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Completing a project begun in 1999, which was inspired by an Italian marble fountain that had been donated to the City of Oakland in 1914, at last the Mediterranean Garden at Lake Merritt has been completed, recognized and inaugurated in due form by the Powers That Be.
On June 6, 2010, the Mediterranean Garden at the Lake Merritt in Oakland was dedicated by Garden Center President (and MGS member) Bruce Cobbledick and garden mentor and MGS Branch Head emerita, Nancy Swearengen. Volunteers worked many hours to clear the site, initiate sheet mulching and plant the plants. We received extraordinary support from Oakland’s Public Works department with tree removal and grading. Completion of the Garden was made possible by several generous financial contributions, including grants from the (international) Mediterranean Garden Society (given in honor of our Northern California Branch at the 2008 Annual General Meeting) and from the East Bay Municipal Utility District.
The dedication was part of a Music in the Gardens event that included, among others, musical performances by several small groups in different parts of the Gardens at Lake Merritt. Featured were an ensemble of Japanese flutes in the Bonsai Garden, a harp, bassoon and cello trio in the Mediterranean Garden, and a group from the Grammy Award winning Pacific Boy Choir singing inside the Garden Center Building.
The event was well attended and the timing and the weather were perfect. All the gardens were at their gorgeous best!
If you have not visited the Gardens at Lake Merritt recently, you should consider doing so! There are several well-executed theme gardens in addition to our new Mediterranean Garden, including one of the premier Bonsai collections in North America. For more information check the website at gardensatlakemerritt.org.
- N. Swearengen
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