You know you're with serious plant people when... (a drive-by garden in Berkeley)

Back to my Bay Area trip at the end of March...

As our group was wrapping up the visit at Ann Nichols' and getting ready to head to Marcia Donahue's, there was talk of a drive-by garden we needed to stop and see en route—a garden belonging to someone named Kip. I love everything about this moment. Here we are in a serious power-house garden of renowned and about to head to the garden of an area icon, but wait, "you guys really need to see this garden too!" And they were right...

All we saw was the front garden, what you could see from the sidewalk, but man... this is an entirely different level of cramscaping with a color-coordinated house too, wow!

There was not an inch of plantable space that wasn't filled with a plant (or a rock), it was amazing!

Even the narrow strip between the sidewalk and the driveway was planted. And not just with small plants.

Ditto for the narrow side yard between the driveway and the neighbor's place.

Looking closer at the plants in that narrow strip of land...I love the striped aloe and that stapelia! I bet it throws out a lot of blooms in season.

A nice tight patch of Deuterocohnia brevifolia at the base of the tree.

And then there's this! Euphorbia ammak...

More tiny treasures.

Agave 'Kissho Kan' (that name might not be right)?

So good!!!

In front of the neighbor's fence, maybe Kip's work too?

Looking back towards Kip's, that's David, Max, and Gerhard.

I did a little Google Maps sleuthing and I can tell you the house and stairs haven't always been this color. This scheme so perfectly pops with the plants.

Oh hey, there's a ginormous cycad in there!

And a big Yucca rostrata too, if I tried to ID the chartreuse pencil-thin plant I'd just be guessing.

Fiery little bromeliads.

And all of this is just right there, smashed up against a busy street.

Agave albopilosa

Another nice chunk of Deuterocohnia brevifolia.

Also via Google Maps I saw a previous fence, wooden, wide slats. This cable version is much better for viewing the plants.

Wow, that was fun!

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A return to Ann Nichols' garden

We saw many fantastic things during the 2013 Garden Fling in the San Francisco area, but one particular garden has always stood large in my memories, Ann Nichols' garden. In the years since that Fling, photos from the garden would occasionally pop up in my blog reader, friends who had visited during a garden conservancy tour for example. Then my friends Max and Justin started visiting regularly, and had gotten to know Ann. I began to fantasize that when I was (someday) able to visit their garden, maybe they could arrange a visit to Ann's too. Well dreams do come true because I returned to Ann's garden when I was in the Bay Area last spring...

And it wasn't just a quick "in an out" visit, nope. We spent hours there; taking photos, talking with Ann and other interesting plant people who gathered, and enjoying a leisurely lunch—all thanks to Max and Justin.

It's also safe to say the garden did not disappoint, it was every bit as magical as I remembered it. 

Can you imagine living in the neighborhood and passing by this garden regularly?

Not one, but two big beautiful Aloe polyphylla...

Palms, yucca, beschorneria, furcraea, mangave, and bromeliads, so many bromeliads...

I think Ann might have squeezed more plants into her hellstrip than many people have in their entire garden.

And then there's the bomeliad/tillandisa covered palm...

The palm (Phoenix canariensis, the Canary Island date palm) is one of the few plants that was in the garden when Ann and her husband moved here back in 1983. It's tropical feel inspired the use of bromeliads. 

When you're a plant lover even your stairs are gardened.

Every surface becomes a place for plants (trust me, I know!)...

... and a narrow side yard becomes an extraordinary feature, not just a passthrough space.

One of those interesting plant people I mentioned who gathered in the garden that day was Marcia Donahue, the artist behind many of the sculptures in Ann's garden. Like this...

The stunning bromeliads continue right on up the side garden...

Another pulled back long-view, from a slightly different angle...

Before focusing again on a few plant close-ups.

Looking up...

And then down, at a favorite feature of the garden...

This pond and it's (in my eyes) raccoon guard are a work of art.

The next step up reveals a zig zag rill and chairs with botanical backs.

The water source...

So good!

Moving on...

This rustic (plant laden) fence borders the side garden.

More of Marcia Donahue's work.

At the very top of the "steep" side garden is this...

Looking back down to the bottom.

The back garden is different from the front and side gardens, it's more open and feels very comfortable for relaxing. 

I wonder if Ann ever sits in the lounge chair?

The tunnel of dripping conifers frames the walkway on the highest level of the garden.

That's where I photographed this wonderfully grown cheilanthes (unless it's actually now a myriopteris in which case whatever).

Back on the lawn level I spent a lot of time pouring over the tiny treasures in the rock/crevice gardens.

Oxalis palmifrons

Asplenium ceterach

A border planting...

And now I'm headed down to the patio level just behind the house.

Lunchtime! This visit to Ann's spectacular garden, and the time spent talking with a group of plant people in an entirely different climate than my own was such a treat. I am fortunate to have been able to make the trip, that Ann said yes, and to have great friends who facilitated the garden visits. Thank you all!

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.