wwp@yahoogroups.com:
Gardens - A World Wide Panorama
G. Donald Bain 2006-Jun-19 23:47:00
Please share your ideas about "gardens" with the rest of us on this
list.
Here are my thoughts for what I could choose, here in the San
Francisco Bay Area. Similar possibilities I am sure will be available
everywhere. (BTW, local photographers, I can only do one of these,
so don't consider them "claimed".)
Berkeley Rose Garden - an old fashioned formal garden, a small city
park with great views across the bay to the Golden Gate. I stood here
and watched the fires in San Francisco after the 1989 earthquake.
University of California Botanical Garden - a fabulous worldwide
collection of 12,000 species of plants, arranged geographically. It
could take me all day to find the perfect spot, with so much to
choose from.
East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden - consists exclusively of
plants that grow natively in California (and many of them grow
nowhere else on earth). It was efforts to preserve this garden that
led to creation of the California Native Plant Society, now a major
environmental activist group.
The Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park - tiny but seems large,
created for the 1915 world's fair and was maintained by one Japanese-
American family for decades afterwards. Famous for its cherry
blossoms (in March) but beautiful all year.
The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park - a huge Victorian
greenhouse, modeled on the one at Kew Gardens in London. Recently
rehabilitated after earthquake damage.
The AIDs Memorial Grove, also in Golden Gate Park - quiet and
understated, most people visiting seem to recognize someone they knew
among the 1500+ names.
Bonfante Gardens in Gilroy - billed as "the home of the world-famous
circus trees" it failed as a theme park because not enough people
were interested in coming to see trees. So they put in rides - now it
is a success.
Sunset Magazine's demonstration gardens in Menlo Park - immensely
influential in evolving a distinctive California landscaping style.
Spanish missions - each of the California missions (five in this
area) has a garden within its cloister walls, often featuring plants
descended from those planted two centuries ago by the Franciscans.
The one at Mission Dolores is featured in Alfred Hitchcock's classic
movie Vertigo.
Luther Burbank's home and gardens - the inventor of the Idaho potato,
the Shasta daisy, spineless cactus, and 800 other horticultural
strains, lived in Santa Rosa. His home and gardens are now a museum.
The Berkeley Community Gardening Collective - coordinates and
encourages urban food gardens. They list dozens of school and
community gardens in Berkeley alone.
People's Park, Berkeley - created spontaneously (and illegally) on
university property back when I was a student in 1969. The park
became famous when it was fenced off, resulting in a violent reaction
from the community. Governor Reagan called in 2700 National Guard
troops, thousands of protesters were arrested, tear gas was
everywhere, the city was in turmoil for months. Eventually the fence
was torn down, and the park is still there.
In addition to all these public spaces the East Bay has thousands of
beautiful private gardens, each of which has its own special story.
My wife and I manage landscaping for our homeowners association - 23
acres (9 hectares) owned in common by the 90 households. For twenty
years now we have guided this extensive garden towards drought-
resistant and California native species, while paying particular
attention to fire safety.
So many gardens, so little time!
Don