June 18, 2011: Woodside Garden Tour
On a warm Saturday, members of the Northern California branch of the Mediterranean Garden Society assembled at the beautiful home of Sherry Perkins in Woodside, California. As a former board member of San Francisco Botanical Society and an avid plant collector, Sherry has created a garden filled with unusual specimens from the Society’s plant sales and from her personal connections with many plant nursery friends around the world. Her use of native plants merges the oaks and other large trees into beds of drought-tolerant plants. Many members were captivated by the lovely Dorycnium hirsutum—hairy canary clover—in full bloom not too far from a striking young Kashmir cypress (Cupressus cashmeriana).
From the warm valley we drove to the top of Woodside’s township on a sunny ridge to visit Betsy Clebsch’s colorful garden, also set in among some huge native oaks. Fortunately, the fog was burned off to the coast and we enjoyed perfect weather for our stroll through Betsy’s garden filled with many varieties of salvias, succulents, mahonias, poppies, grasses, roses, and more. It’s never the same when we visit—there are always enchanting and new things to see.
We enjoyed our lunches under the shade of the oaks, chatting about our visit and our own gardens. The majority of the members then proceeded down the hill to Yerba Buena Nursery which has lovely demonstration gardens and a great selection of native plants for purchase. A fine day, indeed.
— Bracey Tiede
