San Francisco Victorian

Urban Cottage Garden - Lilies and Roses

There is a garden planted right along the sidewalk, just over the hill from our house, that has had me swooning for the past few weeks.
It's along one of my favorite "backroad" routes home after working with clients on Russian Hill. I had intended to stop and take pictures several times, but didn't have a chance until late yesterday afternoon, meandering home from a weekend plant sale in Golden Gate Park.
The sun still hadn't broken through the summer fog, so it was ideal light for picture taking, and the light breeze was saturated in lily perfume.....

Plant choice and thoughtful composition are what make this strip of garden memorable.
Roses and lilies have an old fashioned affinity for one another (they have all the romance of a Fantin-Latour painting mixed together as cut flowers in a vase) and their two fragrances combine beautifully.
The alternating vertical lines of the rose standards and lily stalks complement one another, as do the colors - the pale apricot of the roses, brick red of the new rose foliage and the clean white lily trumpets.

The large plexi panels used instead of standard fencing material is another crucial design element. They are somewhat translucent (you can just barely see the plants growing in the yard on the other side) but opaque enough to provide a dramatic background for the sidewalk plants.

The stacked cobblestones that form the base of the planter are as rustic as the "cottage garden" plant choices, and provide a nice architectural contrast to the "modern" feel of the plastic panels.
Not to be overlooked, the mounding plants at the soil line add just the right touch of softness to the low stone wall.

All in all, this is an inspiring bit of urban landscaping that works on many levels.....

Well done, San Francisco neighbors!

This week I'm visiting
Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage

Celebrating with Jane & Friends...

Fuchsia "Fanfare" grows like a weed here in San Francisco, and is blissfully immune to the ubiquitous fuchsia mite that distorts leaves and flowers on most other varieties.

 Jane's "Flowers In The House" blog celebration motivated me to do some overdue pruning on our backyard monster!

"Fanfare" has huge flowers - most are at least 3 inches long.

It's easy to see why one of the old fashioned common names for fuchsia is "Lady's Earrings"... 

Today there are floral offerings from all over the world here on Jane's blog....
Flowers In The House

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Fruits

Are especially delicious right now!
Might be a good time to check out your local farmers' market to see what's available.....

Foggy Afternoon: Golden Gate Park

Found the time to take a quick stroll through the entry garden at the Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park last Friday afternoon. Designed and installed by Roger Raiche and David McCrory of Planet Horticulture in 1998, the garden, for the most part, has held up relatively well through years of municipal budget cuts and diminishing maintenance. The plant choices and groupings are lovely in their maturity and still incredibly inspiring - and the cool, foggy afternoon light was perfect for taking pictures....

Will be sharing this post with the gardeners at
Fishtail Cottage Garden Party

Bird Nest Love

Just completed....

and available here...