Monday Botanical Garden

I've been cooped up indoors doing homework for days. Today I escaped to the San Francisco Botanical Garden. It was quite cold and I had the place to myself.



Me and the flowers.







I've taken this picture a hundred times, haven't I:



This bromeliads-on-horizontal-branches-with-moss-and-chicken-wire thing is an old standard here. I'm surprised more people don't do it at home. If I ever have a big enough tree with horizontal branches I will definitely give it a try.



It doesn't look cold, does it? A lot of the plants you might think of as likely to suffer in cold weather seemed to look their best today. Alas, by cold, I don't mean freezing. It was in the high 40s.



I put that little retaining wall in in 2006. Still operational!



Seed heads of Montanoa grandiflora. The seed heads last longer in the vase than the flowers and look groovy.











I've argued dead aloe leaves should be removed. I don't feel that way anymore.







My next garden will have this Aloe and Lecuodendron vignette for sure.



The yellow Leucodendron is my favorite. Makes me think of bananas.





Luma apiculata trees from Chile are among my favorite exotic trees. It's the cinnamon-colored bark, partly.











This is about where I decided I was freezing and wanted to go home. Keep warm!

Monday Night Botanical Garden

My buddy Kirsten and I have an annual tradition (since 2007) of visiting the San Francisco Botanical Garden together just before it closes some night during the summer. The crowds are gone and you can linger as long as you want and leave through the turnstiles.

In my opinion, coastal gardens peak this time of year. On nice days the light is spectacular. However today was not a nice day. It was about 55 deg F with a cold, blowing wind under heavy fog. Nonetheless, the company was good and the garden was beautiful. Shall we?

Strybing gardeners don't typically make flower beds a priority, but when they go for it the results are usually impressive. Papaver commutatum 'Ladybird' makes that easy. I planted a few of these in the Mad Englishwoman's garden with outstanding results.







In California, Clarkia rubicunda and Eriogonum latifolium:





Clarkia with E. grande.



Summer-dry Nassella pulchra and Grindelia stricta.





Strybing has a few old flannel bushes, covered with lichen. Absolutely fabulous.





Some cool blues



and milky greens.



The small, compact agaves make enormous flower spikes just like the big boys.





The blue Iochroma is widely available; I wish the purple one was too.



Is this Salvia mexicana 'Limelight'?



The genus Salvia adores San Francisco.





We go from blue to blue's opposite, with Passiflora parritae.



This is one of the rarest passionflowers in the world. It may even be extinct in the wild. Read all about it here.



Passiflora parritae bloomed abundantly in Golden Gate Park today.



Do you flower haters want some foliage? Here are three leaves.



And a bed of restios, pelargoniums and phyllicas.



And I have to throw a tree fern in here somewhere



Really there's a world of leaves out there.

Wednesday morning Botanical Garden

I went by to drop off some nursery pots, and popped in for a quick visit. I haven't been here in months. Looks like they've finished the ADA compliance work, and the place is a mess. I'm sure it'll be cleaned up in no time. Maybe I should help.