in Palo Alto, site of a fabulous community garden and Master Gardeners demonstration garden.

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.