» home
» about
» membership
» branches
» journal
» information
» forum
» sparoza
» members' gardens
» notice-board
» news & views
» seed exchange
» in bloom now
» contact
» make a donation
» site map
» search this site
» branch web page
CO-BRANCH HEADS
Susan Bouchez
Bracey Tiede
BRANCH MAILING ADDRESS
P.O.Box 542 BP
Lafayette, CA 94549
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Susan Bouchez
Stitch Boyle
Nancy Mead
Cheryl Renshaw
Nancy Swearengen
Judy Thomas
Bracey Tiede
ADVISORY BOARD
Russ Beatty
Betsy Clebsch
Tricia Christopher
Anthony Garza
Bill Grant
Katherine Greenberg
Chris Jacobsen
Seán O'Hara
Warren Roberts
Bernard Trainor
Richard Turner
|
The Northern California Branch of the MGS
Past events
June 2011
Woodside gardens
On a warm Saturday, members of the Northern California branch of the Mediterranean Garden Society assembled at the beautiful home of Sherry Perkins in Woodside, California. As a former board member of San Francisco Botanical Society and an avid plant collector, Sherry has created a garden filled with unusual specimens from the Society’s plant sales and from her personal connections with many plant nursery friends around the world. Her use of native plants merges the oaks and other large trees into beds of drought-tolerant plants. Many members were captivated by the lovely Dorycnium hirsutum - hairy canary clover - in full bloom not too far from a striking young Kashmir cypress - Cupressus cashmeriana.
From Sherry Perkins’ garden.
Garden wall.
From the warm valley we drove to the top of Woodside’s township on a sunny ridge to visit Betsy Clebsch’s colorful garden, also set in among some huge native oaks. Fortunately, the fog was burned off to the coast and we enjoyed perfect weather for our stroll through Betsy’s garden filled with many varieties of salvias, succulents, mahonias, poppies, grasses, roses, and more. It’s never the same when we visit – there are always enchanting and new things to see.
Betsy’s gate.
Betsy and Bracey.
We enjoyed our lunches under the shade of the oaks, chatting about our visit and our own gardens. The majority of the members then proceeded down the hill to Yerba Buena Nursery which has lovely demonstration gardens and a great selection of native plants for purchase. A fine day, indeed.
Text and photos - Bracey Tiede.
January 2011
Annual Branch Meeting
This year the annual meeting was held once again at the Gardens of Lakeside Park at Lake Merritt in Oakland. The very talented landscape architect Bernard Trainor spoke on the topic of Garden Design and a Sense of Place. He described the way he had evolved since he first arrived in California. At the beginning he initially designed gardens that matched formal Mediterranean designs in European gardens. However, he was then drawn in by the native plants of California specific to the local microclimates; his current passion is thus designing gardens which are in harmony with the surrounding views and use mostly native plants, while at the same time providing interesting and intriguing ways to get their owners into the gardens for relaxation, play and entertainment. The photos that accompanied the talk illustrated these principles beautifully.
There was a short business meeting before the talk and some social time afterwards. The morning rain had cleared and everyone ended the afternoon with a walk through the lovely Mediterranean Garden.
September 2010
East Bay Garden Tour
We converged at the wonderful mini-botanical garden that comprises the grounds of The Blake Estate, currently the 'official residence' of the President of the University of California. No one presently inhabits the graceful mansion, but the garden is a repository of interesting plants from all over the world, arranged mostly in geographical affinity groups, and is a hands-on workshop for students in the Department of Environmental Design at the University of California at Berkeley.
Our next stop was around the corner and down the street at a garden renovated and updated by landscape architects Bobbi Feyerabend and Georgia Madden, who are MGS members, and who helped organize our day. We were delighted with Bobbi's description of the challenges she encountered, and the solutions she came up with.
Next was a charming garden in Piedmont, where we enjoyed not only delightful spaces, designed to take in views of San Francisco Bay, but also a similar description of the Before and After by Georgia. Here, with another spectacular view of the Bay, we had lunch.
After we had eaten, we visited two very interesting front gardens. One, on Arbor Drive, was a lawnless challenge to the very 'traditional' neighborhood, full of Mediterranean plants, including California natives. It is such an interesting complement to the house it accompanies that some of the neighbors have begun to adopt some of its elements. A victory for Mediterranean sense and style in a very conservative location. Hooray! The other front garden, near the Grand Lake Theater, is a connoisseur's collection of succulents and other rare unthirsty plants overseen by Brian Kemble of the Ruth Bancroft Garden. Not exactly a Mediterranean garden, but still full of ideas for the more adventurous among us.
The last stop was the lovely Mediterranean Garden in the Gardens at Lake Merritt. This garden has been in process for several years; it received financial support from the MGS in the form of the Society's annual donation, and was formally dedicated in June
January 2010
Backyard gardening in America
Those attending the January Branch Meeting in San Mateo were delighted by Chris Grampp's historical review of backyard gardening in America. With photos and information about demographic trends, Chris explained how our country emerged from an agrarian society to become the urban and then the automobile-friendly suburban landscape of today. Did you know that the first zoning laws were enacted in Los Angles as a way of keeping Chinese laundries out of residential neighborhoods? Or that the lawn mower was invented by mistake by someone trying to make a carpet pile cutter? Chris Grampp is the author of "From Yard to Garden, the Domestication of America's Home Ground". He teaches design and construction at the Merritt College Department of Landscape Horticulture.
October 2009
Santa Cruz Garden Day
Those of you who were not able to join us on October 18 missed a glorious day in Santa Cruz and a rare opportunity to visit an outstanding nearby garden. The garden encompasses some five acres of hillside overlooking Monterey Bay. It is situated on property of a much greater size, so that to be in the garden is to have unlimited command of the marine landscape in all directions. The garden has been under development for at least sixteen years, and has had the benefit of input from some of the leading garden designers of our area as well as from its owners. Our hostess most generously guided us around the various small gardens contained within the whole. The overall effect of this horticultural tour de force is one of complete sympathy with its environment. It has the feel of having sprung full–blown from its hillside origins without major manipulation from its designers. We lunched there and then went on to visit the Cabrillo College Horticultural Center where we were met by Ernie Wasson. He gave a tour and briefed us on the lively curriculum offered by this Santa Cruz treasure, which offers so much both to its students and to the community.
Photo by Jean-Pierre Bouchez
After Cabrillo we drove on to Sierra Azul Nursery for shopping, a look at the garden sculpture display, and refreshments provided by the Rosendales: a pleasant and sociable end to a beautiful day.
Nancy Mead
June 2009
Visits to Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore, an olive ranch and Italian street painting
MGS member Ze'ev Vered presented a lively talk about mediterranean herbs at Alden Lane Nursery. We learned much about cultivation and use of herbs such as rosemary, thymes, savory, oreganos, bay, and mints. Alden Lane Nursery was a delight to browse through. We enjoyed our lunches, meeting new friends and admiring the murals on the wall of our meeting room. Following lunch we drove in a caravan to Olivina, a large olive ranch to learn about olive oil production and enjoy a tasting. The owner and his family turned out to explain the process with a tour of the pressing, cleaning and bottling facilities. To finish the day a number of us traveled to the Danville Fine Arts Faire to see Italian street painting in action by Cheryl and Wayne Renshaw. Cheryl is a member of our Executive Committee.
May 2009
Garden and Nursery Tours in Sonoma County
We started our Mother’s Day garden tour at Western Hills Nursery and then went on to visit the Reid Garden, both in Occidental, CA. The Reids have a wonderful hilltop location with amazing garden beds; lovely colour combinations, many unusual plants, and sumptuous house. We picnicked beside the pool before driving on to Kendall-Jackson Winery. There we walked around the gardens: formal entry way, parterre beds of herbs and a large vegetable garden. To end the day we stopped at Phil van Solen’s Cal Flora Nursery to shop and have refreshments.
Reid Garden
Occidental Garden
Photos by Jean-Pierre Bouchez
January 2009
Branch members meet
The MGS members of Northern California met on January 24 at the Gardens at Lakeside Park in Oakland. Jeff Rosendale gave an exciting talk and slide show, “Art in the Mediterranean Garden” and brought some of his interesting plants to show and to sell. Nancy Swearengen and Sean O’Hara were thanked for their many years of stewardship of the branch. We are happy to report that they will stay active in Branch activities, Nancy will continue on the Executive Committee and Sean will join the Advisory Board.
Photograph by Jean-Pierre Bouchez
For more information, see this page
Susan Bouchez
"For 25 years I have enjoyed gardening in California with its mild mediterranean climate. Coming from the Midwest US and then the Netherlands I encountered an entire new palette of plants to learn, new landscape to marvel at and a climate with far less water. I have always avidly gardened and my background in art and architecture naturally led me to an interest in garden design. So for a few years I worked with a good friend in a small landscape design firm. To me garden design is not all about plants, but about color, form and place. In our mediterranean climate much of our living is out of doors. Gardens in the Bay Area are generally private with walls, fences and shaded patios. This is such a contrast to other areas of the US where open lawns and foundation planting or island flower beds dominate the landscape. How lucky we are to sit under the canopy of our 150-year-old oaks, shielded from heat and extreme cold. Our garden tends to the “natural garden” style: filled with low-water, low-maintenance perennials and shrubs. Even in this urban area we make sure that there is habitat for wildlife, birds, and insects. We grow seasonal vegetables and fruit because we love to eat well and the mild winters support year-round vegetable growing.
Our summer garden is in France, in the pre-Alps, an area that receives abundant rain most of the year. There I can plant flowers or vegetables and, when I leave, know that rains will keep the plants alive until I return."
Bracey Tiede
"I live in San Jose, California, where the summers are hot and dry and winters are cool and, recently, not very wet. I am fortunate to live about 300 feet above the Santa Clara Valley frosty floor in a 'banana belt' which allows us to grow some tropical plants that need a bit more warmth. Something is always blooming. Our garden is the garden of a collector. After working in architecture and software programming in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, I've turned my full attention to horticultural opportunities, learning much and making many friends. Richard, my husband, shares my enthusiasm for gardening and is becoming quite a salvia connoisseur in his retirement."
|
