Blake House is the official residence of the president of the University of California. The house sits on a 10-acre garden used as a teaching facility for UC Berkeley's Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Department.
The gardens are fabulous.
Paths beckon on either side when you walk in.
The red plum tree stands out in a sea of green. I head to it.
It's loaded with plums.
One of the very few acceptable uses of a boxwood, imo: to frame something wild. It works pruned laxly like this.
I'm not alone.
She's with this guy.
Male and female, doing a little dance. The manzanita nearby are dancing too.
The paperbark exfoliates.
This is all going on in the gardens fronting the house where there are lots of places to sit and watch...
And lots of small ponds and pools for reflection and contemplation.
Shady ponds
and sunny ponds.
Exquisite.
The reflection pool...
The fish are 2 feet long.
For the reflective moment consider the union of opposites. Not just earth and sky, but the orange fish swimming in the reflected blue sky.
(Note to self: for a better photograph, cool down the reflected sunlight on the lily pad.)
The house from the far side of the reflection pool. Magnolia to provide winter interest..? Magnolia bloom on and off all year in California because the weather is so mild. The flowers don't know whether they're coming or going. Magnolias are best pruned open to provide dappled shade.
The parking lot planting.
Across the parking lot, a more traditional European-style.
Wisteria pruned--ruthlessly--yielding a tree.
Let's talk about it. This gardening achievement makes a stunning specimen. This one needs a little work, and the shrubs near it should be removed or reduced. I missed it in flower, but the legumes dangle like ornaments on a summery Christmas tree. Next to it, another little pond. Whoever did this, I salute you.
A row of something recently cut to the ground.
Sporting vigorous new growth.
Why ever mix mortar when dry-stacked stone looks so good?
Some good-looking new steps.
Neglected pamaps grass (or jubata grass, whatever), reeking of regret. "If only we could go back in time and not plant this." Who knows. Maybe it's just me.
Like a hummingbird, I can spot the Leonotus from here.
Closer...
Closer...too close.
The Madrone announces entry to the California section.
Another one who likes to exfoliate.
The Madrone is one of many plants named for a Menzies--in this case, Archibald Menzies.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom descends from the Menzies clan. Newsom's maternal grandfather, Arthur Menzies, helped plant the California garden in Golden Gate Park, and it now bears his name.
I think this is Muhlenbergia rigens, Deer Grass.
Lupinus arboreus in the fork. It must look better in spring and early summer. Now you barely notice it.
Eriogonum giganteum, St. Catherine's Lace.
Santa Cruz Island buckwheat.
More of it. Gorgeous.
That was all very Channel Islands, but what's a California garden without a redwood grove?
A bower made from cut Sequoia branches.
And that awful Hedera. It's everywhere. It does serve a purpose tho'. It's helping to hold up the hill in this shot.
The stream bed is dry in summer.
A trickle of a stream for the explorer to cross.
The path out...
A flower garden.
Neat beds.
A runner bean teepee.
Some roses.
A lovely farewell.
Another great garden in the East Bay: The Ruth Bancroft Garden.
Added: I went back to the Blake Garden in October 2006.
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