October 8, 2011: Richmond Garden Tour

25 eager gardeners gathered on Saturday morning, October 8 to enjoy gardens in El Cerrito and Richmond! It was a merry assembly, as usual.It was a lovely day, with clear skies and comfortable temperatures. We were honored by the enthusiasm of the new owners of the Harland Hand Garden, who, since the garden is carved out of a very steep hillside, asked us to sign waivers of responsibility, lest we stumble and fall off the mountain. Some of the group had seen the garden during Harland's lifetime, and were pleased to see that not much has changed! The plant diversity is a little reduced from what it once was, but the new owners are excited about learning and caring for their new treasure, and will add to it as they are able.

Next we visited the Cohn-Stone glass studio, where a few of us were both tempted and distracted by the wonderful glass pumpkins and pomegranates that decorated the delightful mediterranean garden, and which were, by the way, for sale! Molly Stone has been working on the garden for several years, mainly because she thought it would be a special benefit and would offer inspiration for the staff. She has certainly succeeded.

Some of the group remained at Cohn-Stone to eat lunch; others repaired to the fantastic garden of Don Mahoney, who, as many of you know, is in charge of plant propagations at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Don's garden contains hundreds of plant species, since he can't bear to leave orphans at work. There are clearly defined areas which are devoted to food production, native habitat protection (we counted at least five different kinds of butterflies), mediterranean climate species, bulbs, cacti and succulents, and so much more! Several of us would like to invite ourselves back in the spring!

The next stop was the relatively new Wave Garden, in Point Richmond. This garden was constructed by its owners as a remembrance of one of their children who passed away in very tragic circumstances. An extensive and complex hardscape was made necessary by the challenging bayside terrain and to allow placement sites for the owners’ sculpture collection. The plantings are a wonderful collection of exceptionally well-grown mediterranean plants, mostly from the Southern Hemisphere.

The grand finale was a visit to the incomparable Annie’s Annuals and Perennials, where we managed to do our part to support the flagging economy, or at least improve Annie’s bottom line!