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Forthcoming Events
Sunday 31 January, 2010 - San Mateo
Annual Branch Meeting and talk by author Chris Grampp.
This meeting will be held from 1.30 to 4.00 pm. We will gather at 1.00 pm at the Central Park Kohl Pump House, 101 9th Avenue, San Mateo, to hear Chris Grampp talk about the evolution of the American Garden. Our annual business meeting will be brief and we will have an opportunity to socialize after Chris' talk.
March, 2010
- Wildflower Weekend
Tentative plans are underway for a Wildflower Weekend with Stewart Winchester at Fort Hunter-Liggett, in March 2010. We hope to combine one day of wildflower walks with a day spent exploring the wineries of Paso Robles with the members of the MGS Central California Branch. More details will be announced as we get closer to the event.
Photo by Cheryl Renshaw
The Garden Resource Guide for Northern California's Mediterranean Climate
 The Northern California Branch has created resource guide for mediterranean gardeners in our region, which includes the best places to purchase plants and garden accessories, recommended books and articles, places to take classes and virtually everything else the gardener might need to know.
To order your copy, please send a donation of $10.00 to:
The Mediterranean Garden Society
Northern California Branch
P.O.Box 542 BP, Lafayette, CA 94549
Past Events
October 2009 - Santa Cruz Garden Day
Those of you who were not able to join us on October 18 missed a glorious day in Santa Cruz and a rare opportunity to visit an outstanding nearby garden. The garden encompasses some five acres of hillside overlooking Monterey Bay. It is situated on property of a much greater size, so that to be in the garden is to have unlimited command of the marine landscape in all directions. The garden has been under development for at least sixteen years, and has had the benefit of input from some of the leading garden designers of our area as well as from its owners. Our hostess most generously guided us around the various small gardens contained within the whole. The overall effect of this horticultural tour de force is one of complete sympathy with its environment. It has the feel of having sprung full–blown from its hillside origins without major manipulation from its designers. We lunched there and then went on to visit the Cabrillo College Horticultural Center where we were met by Ernie Wasson. He gave a tour and briefed us on the lively curriculum offered by this Santa Cruz treasure, which offers so much both to its students and to the community.
Photo by Jean-Pierre Bouchez
After Cabrillo we drove on to Sierra Azul Nursery for shopping, a look at the garden sculpture display, and refreshments provided by the Rosendales: a pleasant and sociable end to a beautiful day.
Nancy Mead
June 2009 - Visits to Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore, an olive ranch and Italian street painting
MGS member Ze'ev Vered presented a lively talk about mediterranean herbs at Alden Lane Nursery. We learned much about cultivation and use of herbs such as rosemary, thymes, savory, oreganos, bay, and mints. Alden Lane Nursery was a delight to browse through. We enjoyed our lunches, meeting new friends and admiring the murals on the wall of our meeting room. Following lunch we drove in a caravan to Olivina, a large olive ranch to learn about olive oil production and enjoy a tasting. The owner and his family turned out to explain the process with a tour of the pressing, cleaning and bottling facilities. To finish the day a number of us traveled to the Danville Fine Arts Faire to see Italian street painting in action by Cheryl and Wayne Renshaw. Cheryl is a member of our Executive Committee.
May 2009 - Garden and Nursery Tours in Sonoma County
We started our Mother’s Day garden tour at Western Hills Nursery and then went on to visit the Reid Garden, both in Occidental, CA. The Reids have a wonderful hilltop location with amazing garden beds; lovely colour combinations, many unusual plants, and sumptuous house. We picnicked beside the pool before driving on to Kendall-Jackson Winery. There we walked around the gardens: formal entry way, parterre beds of herbs and a large vegetable garden. To end the day we stopped at Phil van Solen’s Cal Flora Nursery to shop and have refreshments.
Reid Garden
Occidental Garden
Photos by Jean-Pierre Bouchez
January 2009 – Branch members meet
The MGS members of Northern California met on January 24 at the Gardens at Lakeside Park in Oakland. Jeff Rosendale gave an exciting talk and slide show, “Art in the Mediterranean Garden” and brought some of his interesting plants to show and to sell. Nancy Swearengen and Sean O’Hara were thanked for their many years of stewardship of the branch. We are happy to report that they will stay active in Branch activities, Nancy will continue on the Executive Committee and Sean will join the Advisory Board.
Photograph by Jean-Pierre Bouchez
For more information, see this page
Susan Bouchez
"For 25 years I have enjoyed gardening in California with its mild mediterranean climate. Coming from the Midwest US and then the Netherlands I encountered an entire new palette of plants to learn, new landscape to marvel at and a climate with far less water. I have always avidly gardened and my background in art and architecture naturally led me to an interest in garden design. So for a few years I worked with a good friend in a small landscape design firm. To me garden design is not all about plants, but about color, form and place. In our mediterranean climate much of our living is out of doors. Gardens in the Bay Area are generally private with walls, fences and shaded patios. This is such a contrast to other areas of the US where open lawns and foundation planting or island flower beds dominate the landscape. How lucky we are to sit under the canopy of our 150-year-old oaks, shielded from heat and extreme cold. Our garden tends to the “natural garden” style: filled with low-water, low-maintenance perennials and shrubs. Even in this urban area we make sure that there is habitat for wildlife, birds, and insects. We grow seasonal vegetables and fruit because we love to eat well and the mild winters support year-round vegetable growing.
Our summer garden is in France, in the pre-Alps, an area that receives abundant rain most of the year. There I can plant flowers or vegetables and, when I leave, know that rains will keep the plants alive until I return."
Bracey Tiede
"I live in San Jose, California, where the summers are hot and dry and winters are cool and, recently, not very wet. I am fortunate to live about 300 feet above the Santa Clara Valley frosty floor in a 'banana belt' which allows us to grow some tropical plants that need a bit more warmth. Something is always blooming. Our garden is the garden of a collector. After working in architecture and software programming in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, I've turned my full attention to horticultural opportunities, learning much and making many friends. Richard, my husband, shares my enthusiasm for gardening and is becoming quite a salvia connoisseur in his retirement."
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