I always look forward to seeing this wonderful Brunfelsia pauciflora on the way to the Shakespeare Garden. That concrete guy on the right is saying, "Hey, check out the fragrance!" It's delicately sweet.
Just past the Brunfelsia is a large Mahonia shaded by a native Oak. I love the wonderful blue of the berries.
The Shakespeare Garden is adjacent to the rose garden.
A bust of the poet surveys the scene.
Here and there, some lovely Iris
There's an herb garden, too.
On the edge of the herb garden is this amazing...Viburnum?
The relatively new Chinese garden is proving very popular. Hundreds of tons of limestone were brought from China and used in the construction.
They had some Itoh peonies, too. I think this might be 'Keiko':
A bit of a mystery--a herbaceous peony in Southern California? The tag said 'Mme Emile Debatene'. Are they experimenting?
The plantings have filled in quite fast. That willow has grown swiftly. Native oaks already on site helped to impart an air of maturity.
Chinese gardens may seem exotic, but no more exotic than Delphiniums in Southern California.
There is only one word for this "BEAUTIFUL" !!!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it? I love to visit there.
DeleteThat mahonia is magnificent!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing the Chinese garden again. We enjoyed it shortly after it opened and even then it had a surprisingly mature look. This visit will be almost two years later for me.
Hope you enjoyed it! It's growing in much faster than I expected.
DeleteGreat place.. Lovely seems not the right word to describe how wonderful it is.
ReplyDeleteIt was a joy to be there. We felt pretty fortunate!
DeleteStunning! I've never visited this garden but would love to see it someday! Some kind of magic is going on here with herbacious peonies and delphiniums growing in Southern California. Thanks for taking us along on this tour with you!
ReplyDeleteHope you get to visit it someday. It's like Disneyland for gardeners.
DeleteYour photos are driving me insane! I can't stop looking and gathering ideas. My "fred" is huge but losing it's pretty color…planted in front of house with am sun. large pot. growing well but bad color..edging towards yellow and grey. do I need fertilizer? less water? more sun?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your glorious photos and information.
'Fred Ives' are we talking about? Fred gets orange, yellow and grey in a lot of hot sun, more blue and violet with shade. How often are you watering? What material is it planted in? Usually morning sun/afternoon shade is just right. Is there a lot of reflected heat from walls and concrete? Can you post a photo on your blog for me to look at?
DeleteYes…will post photos on my blog...it will be ready in a few minutes…thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking a look at my succulents. I am taking your comments to heart. I am in the process of changing out an annual bed (10 feet round) into a succulent garden. Should I just plan on using succulents/sedum varieties or can I mix in any grasses/natives? We visited the Taft Gardens in Ojai which are composed of Australian and South African natives and feature a huge variety of succulents, trees and shrubs. I think you would really enjoy this 40 acre botanical garden…free. It inspired me to do more succulent planting. I did a blog post on it last year. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteSucculents look great with CA natives and grasses because they give the often shrubby/nebulous look of native plants a contrasting architectural shape to play off of. Keep experimenting and enjoy. Just be careful which grasses you use--sterile types that cannot reseed are a good idea. Have fun!
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