Alice's Garden Travel Buzz » Horticulture

Patrick Blanc: San Francisco Vertical Garden Update

Alice Joyce — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:18:33 +0000

Since its installation in April, the expansive Drew School vertical garden has filled out beautifully. Gracing the new Sam Cuddeback Assembly Wing with California native species,

Patrick Blanc: Drew School Vertical Garden

the garden merited a “Wow… wow!” from its designer, artist/botanist Patrick Blanc, the inventor of the Green Wall as we have come to know it.

Only a few hours after his flight from Paris touched down in the Bay Area, Patrick had arrived at the Drew School to mingle with parents and fans of his work, before presenting an update on current projects – of which there are many from Miami to Bahrain. Patrick shared his impressions of how the school’s garden fared thus far. Overall, the San Francisco habitat is proving beneficial to most of the plant selections, with a spot here and there that may need replanting; the amount of water will be reduced now that plants have become established.

Everything Green!

A good-by hug after Patrick’s enthusiastic presentation at the school’s state-of-the-art theatre.

An exciting revelation in Patrick’s talk: The world-class botanist specializing in tropical flora has had a new plant named for him. Patrick discovered Begonia blancii in Palawan, in the Philippine Islands.

Follow this Youtube link and you’ll be trekking in the jungle with Patrick and his associates as they come upon the Begonia growing in its native habitat, the Bulalakaw Falls area in Palawan.

Heuchera Bloom Oct 2011 Photo © Alice Joyce

Heuchera and Aquilegia, lupine and Mimulus area but a few of the plants blooming now.

PBPatrick Blanc: The Vertical Garden on Amazon.com

Blanc Garden S.F. Oct 2011 Photo © Alice Joyce

Approximately six months since the planting of the Drew School Vertical Garden and the growth is lush, and rich with blooms.

Vertical GardensVertical Gardens .. books on Amazon.com

U.C. Botanical Garden at Berkeley

Alice Joyce — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:47:20 +0000

A fetching array of drought-resistant species are planted in the Entry Garden at the …

UCBG Berkeley Entry Structure by Marisha Farnsworth Photo © Alice Joyce

University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley

Currently on view is an inviting structure created by Marisha Farnsworth and her students from Merritt College’s Natural Building Class. The cloth textile ties are remnants provided by designer, Sasha Duerr.

Dudleya brittonii from Baja - Photo © Alice Joyce

The soft hue and fleshy foliage of Dudleya brittonii from Baja California caught my eye. Succulents like beautiful Dudleyas appeal more and more to gardeners looking for plants with low-water requirements.

The botanical garden is truly a living museum, with a global collection comprised of wild collected plants from the Americas to Asia, the Mediterranean to Australasia to Southern Africa. You’ll see rare cycads – architectural plants from the age of dinosaurs, along with a trove of orchids, ferns and carnivorous plants cultivated under glass. The Tropical House is a particularly delightful destination on cool winter days, when you’ll feel transported by the warm, moist environment. Notice a Red Dot? It points out rare and endangered species.

Mantis by Patrick E. Photo © Alice Joyce

Sculpture by artist Patrick E. installed at the Botanical Garden.

: Chinese Medicinal Herb Garden Footbridge Photo © Alice Joyce

Spend time in the Chinese Medicinal Herb Garden and you’ll experience a complex melding of fragrances wafting on the air. I love being enveloped by the scent in this distinctive atmosphere, and can recall how captivated I was during my first visit (when doing research on my first book), before moving to the Bay Area.

: Babiana ringens – So. Africa baboon flower Photo: Paul Licht

: Canary Island Collection Photo: Paul Licht

Savvy garden lovers can expect varied exhibitions of vivid blooms year-round: The Garden of Old Roses starts a bold display in May thru June. The Mediterranean area, South Africa and California gardens are lush from mid-April through mid-June.

South America blooms in May through June, while the Mesoamerica section is looking great in early August. Visit the Eastern North America section to see peak bloom in May for Rhodies & Trillium; around mid-summer the asters strut their stuff.
Asia has several flushes with some of the 400 Rhododendrons blooming from Feb through July. The large tree species are at their best in Feb-March.

Vertical Gardens Revisited: Patrick Blanc in San Francisco

Alice Joyce — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 17:54:52 +0000

“There are no hummingbirds in Europe” .. Patrick Blanc

While in London this Spring I revisited the Vertical Garden created by Patrick Blanc for the Athenaeum Hotel, Piccadilly.

Last year when I photographed here, the garden had been installed about one year.

The growth was noticeably more lush since 12 months had passed.

Athenaeum Hotel Photo © Alice Joyce

Below: Detail of Lamium in bloom, alongside hosta foliage.

During Patrick’s visit to San Francisco earlier this year, to herald the planting of his Vertical Garden for the new Drew School Samuel Cuddeback Assembly Wing building .. the artist/botanist’s sketch for the project was on display.

The botanical names are drawn across the garden’s expanse, with each swath of plants revealing the pattern that will emerge at the garden grows.

In April, 2 months had passed since the San Francisco installation.

A variety of native plant species had begun to bloom, including strawberries.

Patrick talked to me about the importance of creating biodiversity in urban settings. I believe he was excited to have an opportunity to plant exclusively with natives in the temperate climate of San Francisco, while fostering a habitat for hummingbirds and other beneficial wildlife.

Photos © Alice Joyce

Lewisia species appeared to be thriving: Broadleaf lewisia

Photo © Alice Joyce

L. cotyledon – a perennial plant with fleshy leaves that form rosettes.

Blanc’s design mimics the growth habit of these plants, which are found in nature on cliffs and vertical outcrops.

Read more: Green Roofs / Vertical Gardens on Alice’s Garden Travel Buzz

History, Horticulture & Design: RHS Chelsea 2011

Alice Joyce — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:09:38 +0000

Horticulture, History & Design : RHS Chelsea 2011

: Chelsea: RBC New Wild Garden Blue Poppy Photo © Alice Joyce

The Himalayan blue poppy repeated a soft hue to benefit the show garden created by The Royal Bank of Canada. A green roof upholstered the top of a cottage building repurposed from a shipping container, while the ground plane featured clean-lined pools to capture rainwater collected from the living roof. After traveling down to the pools for storage, the water would then be released into the garden.

: RBC New Wild Garden Pool (photo: Alice Joyce)

Taking inspiration from the Arts & Crafts movement, the design incorporated dry-stone wall elements planted up with arrays of succulents.

: Chelsea: RBC New Wild Garden Seating Photo © Alice Joyce

The RBC Garden’s naturalistic plantings were influenced by the philosophy of the Victorian garden sage, William Robinson. Designers: Nigel Dunnett & The Landscape Agency

RBC New Wild Garden Photo © Alice Joyce)

: Monaco Garden – Overview Photo © Alice Joyce

A contrasting concept defined the sleek, contemporary style of ‘A Monaco Garden’ designed by Sarah Eberle for the Principality of Monaco. Not surprisingly, each show garden in its own way emphasized the importance of water in a garden plan.

: Monaco Garden Fountain/Pool Photo © Alice Joyce

Blue water represented Monaco’s harbor; water collected from building rooftops feeds the pool; drought-tolerant plants were selected for the green roof; the garden’s vertical living walls echo the greening of Monaco’s urban apartment blocks.

As pools and fountains offer to refresh the spirit on a sunny summer’s day, the reflective quality of water plays an equally prominent role, emerging as an essential point of focus in the layout of the Laurent-Perrier Garden designed by Luciano Giubbilei.

: Chelsea 2011: Laurent-Perrier Garden Photo © Alice Joyce

My experience of the Laurent-Perrier gardens at Chelsea brings to mind a sophistication together with a romantic touch. In 2011 this held true. According to the show guide, the soft pink tones of the lyrical plantings were meant to evoke Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Champagne. As a lover of fine bubbly, and most especially Rosé Champagne, I can’t imagine a lovelier notion.

: Laurent-Perrier Garden 2011 Photo © Alice Joyce

B&Q Chelsea 2011: Horizontal Meets Vertical Gardening

Alice Joyce — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:48:51 +0000

An ambitious design emphasizing edible gardening and sustainability set apart the B&Q Garden at the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show

Designed by Laurie Chetwood and Patrick Collins and winner of Gold, the garden boasted the tallest form to appear at Chelsea: A 27-foot high tower representing one of the garden’s 5 demonstration zones, with plants comprising edible selections – either entirely so, or species chosen for their edible stems, roots, leafs, buds or fruit.

The tower’s vertical surface displayed an alluring pattern in hues from chartreuse to mossy to pea green, complemented by colorful blooms as accents cascading from balconies. The horizontal plane came alive with beds of delectable leafy vegetables, fragrant herbs and roses.

Below left: Insect hotels of recycled materials, created by young people from UK Youth.

Right: Allée of lime trees yielding flowers that can be used to make tea.

Zone 3: A rain harvesting system with water butt and water tower to provide water year-round.

Chelsea-goers new to the idea of edible, sustainable gardens, and for all of us who long ago caught the Grow Your Own wave, the B&G garden’s bounty presented pleasing juxtapositions, bringing to the fore wild strawberries and borage, chamomile and chives, rosemary and pinks, violets and lavender, together with a trove of veggies and those inventive insect hotels. An all-round delight for beneficial insects, birds and London wildlife. As an educational model, the garden presented plenty of ideas to mull over.

Gift of Persia: Moorish, Mughal, Mediterranean Influence on California Gardens

Alice Joyce — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:33:01 +0000

Anticipating with great enthusiasm the latest offering in the 2011 Ruth Bancroft Horticultural Series. The seminar, presented by the Ruth Bancroft Garden and The Garden Conservancy is enticingly titled:

Gift of Persia: Exotic Gardens for California

…to take place on Friday July 15th at The Gardens at Heather Farm.

Fountains Nishat Bagh Mughal Gardens: Wikipedia by Mckay Savage

The day-long event boasts an impressive roster of speakers, with an agenda encompassing horticulture and garden design history. Promising to be thought-provoking, challenging and inspirational, talks include a presentation by Patrick N. Hunt, PhD, archeologist/art historian from Stanford. Hunt will be discussing how elements of the Persian garden moved to other cultures.

Courtyard Garden in Rajasthan India (photo: Garden Conservancy)

Seminar participants can look forward to a lively recounting of recent trends in a presentation by Zahid Sardar, author of New Garden Design: Photography by Marion Brenner. Sardar’s tantalizing topic: Inspiration for Private Paradises.

Uber-designer Davis Dalbok of San Francisco’s Living Green will speak on ‘Romance Plants for Northern California.’ Since moving to the Bay Area, I’ve had instances of rapture when encountering Dalbok’s work in outdoor settings exhibiting high drama and unmistakable panache. I hope to gather fresh ideas when listening to Dalbok muse on “plants and design borrowed from East and West of the Mediterranean.”

Horticulturist Michael DeHart is at the helm of the gardens at the Getty Museum in Brentwood, and the Getty Villa in Malibu. DeHart’s expertise extends to native flora of ancient sites in Italy and France, which should pique the interest of California gardeners who look to the Mediterranean for drought-tolerant species. DeHart’s presentation: ’California’s Getty Villa – Roman Architecture with an Italian Sensitivity of Planting.’

Landscape architect Todd R. Cole will shares his thoughts on how a classical garden style translates in a cool,contemporary garden design.

Below: A secret garden in Granada … with a design that reflects Moorish influence.

Christy Edstrom O’Hara, a landscape architect on the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, has gained renown for her research on historic landscape preservation and restoration. Prof. O’Hara presents: The Rain in Spain: Moorish Lessons in Planting Design and Water Use; combining a practical emphasis on sustainable and green solutions along with a keen understanding of garden architecture and history.

Bancroft Garden (Photo: Brian Kemble)

To top off the day at the close of the seminar, participants will leave The Gardens at Heather Farm for a reception with wine and plants at the Ruth Bancroft Garden. The reception provides a not-to-be-missed opportunity to hear the Bancroft Garden’s curator and resident aloe hybridizer, Brian Kemble “talk plants.” I always find it engaging to bask in Brian’s expertise!