Some photos of my garden in Berkeley, California

23 Feb '07 4:11 am

Anna, I went back to the photo you posted and actually read the sign the second time around. Very cute and funny. Where is this sign?

23 Feb '07 12:46 pm

I'm anxious to try Anna's suggestion and I'm hoping my wife Lia will be able to give me some help with this this weekend as well. I have progress reports due Monday at my school and a folder full of Algebra tests to score tonight, but come the weekend I look forward to catching up with my new friends in 'on the other side of the pond', 'down under' and right here in my backyard over in Alabama.
Best wishes, Mark

23 Feb '07 1:45 pm

Mark, I'm a nitwit. I didn't think to enter the link as I just assumed it wouldn't work, but by removing the 'extra' bits and leaving http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w10/serialplantfetishist it does indeed take us to your photos. Thanks Faith. (btw, I don't know where the sign comes from. It was in one of my emails and I collect 'humorous photos'.)

And Mark your garden photos are lovely. Very very nice *thumbs up*

26 Feb '07 5:58 am

Here finally are the photos from my garden in Berkeley, California. Most of the pictures are from late last summer or fall. The center island bed was where the garden started about 12 or 13 years ago. The area I think of as my garden is through the gate at the end of the driveway. It is a 100 feet across and forty feet deep past the end of the warehouse. It's a little deeper at the entry gate. Beyond our back fence you see Strawberry Creek Park which went in when the train tracks came out back around 1983. At that time, they broke open a large culvert to daylight. The park is planted in native california plants. Along our northern border, the creek has always been 'out' where it runs between our 'little' warehouse and a much larger complex on the other side. On our southern border there is now a community vegetable garden where a much larger building used to stand. About 12 years ago a huge fire gutted that building, against which our building had been built as a lean-to about a 100 years ago. We were hiking in Arizona at the time but a fireman told me later it was the largest fire she'd ever seen. She said the fire above the building was twice the height of the two story building itself and that it melted the steel beams inside. The only reason we didn't lose our building is the quick action of the fire department -and- the fact that I'd put up walls in our bedroom area with a layer of sheet rock against the exposed brick (mostly because we were worried about all those bricks coming down on us in an earthquake). When the charred remainder of their building was removed you could see a big black spot where the fire had burned away the paper on the sheet rock in that area. Any way, thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy the photos.
-Mark

26 Feb '07 9:22 am

Mark ,it's gorgeous ,and a very inviting garden ---the sort of beautiful informality that many of us try to create .I went to your photobucket site to get them enlarged ,the better to view .
you seem to be able to grow a lot of tropical plants .Yellow wave flax is a must in my garden -I also have two blue cape cod chairs the same as yours .They suit the style of garden so well .
Dixie

26 Feb '07 10:18 am

I finally got them to the site but I think I shrunk them too much. I've just downloaded some more at photobucket at the next larger size. Maybe I'll try a couple just to see if I have the best size for the job.

I'm very glad you like the garden after waiting so long. It is informal, hopefully natural looking. The Yellow Wave phormium is the only one that has bloomed for me but I really like the way the big pink one, 'Guardsman' dwarfs me and the nearby tree.

Hey, I just looked again for your garden photos at this forum and discovered there are more pages besides the most recent one that I'm on .. and there you were. Naturally yours were posted sooner, duh. I do eventually catch on. Your archway is the same blue as our chairs. With the stairs near your painted wall you have a real 3 dimensional garden. I love that sculptural look you get with that. (I'm also envious of all the windows looking out over this scene from the house. Would you believe we do not have one window that faces out on my garden? That may change soon.) I also found the Yellow wave phormium you mentioned, or were there 2? I too am a fan of blue bells, mine are scillia bulbs. Yours look a little larger maybe. Mine are leafing out big time right now. Blooms may be a month away, no buds yet. I wonder if our seasons are reversed? I see you too go in for knifophias. I have a smaller related plant in bloom right now called bulbinella, with bright supher yellow, knifophia-like blooms.

I'll need to explore these earlier pages some more.

- Mark

26 Feb '07 9:50 pm

Mark, I just loved your garden! But in order to enjoy your photos I visited Photobucket, because they are SO small! There, I fell in love with many more photos! And I made a test : with a right click, I saved two of the loveliest among them in "my documents" file; then, I moved them in one of my posts here -- without submitting, to see how they look. Since they look fine, I wonder, WHY you do not do the same thing! And here are the two of the loveliest of your photos!

27 Feb '07 2:25 am

What would we do without our wonderful Liza.

Mark, it was so great to see your photos on your post. I know you will work out the kinks soon so that we can enjoy more of your beautiful photos. I too love your blue chairs (that seems to be a very popular color on our Forum and probably in lots of other gardens as well). I have two benches painted in that color, which my husband says is Carolina Blue (As in the University of North Carolina for those of you in the U.S. who know about college football rivalries.). Since he is a Georgia Tech grad, he was a little put out when I picked that color for him to paint the benches he had built. But he did it good naturedly after his initial grumbling. I think the color looks fantastic in almost any garden setting.

27 Feb '07 3:55 am

Mark, having finally been able to log on after a week of problems this end ( Evil or Very Mad

), I am greeted with these gorgeous photos! I particularly love your Kiftsgate rose and also the huge blue urn which sits in the foreground of the photo of your lovely blue seats! Talking of blue seats, we're actually going to be painting ours green at some point so I'm really sorry to buck the trend! Laughing

27 Feb '07 5:52 am

I think the rose next to Graham Thomas is 'Sally Holmes' ? ?
I have been wondering where you were ,Bambi ,also a couple of other regular friends who write here .
When you sit on your GREEN chair ,think of us sitting on our BLUE ones.(Are you sure you don't want blue ?)
Dixie

Some photos of my garden in Berkeley, California

Weather forcasting stone

Thanks for all the support Anna & Faith.

Mission accomplished!

gorgeous garden

Thanks Dixie

Adorable photos!

Liza, the ever present helper

Rose