4/2/08

The Eleanor Community Garden in Palo Alto

Palo Alto, if you've never been here, is a beautiful, affluent suburb about 30 minutes south of San Francisco. An oak canopy seems to cover the whole city, which is very safe and clean. Stanford University is here. Hewlett-Packard began in a garage here. The people are friendly and everyone is smart and good looking. They all live in beautiful Craftsmen or Eichler homes.

And they have huge community gardens where everything is perfect. I mean, seriously. Is it me, or is this off the hook? The gardens below cover an acre or two; Emma figured at least 100 plots. Who are these people?

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Emma appreciated these horse tanks used as planting beds.

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In the whole place, a single element of whimsy.

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This is the Master Gardeners plot. Are they on speed?

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I sometimes wonder why more Californians don't have garden blogs.

I'm beginning to figure it out...


Around the periphery of the garden, countless rose bushes (blooming next month) and ornamentals for cutting

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Dahlia imperialis.

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And a small water-wise demonstration garden.

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Ficus carica.

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8 comments:

Frances, said...

OMG, how can that be so perfect? We always said when we lived in Orange County that everyone there was beautiful, and I don't mean in their own way, I mean like physical perfection, except for us of course. We decided they came in the night for you if you were overweight or a pimple popped up. That's what these gardens look like, but man they are an inspiration. I think those pvc pipe contraptions could work as netting holders to protect the berries from the birds here, since I now have eight raspberry bushes, two red and six yellow, plus three blueberries, and there will be that fig tree, lots of protective netting needed here. I would love to read one of their blogs, think of the perfection, oh wait, you already offer that!
Frances

Christopher C. NC said...

I want the roadside vegetable garden to look as speedy and tidy as the master gardeners section this year. Time to plant some lettuce.

Angela Pratt said...

Rich... beautiful... intelligent... gorgeous old homes... AND THEY HAVE PERFECT-LOOKING (BUT NOT IN A BORING WAY) GARDENS?!!!

Sooooooo not fair... ;-)

Unknown said...

Veggie gardens really are beautiful... except for that PVC thingy. Clever, yes, but... I hate PVC. HATE it. Why not use metal or wood instead?

Okay, I have to ask: So why don't more Californians have garden blogs?

chuck b. said...

Well, I'm thinking they're so concerned with maintaining their perfect little gardens that they don't have any time to maintain a garden blog.

lisa said...

Wow...yea, I'd say that's what the non-bloggers are doing with their time. I think I'd scare myself if I were that tidy and organized!

JvA said...

Gardens without any weeds freak me out. It's just not natural.

Linda said...

Beautifull gardens, and innovative. I love the use of anything & everything to vreate a garden. I live in New Zealand, and we call it 'The Kiwi can do attitude' lol. I have quite large area of bamboo, and find that enourmously handy to use for all sorts of garden things. My garden is not manicured..lets just say I have made peace with the weeds. I try to garden organically, but have been known to spray areas with chemicals..ivy, etc at times. I prefer to sue organic methods though. I don't have many pics of my garden on right now, but will get round to it. Thanks for the cool blog..keep it up :0)
Linda - New Zealand Gardener