Los Angeles

Getty Museum Gardens

Getty Promontory Photo © Alice Joyce

I visited the larger-than-life Getty Center soon after it opened in 1997, and was allowed to wander through the gardens before the campus opened for the day. It was a fabulous chance to study the design and appreciate the details. I’ve often returned to spend time touring the 110-acre hillside setting, set off by sparkling Roman travertine buildings which include the J. Paul Getty Museum. Many of the gardening world’s cognescenti were first drawn to visit and critique the controversial Central Garden, designed by artist Robert Irwin. On a recent L.A. jaunt to experience the garden in Autumn, I enjoyed the scent of roses, colorful Brugmansia & Tibouchina amid colorful stems and branches of deciduous Cornus cultivars, massed bright orange succulents, and dense plantings of society garlic embraced by clipped boxwood hedges.

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Garden Travel

San Francisco Gardens

SanFrancisco Tiled Steps Photo © Alice Joyce

When the Garden Bloggers came to town,

they visited a trove of the Bay Area’s great gardens, all lined up in a stellar itinerary that included Filoli to the iconic landscape of the Ruth Bancroft Garden and The Wave Garden,

Wave Garden Vista View © Alice Joyce

A few more special settings have been highlighted here on Alice’s Garden Travel Buzz. You

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Botanical Gardens

U.C. Botanical Garden at Berkeley

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

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

UCBG Berkeley Entry Structure by Marisha Farnsworth © 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 © Alice Joyce

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