The MG demo garden has two parts, vegetable and ornamental. The latter features familiar natives and other water-wise workhorses.
I was surprised and delighted to find ripe currants on Ribes sanguineum. Usually the birds get them, first thing. They aren't very tasty to humans anyway, but aren't they pretty?
The vegetable gardens here are always padlocked which is a shame. Who steals vegetables from gardens in Palo Alto, anyway? That's so weird.
My life's dream is to move to the suburbs--where it's warm enough for vegetable gardening--and grow squash on an arbor! And corn!
The MG's have a fair amount of signage in accordance with their mission to educate. This is about growing blueberries in the Bay Area.
The MG potager is exquisitely well-maintained. Meanwhile, jubilant chaos prevails the gardens of the hoi polloi.
Asparagus can be a real mess, but I want to grow that some day too.
A lot of ornamental plants grow throughout the community garden plots too--roses, dahlias, buddleia, verbascum, this massive, 6'x6' Leonotis leonurus.
This is a fine place to pass an hour or so when you're in Palo Alto. The address is 851 Center Drive and the website is here. The entrance is dark under the shade of oaks, and the garden is obscured from the street behind thick vegetation. It's easy to miss if you're not looking for it. Park on the street and wander in.
4 comments:
You need to move to Fresno! My backyard neighbor has all these crops, plus lots of Asian vegetables, growing. I can see them over the fence. I, on the other hand, grow nothing but shrubs (and some weeds).
The Palo Alto garden sounds wonderful.
You're awesome, Chuck!! Tomorrow I'll be in Woodside and have some free time as I head south! p.s. You should see all the grapes on my Rogers Red this year...it's getting out of hand. Every time I have to prune it, I think of you..lol. Must post a photo of it this year.
I have a feeling your life's dream of a warmer suburbia will be too restrictive for you unless you find some rogue house on a double or triple sized lot. You sir would pack full a suburban sized lot in about two seasons and run out of room fast.
Dream bigger.
Beautiful! FYI-asparagus fern tolerates pruning back if you find it too tall later in the season...mine tolerate it just fine and supply tasty spears each spring without fail.
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