Rhodies

In honor of my heading up to the great Northwest, I am posting some pictures of some cool Rhododendrons (Washington's State Flower). These are not Washington's Coastal Rhododendrons but their giant Himalayan cousins.

 

I took these pictures a few years ago on a trip to Sikkim in Northeastern India. It was beautiful and magical and had some of the nicest people I have ever met. Well worth the multi-day train rides, buses, special travel permits and days of hiking.

Citizens of the Garden

In honor of my finally seeing Gnomeo and Juliet (great movie!), I celebrate the underappreciated and often mocked creatures of the Garden. These are some of the residents of my garden.

Other cool uses of kitsch are Ken Smith's Daisy Border or any other installation at Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma (if you haven't gone and you are in the Bay Area, it is a must!) and what I lovingly referred to as the 'Lawn Jockey' Club (21 Club) on 52nd in New York.

The Magical Urban Seas of Stormy Weather

 I have this memory from when I was a little girl. It was a really stormy day that continued in to the evening. My mom was driving me home in our Jeep Cherokee and she traversed a sea of water other cars could not, the water was that deep. (While I am not a fan of SUVs unless you actually need a 4 Wheel Drive, that car was amazing) I thought this sea, where I had never seen one before, was so cool. In fact, little did my four year old self know, it was because this particular part of town had bad storm water management.

Fast forward many years and much coursework and I again live in a place home to many an ephemeral sea (usually during high tides and rainy days like this past weekend) and I am still in awe. Streams and the occasional river emerge from cracks in the road. I love them even though I know the water is dirty and they are definitely not good for the surrounding structures and businesses.  In this particular place, it is a sad sign of neglect and political quagmire.  Despite knowing this, I still think they are beautiful and curious to look at.

Hopefully on not too downer of a note, have a great weekend.  Unfortunately I did not make downtown to take a picture of the inland sea known as the Marinship, so a picture of a gutter spring will have to suffice.

Flowers for a Wedding

So last year my cousin had a brilliant idea: get all the ladies attending her wedding (it was a small affair) and have them get acquainted with each other while making the flower arrangements for the reception dinner the next day. To say we had fun would be an understatement.  It was such a great afternoon and everyone became more invested in the weekend as a whole after contributing a little of themselves to the celebrations. Here are a few of my favorites:

  

It was with this experience that my friend later asked me to do the flowers for her wedding. A daunting task because it is such a big day and one wants everything to be perfect and definitely not to disappoint. Miss Sarah's big day is this coming May and I am very excited to see what can be done with all those spring blooms. There will be more to come on this. 

The Plants are Winning

Pictures from my first trip to Alcatraz. One would have thought I would have been there before but at least I finally made it. With the exception of the cell room being super creepy, the island itself it absolutely gorgeous in a decayed kind of way and has amazing views of the city and Marin. Well worth the visit! These pictures were taken in January, on a lovely sunny and warm day with not a cloud in the sky.

Roar!

I love quirky garden creatures. Who do you think would win between this guy and a gnome? Heaven forbid the lawn jockey or the pink flamingo get involved.


Happy Weekend!

What doesn't belong

Yes, that is a vacuum. I didn't realize it was good for leaves too.

So in New York City, I spent quite a bit of quality time in parks (as to be expected when studying Landscape Architecture) and came across a number of perplexing items. Alas, I didn't manage to take photos of everything, say the full sized bed set that magically appeared in St. Nicholas Park one early Spring morning, but I did get this one. I will apologize, I am a sucker for bad jokes: spring cleaning anyone?

Housewarming

What better way to start a blog than with a lovely housewarming gift? I had been eyeing this particular pot for awhile and an opportunity to justify the purchase presented itself. I planted it with succulents and a Euphorbia, a new favorite plant if solely because it looks like something Dr. Seuss would have had in his illustrations. This pot is now living a very happy life in Sonoma County and the Euphorbia and succulents will be joining many plant friends in the garden.