On the way to Wisconsin: Megan, Kaveh, Gabriel & Matti
Back in late April 2012 we were hanging out on the Central Coast checking out some of the coolest succulent gardens around with Gabriel (Gardens by Gabriel) & Kaveh (Plant Propaganda) on our way back to Wisconsin. We took tons of pics, but haven’t blogged much about our trip back to dairyland. It was too sad for me to look at all the plants I thought I’d never be able to grow again. Now that we’re moving back it’s fun to look at all our pics of plants again. Big thanks to Kaveh for hooking us up with Gabriel’s totally rad gardens! We’ll be definitely be down for a visit once we’re back. *Not all gardens pictured below are Gabriel’s. The first two are Nick Wilkinson owner of Grow Nursery in Cambria. You guys are both gardening gods!
Beach succulents
I think those octopus like aloes are Aloe vanbalenii, but I’m not sure. I am really, really sure I want one. Here are a few more of my favorite pics from the tour below, but you can check them all out on flickr here.
Last Friday before I headed to the San Francisco Botanical Garden I had to pay a bill, so I took a different route to the muni stop than normal to hit up a mailbox. I busted out my camera when I saw this awesome example of a succulent planter. Lots of different colors and textures, plants that are practically impossible to kill in our neighborhood and common enough people won’t steal them (succulent theft is a problem here).
Super Sweet Succulent Container
Then I saw this in front of the next house and kind of freaked out. Seriously? Agave attenuata ‘Kara’s Stripes’ and a bunch of other cool plants thoughtfully arranged in containers. There are tons of succulents in our hood, but not usually put together with this much care.
The Container Craziness Continues
Wholly crap, it doesn’t end! Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives’ looking hot next to a golden Sedum with a dark purple Aeonium backdrop. Then something crazy happened. The owner of the house was out front saying good-bye to visitors, saw me freaking out taking tons of pictures and invited me out back to check things out.
Really?
Look at the beautiful raised bed down the center full of edible greens! This is how I envisioned our garden in a perfect world, but we drew the line at messing with hardscaping. As renters you have to draw the line somewhere.
Kalanchoe 'Fang' & friends
Dudleya pulverulenta (I think)
Man, this is embarrassing. You’d think I could easily pick out the difference between D. pulverulenta and D. brittonii by now, but I can never tell unless the two are both next to each other. My guess is for D. pulverulenta since the leaves don’t seem as narrow as the brittonii.
Lettuce land
Echium candicans
Big thanks goes out to Alan who let me check this fabulous garden out. I didn’t get to meet his wife/garden designer, but she did an amazing job!
You know the term, a man’s man? Well if there’s such thing as a gardener’s garden…this is the place. What a treat it was to visit Ted Kipping’s private oasis over in the Glen Park neighborhood. When Ted isn’t traveling to exotic locations seeking out rare plants in habitat or working his business at Tree Shapers, he’s constantly tweeking his garden.
Scleranthus biflorus
Ted has several hypertufaesque containers tucked in throughout his space. After I stopped drooling over that first pic of the Dudleya attenuata, I saw his Scleranthus biflorus, which was looking lusher than ours.
Lewisia cotyledon
I had a bunch of those…wow, why didn’t I think of that moments. Here’s a plant we have in our garden, but his Lewisia cotyledon looked way more cooler than ours. He does some amazing mini landscapes, and certainly influenced us to make our alpine container about a month back.
Dierama bee love
Megan tells me that Dierama are hot right now. The bee and me would have to agree. Sometimes called Fairy’s Fishing Rods, they fall in the same family as Crocosmia and put on quite a show.
Begonia foliosa var. miniata
Agave parryi
Agave parryi, always a fav. Slow growing, its gray spiky foliage spans to about a 30-inch diameter. Stunning accent plant, indeed.
Bromeliad fence
His Bro Fence was sweet. Ted shared with us a little trick. He uses a variety of Bromeliads to fill in holes and gaps within his garden until he finds just the right plant for that space. Since many Bros are easy to transplant and move around…they work well for his technique. Small potted plants work the same way. Brilliant.
Brugmansia & Blue Sky
Gratuitous Brugmansia and blue sky shot. It was one of those gorgeous fall days.
Plectranthus awesomus
Score! Ted dropped us a couple cuttings including a pinch of this shady loving limy Plectranthus. It’s gonna look great on our shady side.
Hey, if you get a moment, you must check out Ted’s Tree Shapers and see what makes him one of the most skilled Arborist in the Bay Area and beyond. You rock Ted!
I’m taking a little break from my Wisconsin blog-o-rama fest (there’s only one, maybe two more left, I promise) to show you some pics of a super sweet private San Francisco garden we had the privilege of visiting back in mid-October. Right away we recognized the sculpture by Viola Frey. This amazing space was created by Aerin Moore and Christian Cobbs of Magic Gardens (their website is rad & they even have a nursery in Berkeley that I’m kind of embarrassed we haven’t visited yet). Here are a few of my favorite pics from the visit, but you can check them all out here.
Jim’s garden paradise is right in the heart of SOMA San Francisco. Many of you may not know, but that sweet Ford Edsel over at Flora Grubb? … That’s Jim’s planting too. BTW above in the pic, that’s an old piano next to the guitar.
Dancing Elephants.
It’s a small space that gets a little sun here and there and lots of reflective light in the evening. Man he has taken advantage of every single nook and cranny with design coolness and found objects.
Head and old radio.
Hanging Planters
These hanging hypertufas look well aged, almost like they were pulled right from the earth and suspended in mid air.
Funky chair
This simple solution was way to easy…wish I would have came across it sooner. Jim plunked down a colorful wooden board on an old retro chair for extra seating.
Aeoniums with bench
The day we visited it was actually raining out, so it was a challenge to get some of the photos, but the drops sure look great on these Aeoniums.
Wonder woman!
OMG, I about flipped over when we located Wonder Woman in the garden. I couldn’t find the invisible jet.
Aeonium with parking meter
Jim’s oasis is playful, eclectic, and delivers every bit of the things we love. Thanks for the tour.
