A cohort of devoted MGS members gathered on the surprisingly overcast morning of Sep- tember 12 to explore an interesting potpourri of mediterranean gardens in Kensington, Piedmont and Oakland. No one anticipated that clear skies and balmy temps in the lowlands would translate into chilly fog up on the Arling- ton in Kensington where we began our day’s exploration, but it did! Reminder: Never visit the East Bay, at least not the higher elevations of Berkeley, Kensington, El Cerrito, or even Oakland, in the summer without a spare jacket in your back pack! The Bay tosses in all kinds of weather surprises!

We converged at the wonderful mini-botanical garden that comprises the grounds of The Blake Estate, currently the "official residence" of the President of the University of California. No one presently inhabits the graceful mansion, but the garden is a repository of interesting plants from all over the world, arranged mostly in geographical affinity groups, and is a hands-on workship for students in the Department of Environmental Design at the University of California at Berkeley. Garden Manager Laurie Twitchell held our rapt attention as she described a variety of initiatives planned and executed by students in order to conserve, preserve, and enhance the property. The Blake Garden is open to the public weekdays from 9–5, and well worth a visit.

Our next stop was around the corner and down the street at a garden renovated and updated by landscape architects Bobbi Feyerabend and Georgia Madden, who are MGS members, and who helped organize our day! We were delighted with Bobbi’s description of the challenges she encountered, and the solutions she came up with. The skies began to clear!

Next was a charming garden on Somerset Road in Piedmont, where we were comfortable without jackets, and enjoyed delightful spaces, designed to take in views of SF Bay, and enjoy a similar description of the Before and After by Georgia. Here, with another spectacular view of the Bay, we had lunch.

After we had eaten, we had the thrill of threading our way through Piedmont to view two very interesting front gardens. One, on Arbor Drive, was a lawnless challenge to the very “traditional” neighborhood, full of Mediterranean plants, including California natives. It is such an interesting compliment to the house it accompanies that some of the neighbors have begun to adopt some of its elements! A victory for Mediterranean sense AND style in a very conservative location! Hooray! The other front garden, near the Grand Lake Theater, is a connoisseur’s collection of succulents and other rare unthirsty plants overseen by Brian Kemble of the Ruth Bancroft Garden. Not exactly a Mediterranean garden, but still full of ideas for the more adventurous among us.