Moraga Tiled Steps

I did another stairway walk today--one of the best. We begin here, at the Tiled Steps, and I'm giving it its own blog post.



Closer...



Another long shot



And then we begin.





As you can imagine, it was hard to pick random details. Here is a grab bag.











And before we go too much farther, a quick look at the surrounding landscaping--all workhorses, you've seen them many times on this blog and elsewhere I'm sure.



Rosemary, Buddleia, Lupine, Phacelia, Aeonium. These all benefit from an annual pruning, but otherwise need little care in San Francisco, esp. if planted during the fall-winter months.



Romneya coulteri, avec bee.



The naked ladies of late summer--already? Amaryllis belladonna poking up around Aeonium 'Schwarzkopf', Aloe arborescens, and Cotyledon orbiculata.



And speaking of Aeonium 'Schwarzkopf', this must be one of the largest public plantings of it that I know about.







It's all growing under a puple hop bush, Dodonaea viscosa ‘purpurea’, next to native Fremontodendron.



For me, the purple hop bush is...over-familiar, but it's a nice plant. Here is some more of it, over Echium fastuosum.



Anyhoo, back to the stairs:











LOL!



Well, I could do this all day. We've got to get to the top. Here's lookin' at you.









The careful use of mirror is really nice. That means the stairs change depending on the weather.





And finally...looking back at my first accomplishment of the day.



(To see larger file sizes a few more pictures, you can click into my Flickr stream...)