Where I return to the garden of Marcia Donahue

Sometimes I have to pinch myself, am I dreaming or is this real?

Turns out on this particular occasion it was very real.

December 7th, 2018 and I was standing in front of Marcia Donahue's house in Berkeley, CA. There's Marcia herself!

I was visiting with my fellow Pacific Horticulture board members. We had a meeting scheduled for the next day but were squeezing in a few garden tours first.

This was my second visit to Marcia's garden, the first was in September of 2014 (here). In case you're not familiar with Marcia's work she's a ceramic artist. These huge beads are her creation and hang in a tree at the front of her house.

These are also her work.

She's amazing! And she's built quite the garden to go with these sculptures.

Heading down the narrow side garden...(that's Lorene Edwards Forkner, she of the fabulous #seeingcolorinthegarden studies on Instagram)...

Wouldn't this be nice to have in your garden? Perhaps a warming dip before dinner?

And we're just about to the back garden...(that's Jennifer Jewell, the host of Cultivating Place)

Looks like a couple different pyrrosia.

The pond!

Someday I'd like to purchase a couple of Marcia's bulbs.

Or maybe her turkey-tail lichen?

Tree tomatoes! Aka tamarillo.

They are edible.

At first I thought this might be the flower of the tamarillo but it's not, it belongs to something else growing nearby.

The garden contains many more tillandsia and bromeliads than I saw on my prior visit.

I am so completely envious of those who live in a climate where these plants can stay outdoors year-round.

The plants and the artwork just blend together seamlessly.

Marcia pointed out that the ceramic turkey-tails came first, the natural one just appeared on its own.

Another plant and flower mash-up that's not a "real-life" combo.

What's real and what's artwork? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Cannomois grandis

Time to follow the pathway back around to the front of the house.

If you're in Berkeley on a Sunday Marcia opens her garden on most Sunday afternoons (3017 Wheeler St. Berkeley CA). You really should visit.

Weather Diary, March 21: Hi 59, Low 47/ Precip trace

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Wednesday Vignette, a Desert Museum leftover

Somehow I missed sharing this metal sculpture in my coverage of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which is a shame because I rather liked it. So...it get's its own post now...

Weather Diary, March 19: Hi 70, Low 44/ Precip 0

Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Visiting Rita Lee's Nursery

Saturday March 9th started bright and early. When I would normally still be in my pajamas on the couch I was fully dressed and in Gervais, Oregon visiting a small, family owned, cactus and succulent nursery.

I know of Rita Lee's Nursery from Hortlandia. where they've been a vendor for the last few years. I always buy something from their booth, so I was excited to visit. We started our tour (I was with a small group) in their propagation house.

So many good things! Most of which I can only guess at their names, so I won't, unless it's just genus. I believe this is a Haworthia...

Staplia at the back, Crassula in front.

The next house had lower tables with shade cloth over the top of individual rows. Seeing the nursery set-up was almost as interesting as seeing the plants. Almost.

More Haworthia. I would have snapped up one of the brownish ones, except the color was only due to stress. I'm not sure I would love it quite as much if it were green.

Under the sea Haworthia...

It became quite a sunny day, but the clouds were hanging low during our visit. On to the next house...

So many Epiphyllum!

And friends...

This Rebutia heliosa was amazing, and not for sale. Are you impressed I remembered the name? Only because my friend Nat posted it over on his nursery's Instagram page (here).

At the back of this house was a raised veggie bed. A little out of season but it made me happy to see.

Can you make out the long white "flap" at the top, running the length of this house? When the heater comes on it inflates. There are small holes along the length that allow the hot air to to escape and heat the house. Pretty ingenious!

So bright they almost look artificial.

I do not care for the bumpy Aloes, at all. Plenty of other people must...

This THIS is the one that got away. Might it be the Haworthia venosa tessellata I fell in love with here? I meant to pick one up but got distracted and then forgot to go back. I didn't even remember this plant until I downloaded my photos the next day. Damn.

Have you ever seen such a dense Aeonium? It looked like a plant that had been decapitated and was popping out new growing tips all along the stem. Except there wasn't a central stem, at least not that I could find.

Finally, there were Agaves. I swooned over these but didn't ask about price, they were in huge pots after all.

There were smaller ones too, but none I needed. I should explain I was here mainly for another genus entirely, as I have a new garden project in mind.

Agave potatorum

Agave titanota

Agave albopilosa

Another A. potatorum, I think.

Unique supports for rooting Opuntia.

Okay, back home with my haul. Rita Lee's has a great selection of affordable Rhipsalis, and that's what I was on the hunt for...

This one got the label R. baccifera, I think it's Rhipsalis baccifera subsp horrida.

R. ewaldiana, which has a slight twist to its stems.

R. tonduzii which may actually go by R. micrantha, according to online sources and now I'm thinking maybe R. pentaptera thanks to a comment below.

I did find a smaller one of those very dense Aeoniums, I couldn't resist.

And finally Abromeitiella chlorantha aka Deuterocohnia brevifolia, Navia brevifolia (basionym), Abromeitiella brevifolia, Tillandsia chlorantha....seriously! Whatever, it's that moundy thing that ends up looking like a rock covered in little spikes (here). Excellent outing! Thanks to Dale of Bear & Briar for organizing it.

Weather Diary, March 18: Hi 68, Low 47/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.