Thank you .. ‘Dirt du Jour’

for the glowing review! "Go ask Alice ... where all the best vineyard gardens are. She's an erudite charmer; you'll have fun!"

Green Roofs/Vertical Gardens

Patrick Blanc: Vertical Gardens Update

Blanc Garden Drew Fall 2011 Photo © Alice Joyce

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, 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. 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.

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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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Green Roofs/Vertical Gardens

Vertical Gardens Revisited

Athenaeum Blanc Vertical Garden detail Photo © Alice Joyce

While in London this Spring I revisited the Vertical Garden created by Patrick Blanc for the Athenaeum Hotel, Piccadilly. Last year when I photographed Blanc’s green wall the garden had been installed about one year. The growth was noticeably more lush since 12 months had passed. 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.

Continue reading Vertical Gardens Revisited: Patrick Blanc in San Francisco