Visiting Gardens in California

Posted by Amy Urquhart Jul 30, 2008

Last week I flew to California to attend the annual BlogHer conference. Unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts, I was unable to meet up with my fellow home and garden bloggers. On the plus side, though, I had time while on the west coast to visit two beautiful gardens.

The first garden I saw was a community garden located in the City of Palo Alto. The garden was situated in the middle of a suburban residential area, and plots are offered to those residents living in the immediately surrounding neighbourhood. What impressed me about the garden in particular was the fact that it was obviously planned for. There was green space all around the garden, with a playground for children and concrete paths leading neighbours around the space. Gardeners grew tomatoes, beans, peas and other edible plants as well as sunflowers in their plots.

The other garden I was privileged to visit was a large vegetable and herb garden at the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation in Marin County. The garden on site at the center is absolutely gorgeous, with towering rows of closely planted sunflowers, a large squash bed, and densely planted rows of lettuce in between taller rows of vegetables. There were also several apple trees, raspberries and blackberries approaching harvest time. The garden also featured two hoop houses, one of which contained growing heirloom tomatoes, while the other was being used as a seed house, where plants were allowed to flower and go to seed; the seeds are collected for the following season’s planting.

When traveling, I highly recommend scheduling some time to visit local gardens. Not only is it a relaxing way to spend a holiday, but it’s a great opportunity to see what kinds of plants are native to another location.