Friday, August 22, 2025

Just one more stop...

I used quotes when I referred to David's garden as the "final" stop of the day because there was one more. Really we were all drunk on plants and gardens at this point, so when someone suggested a drive-by garden that was on our way home, well, why not have just one more drink garden...

We didn't get beyond the front gate, but my camera was able to peek inside.

The plants in this post are all along the public sidewalk...


Kumara plicatilis (aka Aloe plicatilis and the fan-aloe) with a blooming Agave desmetiana 'Joe Hoak'.




It's such a beautiful Agave, and so very not hardy up here in Portland.


Of course neither are Aeonium. Wow, look at the size of those monsters!



I'm not going to make a guess on these handsome Agaves.

Or the palms...

But that white bloomer, that's Retama raetam (aka Genista raetam or white weeping broom).

I'd never seen a white blooming broom before (I only know them as yellow) so this was a nice sighting for me.

Beautiful flowers...

But the same awkward shape as Genista aetnensis, the broom I'm familiar with.

This post is a final wrap on the Saturday gardens from my spring Bay Area Extravaganza. Believe it or not, I've still got Sunday gardens to share!

Speaking of sharing, here's our forecast for the next few days here in Portland. We've hit 99 a few times this summer, but this will be our first run at multiple days at/above 100. Stay cool out there!
To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note: these are sent from a third party, their annoying ads are beyond my control. 

All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

More from David's Berkeley Hills garden

We're back in David's garden picking up where I left off on Monday. If you missed that post you'll definitely want to start there

Here we're looking at multiple plants in the bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae) growing on the rocky upslope of David's front garden. 

The tillandsia on the rock just send me. How cute are they?

Agave celsii var. albicans (I think). 

More tillandsia in the mix...

And what looks to be a Pellaea (fern) of some sort...

There's another dryland fern in the lower left of this photo, I can't tell for sure but it might be an Astrolepis sinuata.

Just a couple more photos of the front garden...


And then we turn towards the house.

Such a small space, so many cool plants.
Including a Pyrrosia sheareri...

Looking back along the front of the house, close-ups of which I shared on Monday. My god that's a lot of plants!

Now we're heading down the side of the house...kind of a lame photo but it sets the scene so I wanted to include it.

There were stairs heading down to a lower garden here, but I never made it down there. I think because I was told the stairs were a little tricky and there wasn't all that much to see beyond this point. 

Trachycarpus fortunei! I'm always surprised when I see these growing outside of the PNW. Why? I guess because in warmer climates I assume they'll be growing something more exotic. 

Looks like someone decided to "defur" the trunk, perhaps not David though since it's the lower part (done before he lived here)? I didn't think to ask him.

So many containers and hanging plants...

And ferns and what looks to be another palm (or two) growing underneath the Trachycarpus.

The property drops off along the side and back of the house, so the wrap-around wooden deck that was almost at ground level out front is now elevated.


Cool table planting.

And oh my, those are some large hanging plants!

Huge staghorn...

And this crazy business...

Behind the house there's a pond David has been working on, and more palms.

If my memory serves there are plans for even more palms around the pond.

*Sigh*

Sexy tree fern and (maybe) a Brassaiopsis hispida.


Greenhouse! (I peeked inside but didn't take any photos).

Working our way back around to the front now...

Plants in the sky!



I especially loved this hanging wooden trough planter, it was fantastic.



A photo from inside the house looking out at the hanging trough and (L to R) Max, David, Justin and Marcia.

And a parting shot of the garden from the front door. What a view! What a garden!

To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note: these are sent from a third party, their annoying ads are beyond my control. 

All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.