Category Archives: garden travel

green wall at SF MOMA

Posted on September 14, 2026 by Denise

San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit “Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal” is closing September 27, 2026. I visited in July and was thrilled to be immersed in a world where an artistic revolution mattered to artists and … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, clippings, garden travel, journal | 7 Comments

Sean Hogan at Western Hills 9/25/26

Posted on September 3, 2026 by Denise

Visiting Cistus Nursery over the summer, I was struck how walking its paths was so reminiscent of visiting Western Hills, a Northern California garden and nursery founded by Lester Hawkins and Marshall Olbrich in 1959, and which I visited regularly … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, plant nurseries, plant sales | 6 Comments

more San Francisco Botanical Garden in July

Posted on August 7, 2026 by Denise

It’s Friday. We’ve been up to our eyeballs in weird all week. How about a walk through the San Francisco Botanical Garden? At the southern entrance was a searing melange of annuals that was repeated beyond the gates throughout the … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, garden visit | 5 Comments

soaking up the farm life at The Apple Farm

Posted on June 2, 2026 by Denise

When Sally Schmitt sold her ground-breaking, farm-to-table restaurant The French Laundry to Thomas Keller in 1994, she and her husband Don left Yountville and Napa County for an apple farm in Mendocino County. Sally passed away in 2022, one of … Continue reading →

Posted in edibles, garden travel, MB Maher, photography | 4 Comments

the old cedar

Posted on April 29, 2026 by Denise

Even as a part-time local, it took me a couple passes to find the tight entrance off 101 to the Cedar Wetlands Nature Preserve just outside Rockaway Beach. (I think there’s a small sign if you’re heading south on 101; … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, plant crushes | 5 Comments

Presidio Tunnel Tops

Posted on April 28, 2026 by Denise

I first heard of what has come to be known as the Presidio Tunnel Tops in 2015, when visiting landscape architect Rania Reyes mentioned her involvement in a new Presidio Parklands Project in San Francisco. Rania was being given a … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher, succulents | 9 Comments

O Huntington!

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Denise

It’s been too long! In my absence the past few years, there are now reservation requirements, QR codes, and repeated checkpoints throughout the gardens to reverify the QR codes. There’s also sushi in the very crowded cafe to refuel after … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden travel, garden visit, succulents | 6 Comments

touring summer gardens

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Denise

Lately I’ve been dipping more and more frequently into photos taken while garden touring last summer with the Garden Fling, a highly recommended garden tour group. Compared to what’s being reported in this crazy news cycle, making and caring for … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, climate, garden travel, garden visit, Oregon garden, pots and containers | 8 Comments

Hoffman’s Center for the Arts: The Wonder Garden

Posted on September 3, 2024 by Denise

The Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita, Oregon, celebrated its 20-year anniversary Saturday August 31. Out of their many programs — clay, writing, visual arts — I became acquainted with the HCA through their horticulture program. The Hoffman’s Wonder … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, garden visit, Oregon garden, plant sales, succulents | 7 Comments

thank you, Garden Fling 2024

Posted on July 29, 2024 by Denise

A quick thanks, a few photos, and a short introduction to the Garden Fling, in the off chance a reader of AGO has never heard of this special garden tour. Since 2008, the garden tour now known as the Garden … Continue reading →

Posted in climate, garden travel, garden visit | 10 Comments