Last view from above
We left town last Sunday and have been on a whirlwind road trip to Big Sur, the Central Coast, Santa Barbara, Yosemite and now South Lake Tahoe. In a couple hours we’ll be leaving the beautiful state of California for a day long drive through Nevada, on to Moab, UT and then Summit County & Denver Colorado, before making it back to Wisconsin. Here are a few pics of the remaining plants of our old garden right before we left just for the heck of it (I’m being a bit of a roadtrip photo uploading/labeling slacker right now).
Papaver commutatum 'Ladybird'
All the broken surfboards are on their way to Wisconsin 
We’re thinking of going with a beach theme for the new nursery.
Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars
So my caterpillar babies didn’t make it to this size, but wonderful Tim brought over a bunch we released on our vine about a week before we left. I must have spent hours watching them eat away on the pipevine.
Calceolaria integrifolia 'Kentish Hero'
Papaver hybridum 'Black Swan'
Eccremocarpus scaber 'Tresco Gold'
Cerinthe major purpurascens
Matti mowing one last time
May 4, 2012 at 8:21 am
I have to admit that I’m going to miss having you on the West Coast. I’ve always found what you did with your backyard a bit of an inspiration and one I could follow as well. Thank you for sharing so much with us fellow gardeners.
May 4, 2012 at 8:50 am
I’m just catching up so I didn’t realize that you were leaving SF. Are you sad about leaving? Can’t wait to see your new gardens in Wisconsin and the new baby, of course. Safe travels and best wishes. Don’t forget to keep up with ‘Grow Damn It’ on FB!
May 4, 2012 at 9:28 am
Are you going to hit the Denver Botanical Garden? I stopped there on a road trip once and it was pretty great. I bet they have all sorts of Alpines and bulbs blooming now.
May 6, 2012 at 7:09 am
Heck yeah, we’re going tomorrow. Might even stop off at Betty Ford’s Alpine Garden in Vail today to see if anything is happening.
May 4, 2012 at 10:36 am
I didn’t get it all, but here’s a timelapse of the first week or so of the takedown.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fraying/6933096808/
San Francisco is two gardeners and one awesome border collie short today.
Have a great trip. Can’t wait to see all the new plants you can grow in your new zone.
May 4, 2012 at 10:42 am
It’s so very sad. But I’m glad to hear the surf boards are going with!! You show them Wisconsinites how it’s done.
May 4, 2012 at 2:31 pm
Kaveh is right about the Denver Botanic Garden, it’s beautiful. Our weather has been gorgeous (hopefully it will rain Sun. and Mon. since we are dry as a bone) and our plantings are a month ahead of schedule. It should be beautiful for your road trip! Safe travels…
May 5, 2012 at 5:34 am
Good luck in your move!
May 6, 2012 at 7:18 pm
Looking forward to having you over to our garden once you arrive and settle in or even before you settle in!! Can’t wait to hear about Lotus Land; always been on my list but never been there.
Cool April here, so things lasted and lasted. Now lots of rain. I’m hot to get out in the garden as plants are arriving in the mail and my fave plant sales are all on the next few weekends.
May 8, 2012 at 7:25 am
Can’t wait to see your garden, too! We’ll definitely be at the Olbrich sale on Friday (we even found a cute two bedroom house a 15 minute walk away from the garden). See you soon!
May 7, 2012 at 12:22 am
It’s sad to see these photos are know that you no longer garden in S.F. But you have wonderful adventures headed your way. A beach nursery in Wisconsin sounds great. And it sounds like you are having a wonderful trip. Take care of yourself and Matti and can’t wait to see more of your travels!
May 7, 2012 at 10:13 am
OMG…somehow I completely missed the post where you said you were moving…although now all the subsequent posts (plant sale) make more sense to me
DOH! We’ll certainly miss you here on the West Coast, but I’m excited to see what you’ll do in your new location and climate. Congrats and Good Luck!
May 7, 2012 at 6:17 pm
good luck on the road… oh the places you’ll go!
May 20, 2012 at 10:05 pm
Hi Megan/Matti,
I’m just following up on a message I sent Matti via LinkedIn. We don’t know each other, but somehow Matti’s bag ended up in the trees in our front yard. Have him check his email for a number to call, or email me, and we can figure out how to get it back to you. Love the photos here, by the way…
Lynda
May 29, 2012 at 8:22 am
I came across your webpage while searching for potential homes for Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars. I live in Wisconsin and in my county they are rare. However, we were lucky and one laid 75+ eggs on my tiny, one-stem pipevine plant. I am looking for potential homes for some of these caterpillars because they will quickly run out of food in my garden. Feel free to contact me via my email should you want to adopt any or know of anyone with an established plant that could help me save these rare beauties.
June 4, 2012 at 3:44 pm
I love your blog and the stuff about Staghorn Ferns. Any chance you are teaching another class on how to mount those? Or perhaps you know a good place to buy little ferns for mounting.
I appreciate it,
Austin
austinbcummings@yahoo.com
July 24, 2012 at 2:16 am
Its always so tough to leave a garden you’ve cared for, isn’t it? But how exciting to look forward to a totally new one!
I love the colours in this post. Especially the streak of bright orange running through so many of the plants / blooms and caterpillers too
August 1, 2012 at 4:27 pm
I just discovered you and now find you are off to Wisconsin. I wish you much luck there and will miss your delightful postings.