We took advantage of one of the last warm days around to catch some late Autumn action at Olbrich Botanical Gardens last week before all the leaves fell. The freeze got a bunch of stuff a couple weeks ago. It was a sad day.
Bridge to Thai Pavilion
Thai Pavilion
Crazy Cabbage
I love ornamental cabbage & kale. Next year I vow to have more of both out back.
What’s this?
I even took a pic of the tag of this plant, but deleted it. Since moving back to Wisconsin my botanical Latin has gone down the tubes. I used to be so good, but it took lots of time to look up every damn plant I took a pic of. I googled that stuff to make sure my spellings were right on, but don’t have the time for that sort of shenanigans anymore. *update, there has been a positive identification of Amsonia hubrichtii by facebook fan George, thanks George!
Reflection
Matti & Zoe
Shorts and sandals weather last week, not so much this week…
A tad past two years ago, I found this shiny object which I jammed packed with a ton O succulent cuttings. Well, it’s been way over due for a little sprucing up. Above is the result. Check out the side by side at the end.
Shiny Succulent Container - Nov 2009
Here’s how it looked 2 years ago…it’s really more if a game of survivor. Cruising the Mission hood for funky stuff, I found this UFC (Unidentified Found Container. 35 cuttings from our backyard later, it was filled with hope, dreams, and promise. Our Thrift Store Succulent Storage post tells more of the story.
Shiny Succulent Container - Nov 27, 2011
Why did it need a replanting? Well, rarely do plants look superb forever, unless you’re using plastic. Here’s a recent pic how it’s been looking. That’s what a year of total neglect looks like. Shocking anything is still alive.
The cool thing is that I have a better idea which of these succulents can handle a some stress. Taking a peek above, looks like the tough guys are a couple of aeoniums, some Sedum rebrotinctum, a sempervivum, Crassula tetragona, and some other crassula & sedum.
Feb 2010 on Left -- Nov 2011 on the Right
Check out this before and after (clicking our pics make them big). There’s about an 18 months span from left to right. Game on, let’s see which will endure thru 2012.
Everybody has their special spot to wet their creative juices. CornerStone is one of our Go To places that always pulls us out of a garden rut…and a great stop while heading up to Sonoma CA for a little wine tasting. CornerStone attracts designers from around the world to install Avant-garde styles into the landscape. Sitting on 9 acres, their 27 garden plots has something for all. Oh Bonus! it’s free to visit.
Claude Cormier - Blue Tree
Probably one of most iconic sites at CornerStone has been this large tree covered with blue balls. Canadian landscape architect, Claude Cormier, installed Blue Tree back in 2004. The tree was diseased and slated for removal. Instead of chopping it down, it was covered with 75,000 sky blue balls. However during our last visit, we couldn’t help notice that the tree has been heavily pruned and basically just a very tall stump at the moment. We did find some amazing pics of Blue Tree on Claude Cormier’s site if you want to get a taste of how it looked back in the heyday.
Topher Delaney - Garden Play
San Francisco artist, Topher Delaney, is behind Garden Play. This minimalist space plays with shape and scale. There are a handful of over-sized rope balls sitting amongst a small stand of birch trees. Great garden to view especially if you can find a moment to have it all to yourself.
Artichoke - Cynara
When we were there in June (man…where is summer going?) the Artichokes were going crazy.
Small Tribute to Immigrant Workers by Mario Schjetnan - Cornerstone Sonoma, CA
Tucked within Mario Schjetnan’s garden design called Small Tribute to Immigrant Workers, this space was one of our fave artichoke patches.
Artichoke flower - Cynara
Frankly, I never saw one in flower until seeing them here. Who knew that artichoke blooms were immense…were talking as big as your head huge.
Smoke Bush - Cotinus species
Here’s a gorgeous ornamental that is an eye catcher, Cotinus…aka the Smoke Bush. I’m not sure how well it would do in our foggy garden. I seem to only recall them going in a little more heated areas. I see that Rancho Reubidoux has a great photo of Cotinus. Anybody have one growing in your garden?
Daisy Border by Ken Smith
As Blue Tree is coming to the end of its life, this garden installation is rising on our charts. Daisy Border is the conception of Ken Smith. Filled with a ton of daisy like windmills, it creates a fun play on wind and light bouncing off the blades. Want some more CornerStone Garden action? My Back 40 (Feet) has some amazing pics of the installations and some of the shops there too.
Mission DIY succulent table complete. I’ve wanted to make this baby for months. It’s a dissected old shipping crate and some other random scraps of wood lying around the house turned into a patio side table with a planting strip … Continue reading →
Here’s a funky little garden off Lincoln and FUNston. The babbling brook grabbed my attention first, but the garden art is what sold me. The house faces north on a busy street, complete with white picket fence. The one thing … Continue reading →
