Garden Travel

The Wave Garden

Wave Garden Sculpture Concrete Detail  Photo © Alice Joyce

Vistas of San Francisco Bay, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County enhance the flowing hardscape and knockout plantings of the Wave Garden, an off-the-beaten-path San Francisco destination: The Wave Garden is located in the East Bay, at 615 Western Drive, Point Richmond, California. The terra-cotta hue of Victor Amador’s concrete hardscape is abetted by the richly creative Mediterranean, drought-tolerant plant palette by garden designer Kellee Adams.

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Botanical Gardens

Ruth Bancroft Garden

Bancroft Garden - Photo: Brian Kemble

Displaying an originality that outshines traditional garden settings, The Ruth Bancroft Garden, located in Walnut Creek, California, reveals an eccentric cast of characters, along with an enthusiasm for succulent plants that traces back to the 1950s, when Mrs. Bancroft began collecting potted specimens. Ruth Bancroft’s design artistry and gardening prowess as creator of an iconic landscape inspired the founding of The Garden Conservancy in 1989. Having set its sights on preserving our country’s horticultural legacy, the Conservancy championed the 3-acre Ruth Bancroft Garden, selecting it as the first to be listed on the organization’s register.

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Garden Travel

Worth Garden: A Paradise in Mill Valley

Worth Garden /Silver leaves and Steps Photo © Alice Joyce

Artist/Photographer Don Worth created a paradise garden in Mill Valley, California. Soon you’ll have a rare opportunity to experience the garden’s tropical splendor on Saturday, June 16th, 2012 when The Garden Conservancy Open Days Program allows visitors access to this beguiling landscape. In 1964 Worth bought the property in Mill Valley and began to work on a garden. When I walked through the landscape with Don in 2004, he remembered thinking of all the photographs he would take. “It became a laboratory for me,” he said, “… a never-ending source of subject matter.” Don passed away recently, but his garden remains a testament to a stunning artistic vision. You’d never know this setting had been overgrown with poison oak, French broom, wild blackberries and as Don told me, “more different kinds of weeds than one can imagine.”

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