Berkeley Botanic Garden

Here's a shot of a great succulent we saw at the Berkeley Botanic Garden.

More San Francisco Trip Pictures

We're having a great time in California. Learning a lot and visiting some amazing gardens. We'd love to have you join us on a future MG Garden Tour. Check out the Garden Tour site for upcoming trips to Holland and France.
Downtown Flower Market


Filoli Botanical Garden


Golden Gate Bridge


Muir Woods

California MG Trip

Greetings from California! Our Master Gardener group is having a great time out here on the West Coast. Here are just a few photos of the amazing things we've seen so far.

Elderberry House



Half Dome -- Yosemite National Park



Giant Sequoia

Surprise!!!

With September comes football, tailgating and some really cool plants. As I was walking around my landscape last week there was one of my favorite bulbs in flower, the Lycoris radiata also known as surprise lilies or hurricane lilies. These bulbs grow best in U.S. hardiness zones 6-10 and send up 18-inch flower spikes with red spider-like flowers prior to the foliage. Following the flowers, the 6-inch grass-like foliage provides a nice green cover through the winter. In spring, the foliage dies back and the bulbs rest until the September flower show begins again. This is a great old-time plant that is often shared between gardeners but can also be found in garden centers and from online nurseries. They do not like to be disturbed, so it may take a year or two before your bulbs are established and begin to flower. Plant some soon and be ready for the surprise!!!

Versatile Vines

Vines are underutilized in many landscapes, even though they can be used in many ways. I am using vines in my yard to beautify a fence, cover a trellis or arbor, attract wildlife, provide color, and to hide bad views.

One of my favorite vines is called evergreen wisteria (Millettia reticulata). This vine is currently in full bloom and has been flowering on and off all summer. The beautiful flowers are also wonderfully fragrant. This was the second year in the ground and the plant is thriving. It grows best in full sun locations in zones 7-10.

Northwest Travels

This summer has allowed me to do quite a bit of traveling and in July I was able to travel to Montana and the Canadian Rockies. This was an amazing trip and the scenery was incredible. One of the things I really enjoyed was all the wild flowers that were blooming. Some I have been able to identify and others I could use some help with. Enjoy these photos and let me know if you can help me identify any of them.

Indian Paintbrush - Castilleja spp.

Maple -- Acer spp.

Western Anemone -- Pulsatilla occidentalis

Rose -- Rosa spp.

Unknown 1

Unknown 2

Amarcrinum
X Amarcrinum memoria-corsii

This is one of my favorite plants in my garden and I had to share a little information about with you. Amarcrinum is the result of a bi-generic cross between Amaryllis belladonna and Crinum moorei. I purchased my bulb from a local garden center five years ago and waited for two years before I was finally rewarded with the spectacular lightly fragrant funnel shaped flowers. This is the third year in a row that my plant located in Gainesville, Florida (USDA hardiness zone 8b) has flowered and is now on its third flower stalk of the season.

My plant is located in a partly sunny location in very sandy soil. The leaves are approximately two inches wide and two feet long. My plant goes dormant every year. I give it very little care other than water and am graced with these flowers each summer. Most publications recommend this plant for zones 7-10. Try this underutilized bulb in your landscape.

MG France Trip

Versailles



Thorns

Kitchen Garden at Villandry

Hydrangeas

Gardens at Villandry

Fuschias

L'Arc de Triomphe at sunset

The group at Valmer

Summer Travels

It's been a busy summer for me. I travelled to the 2007 International Master Gardener Conference in Little Rock, Ark., and recently returned from our annual Florida Master Gardener International Tour. We saw so many beautiful gardens that it was easy to lose count. I'm posting a few photos here, just to give you a taste of what we saw.

If you're a Florida Master Gardener, be sure to keep us in mind for the 2008 international trip or for our October 2007 trip to San Francisco and Yosemite. Hope to see you soon!