Dinner At The Conservatory; The Garden That Is San Francisco

The view from the hotel revealed someone asking Sarah to get married, via silver balloons shaped like letters.  Gradually, passers-by joined in until there was one person holding each letter so Sarah could read the balloons, which were bouncing around pretty good in the breeze.  No word on Sarah's response. 
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Though an overwhelmingly human construct of glass, metal, brick, concrete, and asphalt, albeit with a really nice water feature called the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco has snippets of garden here and there.  The whirlwind Fling allowed for only brief glimpses of the city itself.  Our hotel had a view of Yerba Buena Park and a landscaped plaza.  On early Friday morning I watched someone cut the lawn.  I sat 16 stories above, wishing I could smell the scent of new-mown grass.  Yes I would have sneezed like crazy, but green fragrance is irresistable.
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In another direction was a rooftop garden with a wall of bamboo.  A small family of crows appeared to live on top of the building next door.  
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Yerba Buena Park has a large waterfall feature:
Dinner photo dinner74084_zps2b1790be.jpgThe healthy appearance of tree ferns in full sun illustrates the mildness of the climate.
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Very San Francisco--a planter and bench made from a dumpster, for the benefit of the community. To believe in "community benefit" is an increasingly rare mindset in our country.   
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Nearby was a 1980's building with 21st century balcony plants:
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Friday night of Fling weekend we had a Fling dinner at the Conservatory Of Flowers.  The Conservatory plants were beautifully maintained.  The Huntingon has a newish, similar Conservatory with plants looking more and more bedraggled every time we visit.  What happened to their maintenance budget?  The plants in San Francisco were far better cared for.
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The Conservatory had a Butterfly room.  
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At that time of day most of the residents were sleepy.  A Zebra Longtail was still active:
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And this white one I didn't get an ID for:
Dinner photo dinner7438_zpsc2f05a42.jpg The dinner was fun.  We all got some free stuff, like a pair of Corona clippers, which someone who drove kindly brought back for me, since flyers can't bring clippers in carry-on luggage, some books from Ten Speed and Timber Press, a pair of gloves that Natasha ripped the fingers off of when I got home, a lot of seed packets (Boris ate those and pooped seeds and scraps of paper for three days), and a plant, a hybrid Anemone hupehensis from Blooms Of Bressingham.  A free plant!  What more could anyone want?  A. hupehensis can apparently be invasive, so I'll have to watch it carefully.  A hybrid may be less aggressive.  There was also a card from Blooms of Bressingham saying send us an email with your address, and we'll send you a sample plant or two, but Boris ate the card before I could do the email.


The following morning after the Fling dinner I was sick, and missed all the garden visits.  I was mostly recovered by late afternoon, and spent some quality time with the DH.  The next day Flingers said I missed a horribly hot day, so maybe getting sick wasn't as bad as it might have been.  
An Adenium at the Conservatory, perfectly adapted to hot weather:
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The puppies took a rest after their destruction.  Destruction is work!
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Comments

  1. Boris and Natasha were simply telling you that they don't approve of you traveling without them. They obviously thought that you had brought back treats for them as recompense for abandoning them. I'm sorry you missed the second day but glad that you got to spend time with your DH! The Bay area is a pretty magical place botanically and otherwise. Can't wait to return with a vehicle!

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    Replies
    1. Yes it was a magical place. So many plants, so little time!

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  2. Well, Bugger. I put that Blooms of Bressingham card into my recycle bin right after unpacking, without even bothering to read it. Oops. I enjoyed the photos from your hotel room window. I had no view at all.

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    Replies
    1. Well, we both missed out, just for different reasons!

      I love looking out with views like that to see what I could see. Especially in a city there's all kinds of drama going on, if you look carefully.

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  3. So San Francisco was very interesting, beautiful pictures of the city, pretty free bees for your dogs, haha, but the photo of your destructive cute puppies is the best, just wonderful dogs.

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    Replies
    1. Destructive and cute. I guess if they were only cute, I'd get bored!

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  4. Sorry to say, but I love when your pups get involved in the gardening. :)

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