The start garden I visited on the Garden Conservancy's recent East Bay Open Day was the garden of Ann Nichols inward Piedmont, a pocket-size residential enclave surrounded yesteryear the metropolis of Oakland. In the Open Day directory, it was described similar this:
This is a garden of many levels consisting of a divulge of outdoor rooms, each amongst its ain works life together with coloring scheme. The front end garden, designed to a greater extent than or less an existing Canary Island appointment palm, is dwelling to a multifariousness of tropical together with subtropical plants together with bulbs. Passing yesteryear a pocket-size orchid garden together with through the front end gate, ane meanders yesteryear gurgling H2O that flows downhill from a waterfall together with through a mini-canal into 2 ponds. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 free-form debate constructed of tied tree limbs parallels the length of the walkway, together with a mosaic mural at the top invites the visitor into the backyard. Inside the gate is the “entry parlor” filled amongst leafage of dark together with silver. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 walkway continues through the shady white garden into the sun-filled mid-level lawn, bordered yesteryear beds of ruby together with orange. Higher on the loma is the rose garden underplanted inward bluish together with accessed through an arched walkway of weeping sequoias.
As if this blurb wasn't exciting enough, my tour companion Kathy Stoner of click here. It's keen seeing the same garden through person else's eyes.)
This is the front end garden. I wonder how many fender benders accept happened on this street because people slowed downwardly or stopped altogether to larn a improve await at this exotic paradise.
I almost pinched myself to brand sure I wasn't dreaming. Yes, this is somebody's front end yard, precisely a block or 2 upwards from downtown Piedmont.
There's non a foursquare inch of bare dirt here.
It's no underground that winters inward the Bay Area are mild, but if you lot e'er needed proof, hither it is. Where else tin you lot grow bromeliads (many of which are real mutual frigidity sensitive) in the ground?
Not to lift Agave attenuata (here the cultivar 'Kara's Stripe'), ane of the wimpiest agave species.
The riot of coloring from the bromeliads was breathtaking.
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| ×Mangave (hybrid betwixt Agave and Manfreda) nigh the sidewalk |
And precisely when you lot holler upwards it can't larn whatever better, you lot topographic point this spiral aloe (Aloe polyphylla):
It was precisely ane of two, the other beingness much larger. I'd nation it was 2 feet across, forming a perfect spiral. In fact, this specimen is thus large now, it sticks out onto the sidewalk.
Speaking of sidewalk, fifty-fifty the hellstrip (the bed betwixt the sidewalk together with the street) looked great.
This is the walkway along the front end of the house. The bromeliads you lot saw higher upwards are off to the right.
And a sentiment of the street across the front end garden:
I couldn't larn plenty of all these bromeliads. In the Sacramento Valley, they'd never endure outside: also mutual frigidity inward the winter, together with also hot together with dry out inward the summer.
One of the biggest exhibit stoppers inward the front end garden is a massive Canary Island appointment palm, specifically its trunk. It's jam-packed amongst tillandsias. I don't know if to a greater extent than are beingness added or if the plants originally installed precisely accept grown thus much, but the tillandsiascape has marched one-half agency upwards the trunk!
More lushness nigh the steps going upwards to the front end door:
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| Stappy Furcraea underplanted amongst Echeveria |
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| What I wouldn't give to maintain fifty-fifty a smaller organization similar this alive! |
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| View of the side garden from the front end steps |
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| Abutilon megapotamicum against the wall of the stairway to the front end door |
More moving-picture exhibit book-perfect bromeliads:
It's piece of cake to live enthralled yesteryear the spectacular bromeliads, succulents together with other plants growing inward Ann Nichols's front end garden. But there's something else I institute precisely equally impressive: Virtually every foursquare inch of the world is covered. The multifariousness of low-growing plants is staggering. This is a skilful example:
This is the "free-form debate constructed of tied tree limbs [that] parallels the length of the walkway" (source). It's adorned amongst many unlike bromeliads.
This is the start of 3 pocket-size ponds:
The H2O flows from the upper pond (you'll come across it a minute) through a narrow channel into the lower pond.
No nook together with cranny, no affair how small, is unused.
Looking downwardly toward the street:
And upwards toward the gate to the backyard:
Upper pond (left inward the photograph above, correct inward the photograph below):
This whimsical air current chime on the backyard gate is precisely ane of several cat-themed decorations I spotted:
This is the "entry parlor" precisely within the backyard gate: the real image of tranquillity.
View of the lawn together with house:
While the dorsum is much to a greater extent than opened upwards than the front end together with side gardens, it's precisely equally packed amongst plants.
The topmost garden (the rose garden) is reached through an allée of weeping sequoias:
The rose garden is yet some other topographic point that invites visitors to linger. In fact, fourth dimension at the Nichols belongings seems to follow a unlike clock: to a greater extent than measured, to a greater extent than deliberate, to a greater extent than meditative.
Which yr is it? Here it doesn't matter.
But eventually it was fourth dimension to leave. The next garden was calling...and thus Annie's Annuals.
Just a few to a greater extent than photos of the dorsum garden:
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| I assume this door leads to either a storage shed or the garage |
I had the chance to beak amongst Ann Nichols briefly (as the host, she was inward high demand). She's total of unloose energy together with speaks of her garden amongst a passion that is contagious. In spite of her age, she nevertheless does much of the garden operate herself. She together with her hushand accept completely transformed the belongings since they bought it 30+ years ago. The solely thing remaining is the Canary Island palm out front--and it sure as shooting didn't accept tillandsias growing on its torso then!
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