn’t large by rural standards but is unusually large by suburban standards and we have far more open ground than neighboring commercial buildings.

View attachment 253293

The second one is centered on the back garden and the first drawing, showing the side garden m, has been rotated 90 degrees from its orientation in the other drawing.

View attachment 253292

To give you a feel for it now here is a short video I took two years ago walking out the side doors, heading out to the back garden as far as to the pond where a hummingbird working over a red flowering Salvia wagneriana and a mostly orange colored Lobelia aguana seemed like a natural place to end it.

Paradise, thank you. And look at those lucky hummers.

 

[MarkD]

Paradise, thank you. And look at those lucky hummers.

Looks like you’re a bird afficianado. I only know some of those that visit but I enjoy seeing and hearing them and coming across their nests.

I’m not an avid bird watcher myself. Are you?

 

[MarkD]

I thought I might also post a few shameless flower portraits too.

This is a large vine of Clematis montana cultivar called ‘Apple Blossoms’ for its pinkish tint, I imagine.



The crab apple has rewarded me for clearing away some smothering growth from a Marmalade bush and a Cantua.



Some people find these Cleistocactus strausii flowers remind them of cigars. These are as open as they get, all they do is stick their little snaky stamens out the end. Must have a very small pollinator



I forget the name of this Daisy flowered plant but as cheerful as the flowers are it is the unopened buds on it I like best, especially the larger partially opened ones. I find the patterning so ornate.



The last one is one of my favorite plants in the garden, a flat growing Aeonium glandulosum from the island of Madeira where they grow on cliff walls above the ocean much as Dudleyas do in my part of the world.



They are monocarpic in as much as each head will only bloom once before dying. There had been four heads on this one originally. One I removed and planted elsewhere as it was buried under the other three. Another bloomed for the first (and last time) last year after several years in the garden. I though it was pretty spectacular. But I’m at the photo limit so here is a link.

https://flic.kr/p/2npwpEH

 

[MarkD]

One thing I miss because of the pandemic is the opportunity to visit other gardens with friends. I still have a few over at a time and will visit gardens of friends occasionally but the mood is different.

Here is an interesting photo from a San Francisco garden I’ve enjoyed visiting.



The tall flower stalks belong to Echium pininana, the tallest growing of that tribe. I grow a hybrid between this one and the smaller E. wildpretii know as Mr Happy in my garden which regularly reach between 8 and 16 feet, pretty variable. Sometimes they’ll bloom in one year but usually in two while this tallest species can spend several years feuling up as a rosette of leaves before flowering. The ones in this photo are easily over 20 feet tall and are growing at the base of Mount Sutro in San Francisco, on of the wettest places in the city.

The garden belongs to the son of the nurseryman Victor Reiter who had created the La Richette horticultural nursery here years ago before zoning closed him down. It is on the site of the last operational farm in the city, and one of only five sites still permitted to draw water from existing wells. There is a nice article on him here on the website of the California Horticultural Society which he helped create as well.

The red flowering tree is a Metrosideros and the other flowering trees are magnolias I believe. My other photos from there are less impressive.





And a couple from last year.

 

[Sliverfox]

Thank you for sharing your pictures.

Its nice to see flowers that aren't native to NW PA.

 

[hearlady]

One thing I miss because of the pandemic is the opportunity to visit other gardens with friends. I still have a few over at a time and will visit gardens of friends occasionally but the mood is different.

Here is an interesting photo from a San Francisco garden I’ve enjoyed visiting.

View attachment 272034

The tall flower stalks belong to Echium pininana, the tallest growing of that tribe. I grow a hybrid between this one and the smaller E. wildpretii know as Mr Happy in my garden which regularly reach between 8 and 16 feet, pretty variable. Sometimes they’ll bloom in one year but usually in two while this tallest species can spend several years feuling up as a rosette of leaves before flowering. The ones in this photo are easily over 20 feet tall and are growing at the base of Mount Sutro in San Francisco, on of the wettest places in the city.

The garden belongs to the son of the nurseryman Victor Reiter who had created the La Richette horticultural nursery here years ago before zoning closed him down. It is on the site of the last operational farm in the city, and one of only five sites still permitted to draw water from existing wells. There is a nice article on him here on the website of the California Horticultural Society which he helped create as well.

The red flowering tree is a Metrosideros and the other flowering trees are magnolias I believe. My other photos from there are less impressive.

View attachment 272038

View attachment 272039

And a couple from last year.

View attachment 272042

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Lovely!

 

[MarkD]

Lia is inside with four curators from the San Francisco Modern Art Museum. I spent most of yesterday straightening up the garden and this morning prepping tea and snacks. We have a beautiful sunny day so wam I had to shed my jacket as I sit here waiting for them to emerge. While I’m waiting I decided to take a quick video for a friend. Some of you are or are becoming friends so here is that video.

https://flic.kr/p/2omZjAi

 

[katlupe]

I love your flowers! I grew only vegetables in my raised beds but wild flowers were all around me. I used wild plants for medicinal and edible purposes mostly. Flowers though, seem to be such a happy plant and I look forward to our season starting now.

 

[MarkD]

I love your flowers! I grew only vegetables in my raised beds but wild flowers were all around me. I used wild plants for medicinal and edible purposes mostly. Flowers though, seem to be such a happy plant and I look forward to our season starting now.

Thank you. I look forward to more typically spring weather too. We don’t have as pronounced a down season without a true winter, but things really take off after we finally get winter rains. But this year we seem to have hit the motherliad of winters, so much rain, wind and cold. I took this video just yesterday. It is one of those you can only see by clicking on Ian’s following it to my Flickr page.

https://flic.kr/p/2oovR4a

That plant with the large leaves and yellow flowers has really taken a beating losing more than half of its branch tips. These show what it normally looks like.

 

[MarkD]

Finally came across this photo of my boy Smokey standing near the placard for Fletcher, the only other male dog either my wife or I ever had. When he died I buried him at the bottom of this (then) new raised bed and planted the pincushion flower over him. I’d never done that with another pet but it seemed fitting since died at home in my arms. The placard had been a Christmas gift to his original owners, my wife’s aunt and uncle. We put them up to getting another dog which they’d always had. When pressed for why they said didn’t expect to be around long enough for that so I personally promised to take him at any point they required. We got him at 4 and he lived 10 more years. One of an increasing number of lifetime favorites. Here are some other pics of him in this part of the garden.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

I thought I might also post a few shameless flower portraits too.

This is a large vine of Clematis montana cultivar called ‘Apple Blossoms’ for its pinkish tint, I imagine.

View attachment 271558

The crab apple has rewarded me for clearing away some smothering growth from a Marmalade bush and a Cantua.

View attachment 271557

Some people find these Cleistocactus strausii flowers remind them of cigars. These are as open as they get, all they do is stick their little snaky stamens out the end. Must have a very small pollinator

View attachment 271561

I forget the name of this Daisy flowered plant but as cheerful as the flowers are it is the unopened buds on it I like best, especially the larger partially opened ones. I find the patterning so ornate.

View attachment 271560

The last one is one of my favorite plants in the garden, a flat growing Aeonium glandulosum from the island of Madeira where they grow on cliff walls above the ocean much as Dudleyas do in my part of the world.

View attachment 271562

They are monocarpic in as much as each head will only bloom once before dying. There had been four heads on this one originally. One I removed and planted elsewhere as it was buried under the other three. Another bloomed for the first (and last time) last year after several years in the garden. I though it was pretty spectacular. But I’m at the photo limit so here is a link.

https://flic.kr/p/2npwpEH

What a gorgeous garden you have. Your Clematis Montana looks so striking. I really like how large that type gets. You have a spectacular garden. Fletchers such a handsome boy. R.I.P.

 

[MarkD]

Spring seems quite spring here in Coastal California along the San Francisco bay’s East side. I’m a little overwhelmed by how florid the new growth has been, especially that of the weeds. But I’ll feel sorry for myself later. Here are 3 photos taken this morning near my raised deck in the northeast corner of my back garden. The first shows the stairs leading up to this little deck.



The vining shrub blooming red at the top is a Cantua buxifolia, national flower of a couple of South American countries. A close up of the flowers up there :



Then looking back down from up there.



Still getting used to the five picture per post limit so I’ll just include a picture of my dogs taken in the area near the pond, at the end of the path seen from up there in the last photo.



But the roses are also coming on now so here is Smokey near the climber Royal Sunset growing beside the gazebo.

 

[hearlady]

So pretty!

 

[MickaC]

Spring seems quite spring here in Coastal California along the San Francisco bay’s East side. I’m a little overwhelmed by how florid the new growth has been, especially that of the weeds. But I’ll feel sorry for myself later. Here are 3 photos taken this morning near my raised deck in the northeast corner of my back garden. The first shows the stairs leading up to this little deck.

View attachment 281388

The vining shrub blooming red at the top is a Cantua buxifolia, national flower of a couple of South American countries. A close up of the flowers up there :

View attachment 281391

Then looking back down from up there.

View attachment 281394

Still getting used to the five picture per post limit so I’ll just include a picture of my dogs taken in the area near the pond, at the end of the path seen from up there in the last photo.

View attachment 281396

But the roses are also coming on now so here is Smokey near the climber Royal Sunset growing beside the gazebo.

View attachment 281397

Another GREAT walk with you and your guys through your AMAZING gardens.
Thank you MarkD

 

[Jackie23]

Lovely garden, MarkD, especially the roses.

 

[MarkD]

Lovely garden, MarkD, especially the roses.

Thanks. I love that rose the most: best scent, great color and not a disease magnet though not entirely resistant either. Sadly it only does well in moderate climate - neither getting too hot nor too cold.

 

[palides2021]

Lia is inside with four curators from the San Francisco Modern Art Museum. I spent most of yesterday straightening up the garden and this morning prepping tea and snacks. We have a beautiful sunny day so wam I had to shed my jacket as I sit here waiting for them to emerge. While I’m waiting I decided to take a quick video for a friend. Some of you are or are becoming friends so here is that video.

https://flic.kr/p/2omZjAi

Thank you so much, @MarkD for sharing your beautiful garden with us and the creek! The sound of the water is so soothing. Your tea and snacks in that environment felt like one of those resorts where people go and relax. Enjoy your paradise!

 

[MarkD]

Thank you so much, @MarkD for sharing your beautiful garden with us and the creek! The sound of the water is so soothing. Your tea and snacks in that environment felt like one of those resorts where people go and relax. Enjoy your paradise!

Thank you. I really miss sharing it in person so you are very kind to settle for virtual. Turns out one of the curators lives not too far away and visits park and cafe next door regularly. We’ve found gardens and art go well together and lots of my wife’s artist

 

[MarkD]

I never know how well a video I have on Flickr will work. This one I shot early in February in the midst of all that wind, rain and cold we got. So not as lush as it will be later but all the more room for the dogs Smokey and Ember to play.

https://flic.kr/p/2okvCtg

The turquoise chairs you see is the same as the ones you see in my last post on that raised landing beside the stairs up to the small deck overlooking the creek and park.

Before that deck went in there was a tall plywood fence which I found was always in the sun. So when part of it blew down one winter I designed built this deck both for the views and for the sun. Before that the circular courtyard for entertaining went in originally as a circle of lawn. But let’s start with my mostly blank slate.

Probably taken in the 90’s, looking over the first island bed looking toward where the corner deck would eventually go.



As I added more and more plants I recognized there was still room for a circle with a diameter of about 20 feet so I hired a guy to prep for and install a lawn after I first ran pipes for irrigation underneath. In this photo you can see the tall plywood fence festooned with morning glories back where the deck would go. At this pointhe space where tge lawn would go was still just mown weeds.



Taken from the roof of the shed, you can see the early circular lawn.





But lawns and female dogs don’t do so well together so I replaced it with flagstone eventually.

 

[Medusa]

Thanks. I love that rose the most: best scent, great color and not a disease magnet though not entirely resistant either. Sadly it only does well in moderate climate - neither getting too hot nor too cold.

I have a rosebush just outside the back door that my daughter got for me for Mother's Day about 11 years ago. It has been through a lot since then and honestly, if it weren't for my husband, I think it would be dead.

It was filled with pretty pink roses when I got it, but they turned deep red the year after I planted it. I understand this has something to do with soil content.

 

[MarkD]

I have a rosebush just outside the back door that my daughter got for me for Mother's Day about 11 years ago. It has been through a lot since then and honestly, if it weren't for my husband, I think it would be dead.

It was filled with pretty pink roses when I got it, but they turned deep red the year after I planted it. I understand this has something to do with soil content.

That could well be but often named varieties are grown on the roots of a different rose and I’ve had one come up with red roses from down low with enough vigor to overwhelm the grafted on variety.