With great views come great responsibility.
Native plants with golden flowers link to the tawny hills...
Any garden designer, faced with such a beautiful vista as backdrop, must complement such a vista, not interfere with it, or hide it. The designer must add an appropriate foreground, and let the views take first place.
The next Fling garden visit, to a garden in Walnut Creek, was quite successful in adding a foreground to complement the background.
Horizontal lines created by low walls and low plantings swept in curves around the hill top property and around a low ranch house.
Smaller native and Mediterranean shrubs provided modest screening where it was needed.
A muted color scheme worked. Garish neon shades would have been out of place. The brightest note was a soft magenta in the Anigozanthos...
...but the main colors were soft yellows, golds, oranges, and brick.
The delicate orange and yellow of a variegated Abutilon.
A soft peachy Lily.
Another restrained orange.
Just a touch of white...
A brick red rather than a crimson Lily.
The brick echoed in Asclepias:
Warm reds and yellows repeated through many different flower shapes and sizes, and even in the fruit upon a tree.
Yellows and reds even in foliage.
This unity of color made for a peaceful garden experience.
The garden put us into a relaxed and happy mood. It was hard to leave.
The designers--homeowners and professionals working in collaboration, surely honored the quintessential California view by creating a beautiful environment in which to sit and enjoy it.
Beautiful! I want that chair! Also, I want lizards in my garden!
ReplyDelete(I think the first photo is Caryopteris, not Agastache)
Corrected, thanks. I sort of thought it might be Caryopteris.
DeleteChair?!? I want that view!
I enjoyed this garden. The view was breathtaking. I agree that the garden's vibe was very tranquil. Great shots.
ReplyDeleteEveryone seemed to want to linger. I really enjoyed that garden, too.
DeleteNicely done Hoov, I loved this garden and had not considered the color angle intellectually, though I think it was certainly a gut instinct.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It came to me looking at the photos. Snapping a bucket load of pictures seems to be good for something.
DeleteWhat a beautiful view and the choice of plants is wonderful, enhancing the colours of the landscape.
ReplyDeletexoxoxo ♡
Isn't it wonderful? I wish I lived there!
DeleteWhat a great take on this garden! I haven't looked at my photos yet but it seemed a difficult one to capture, you did that and then some.
ReplyDeleteI just loved the view, for some reason it made me feel right at home.
DeleteAn interesting concept, to plan one's flower colors to coordinate with the view and background. It really works in that setting. The dried grass looks quite golden. I have lots of cedar, bamboo, and fruit tree green so get to indulge in bright colors- pinks, reds, peaches, purples, yellows.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the subtle shades and tints in this one. I also thought it worked very well.
DeleteNo way for me to choose a favorite few gardens on the fling, but you captured the distant oak-studded Calif. view so well, that about said it all for me. My kind of place! The colors all working together is something I hadn't noticed, as is typical for me first visit. The temperature and a few of the plants there reminded me of my home!
ReplyDeleteIt was hot--I took all my photos from the shade. If a shot required standing in the sun, it didn't get taken. I enjoyed all the gardens; the organizers did a good job of finding different styles, and they were all interesting.
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