Winter wonderland in North Carolina!

I thought I was in heaven when I went to Filoli, but yesterday I went to a garden in North Carolina that set my heart soaring even higher – the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont. It’s quite one of the most beautiful gardens I’ve seen on my travels this year, and what I couldn’t believe was the way it looked in the middle of winter - the temperature was just above freezing and this has been the weather pattern for weeks here – yet the garden looked serene under a Carolina blue sky and with many plants in bloom.

This site was the brain child of Daniel and Alene Stowe, who bought some 450 acres in 1989 and set them aside with the idea of making a garden in the years to come. This was no mean feat and Stowe, who had made his fortune in textiles, wanted these gardens to be perfect, so although construction and planning went on throughout the 1990's, it was not until October 1999 that 110 acres of gardens finally opened to the public. Just over 10 years later, these gardens continue to bloom, and they certainly go right into the top league that I've visited on my travels.

The Canal Garden (top and above) is quite astounding, with its glorious fish sculptures and fountains … and this was the middle of winter, so I can only imagine how wonderful it must be in full bloom in the summer! And this gives access to the other eight garden "rooms", which must also be quite a sight to behold in bloom.

Today, much of the garden is beginning to mature, so each year will see more plants in bloom. But it also has the added advantage of its magnificent Orchid Conservatory (above), which is not only beautifully designed, but you will see bromeliad, orchid and epiphyte displays that make your heart leap, like the wall below. Much thought has gone into these displays and they are certainly unique.

The Conservatory only opened in 2008, and the amount of planning, both architecturally and botanically that went into this building, is abundantly obvious when you look at features like the epiphyte arches (below), which allow you to see just how these plants grow.

I have no qualms in saying that this is one of the best gardens I've visited in the US and one that I shall go back to time and time again, to see it throughout the seasons. This must surely be one of the most innovative and exciting botanical gardens to open in the last twenty years and I will certainly return whenever I visit North Carolina!

The one you've all been waiting for - Filoli!

I'd heard so much about Filoli before I went there that I wondered whether it would live up to my expectations, especially after my recent visit to Viscaya. But it did, because there's no doubt that it's a really beautiful garden. From the moment you arrive and walk through the olive grove to access the main gardens, you are aware that this property is different .... very different from others! It has sweeping vistas across open countryside; wonderful planting and you get caught up in a huge stage set.

Located just 30 miles of San Francisco, the mansion that forms the central focus of Filoli was built for William Bowers Bourn II and his wife in 1915. Bourn made his money from gold mining, and it is his credo: "Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live for a just cause", that gave the property its name FI-LO-LI. The estate covers some 650 acres, but it is the 16 acres of formal gardens surrounding the Georgian-style mansion that visitors come to see.

When the Bourns died in 1936, Filoli was bought by another wealthy Californian magnate, William Roth, who owned the Matson Navigation Company, and under the stewardship of his wife, Lurline (who is commemorated on a plaque in the garden), the gardens were further developed, and became recognised as one of the great formal gardens of America. In 1975, Lurline Roth donated the house and 125 acres to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and they continue to maintain the property today with the help of committed volunteers. Today, Filoli is classed as one of the great gardens of the world, and deservedly so.

It doesn't matter where you look in Filoli, there is always a magnificent view, like the one above - looking up towards the High Place from the Walled Garden. The extensive formal gardens are divided into terraces, a Sunken Garden, Walled Garden, Yew Walkway and swimming pool pavilion, to name just a few, but what will strike you about this garden, is that is immaculately maintained, glorious to walk in, and will lift your spirits.

I visited earlier this month, so the emphasis was on spring flowers - many coming into bloom - and acres of daffodils, blowing in the breeze, wonderful magnolias and camellias. But what is so clever about the planning and planting at Filoli, is that it won't matter what time of year you visit - there will always be something in bloom. This is a garden that you need to visit and re-visit, because it will never look the same. It goes straight to the top of my US garden list, but perhaps that's because it reminds me of England!

I'm leaving for North Carolina today (if the weather permits) and hope to see some gardens there, but Filoli is the garden that sticks in my mind right now!

Two more California delights - Hakone and Gamble

I haven't visited a Japanese garden before, so the Gardens of Hakone came as a real delight when I visited California recently. Used as a backdrop in many scenes from the film "Memoirs of a Geisha", this charming 18-acre garden was the brainchild of San Francisco philanthropists, Oliver and Isabel Stine, who commissioned Naoharu Aihara to work alongside a Japanese architect and design the garden for them on a steep, hillside plot in 1917. Isabel Stine travelled to Japan to look at gardens there before work began on her own plot and she named this garden after the Fuji-Hakone National Park.

Hakone changed hands in 1932, when ownership passed to an East Bay financier, and again in 1961, when the gardens were bought by a partnership of prominent local families who restored them to their former splendour, before selling them on to the city of Saratoga in 1966, for $145,000. The city then hired Kyoto-trained landscape architect, Tanso Ishihara to carry on with the restoration work, but when he died in a tragic accident in 1980, he was succeeded by his former student, Jack Tomlinson, who continues to maintain the gardens today.

In 1984, the Hakone Foundation was formed to preserve the gardens for future generations, and its future was finally secured at the turn of the century when the David and Lucile Packard Foundation became involved. It now receives over 40,000 visitors a year and is busy developing a full cultural programme. It's worth remembering that Hakone is quite glorious at this time of year because the blossoms are rampant; the camellias very much in evidence; and the rhododendrons majestic.

Combine this with a visit to the Elizabeth Gamble Garden (above) at nearby Palo Alto and you'll have a great day out. This 2.5 acre property is designated as a Point of Historic Interest and includes a restored 20th century house and formal demonstration gardens, entirely maintained by volunteers. A great place to see what grows and with wonderful hellebore displays at this time of year. Former home of Elizabeth Gamble (of Proctor and Gamble fame), she left the property to the City of Palo Alto on her death in 1981, and it is now open year round - and it's free to visitors! Lots of other flowers in bloom too right now, including more magnificent magnolias and camellias!

From junky to funky - all in a day!

A rubbish dump is a pretty unlikely place to start a garden tour, but that's where I began my first day in California last week as I went in search of different gardens on the Big Sur Coast in California. Just a few miles south of Moss Landing, there's a garden with a difference - the Small Planet Garden, where waste items have been re-used to decorate the tiny plot.

It's a wonderful idea and a great way to educate children about re-cycling and having seen it for myself, I'd like to see other municipal waste sites thinking along these lines, including ours in the UK, so I'm going to see if I can interest our local tip on just that when I get home! After all, our English sites take garden rubbish, so they've even got a good supply of compost!

After that we headed south on the Big Sur coast, where we saw the biggest waves I've ever seen and more wild flowers than I could imagine. We were blessed with wonderful weather and I couldn't believe that this was only February and here I was in a T-shirt!

Next stop was another unusual garden that my B&B hostess had told me about - The Spirit Garden in Big Sur (above). Not so much a garden where you will see unusual plants, but the brainchild of Jayson Fann who organises wonderful music and arts programmes here - if I'd had more time, I certainly would have loved some of the cultural offerings, because musicians come from all over the world to play here. There's also a constantly changing art and sculpture exhibition and I was particularly taken by the spirit houses which Jayson makes.

And from here it was on to lunch at a cliff-top restaurant where we watched the waves pounding on the rocks below - just breathtaking!!

Finally, a visit to the Carmel Mission which has another, but very different type of garden - beautifully manicured and filled with flowers. I don't think you could visit California without a visit to a mission, and this one is well worth the detour to catch a glimpse of history combined with a garden.

And if you've missed any recent postings while Blotanical has been down, you may enjoy The Wave Garden at Richmond Point, quite one of the best gardens I've seen in my travels so far; the magnificent display of rhododendrons and camellias at the Botanical Garden at Berkeley, which simply took my breath away; and if you want to share your own garden pictures, there's the new site I've set up at GLOW.

If you love gardening ... share your pictures on GLOW!

Morning everybody ... or afternoon ... or evening .... wherever you are. I know that many of us are suffering terrible withdrawal symptoms from Blotanical (and you'll soon know whether it's up and running again if you click the link!!). It's been several days since we've been able to access Stuart's brilliant website for all us like-minded plantheads, and I don't know about you, but I miss it - no picks, no messaging through our plots, and no new bloggers to follow! It's certainly made me work a harder on the internet and frantically sign up as a follower on the gardening plots I love, because at least that way, I can access all the latest posts.

It also prompted me to create a new group on Facebook for Garden Lovers, which I've named Garden Lovers of the World - or GLOW for short - and if you're a member of Facebook, you may wish to join and share all your wonderful garden pictures with other members.

I don't have Stuart's talent to set up a blogging platform, but I'm sure many of you will have contributions you'd like to add, plus links to your own gardening plots and, most importantly, wonderful pictures of plants and gardens, so please feel free to take a look and share.

I also wanted to tell you about another new project - "What on Earth" - nothing to do with me, but might be of interest to you and your children, (or grandchildren!) for National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW), which is looking for any plants, animals or other living organisms that you see and don't recognise. As they say:

"The aim of What on Earth is to spot, collect and identify as many species as possible over the course of the week, painting a fascinating picture of UK wildlife for us all to observe and enjoy. Organised in partnership with The Open University’s iSpot website, NSEW’s specialists from all fields of natural science will examine, identify and catalogue as many finds as they can over the course of the week and beyond."

Hope you all have a great weekend .... and if you're not under several feet of snow, happy gardening!

Never thought I'd find blooms like this in the Bay Area!

We have rhododendrons in the UK and we're very proud of them, but when I went to the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley yesterday, my heart stopped - the Asian garden there is just magnificent and I saw blooms that just made me want to scream with joy!! What an enchanting garden this is, and how lucky I was to see it in full bloom. In all honesty, I've never been a fan of rhododendrons before, but this garden made my whole trip to the West Coast something to remember!

Everywhere you look in the Asian Garden at this time of year, there are magnificent camellias, rhododendrons and magnolias, sourced from India, China and other Far Eastern countries. It's an astounding collection and well worth making a special visit for.

As you wander through this section of the garden, keep your eyes up, because every tree has fantastic blooms, and this is just one part of the garden - elsewhere you will find plants from Africa, South America, South Africa, and Central America to name just a few of the collections.

I'll be doing a full review when I get settled back in Florida, but I wanted to get these pictures up so that those of you within reach of this beautiful garden can get there to see the flowers in bloom right now. It certainly convinced me that rhododendrons are fantastic!

And, on a different subject, have you all been having problems with Blotanical?? I haven't been able to access the site for several days now.

Wordless Wednesday - Leaving my heart in San Francisco!

Going home early tomorrow morning .... but I'm leaving my heart here ..... this is why ....

Thick fog in the mornings, which clears away to reveal magical vistas ....

Flowers everywhere ... I've never seen magnolias like it!

(Thanks Kyna!!)

The beautiful California poppy ....

Gardens like Filoli .... review to follow ....

And bridges that just make you want to sing as you cross them!

The Wave Garden overlooking the Bay

Today I visited a such a special garden that I wanted to post it straight away. I found out about it from one of my favourite garden sites: Garden Visit and had a really strong urge to discover more, even though there are no references save the Garden Visit link anywhere on the web. So armed with a GPS system and a vague address, I set out to search for it.

Several steep hills and wrong turns later, I finally emerged below what appeared to be a garden built into the hillside and walked up some steps to find myself in one of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen - it was like a fairy tale, with magnificent views over the Bay (above); fabulous planting; and sweeping paths and railings throughout.

There was nothing to say who owned it, or who had designed it, although I know from Garden Visit that the designer was Victor Amador and you can see his photographs on their site. All the plants are labelled and there were some there that I've never seen anywhere else, but not a word about why the garden's there or who owns it. But the whole plot is built into a steep hillside and has wonderful winding walkways like the one above.

I felt as though I was trespassing, but there were no signs saying "Keep Out"; no notices about guard dogs; and no railings or gates to deter you, so I'm afraid I wandered in and enjoyed myself in this little piece of paradise. Nobody came and shouted at me and when a neighbour finally appeared I was able to ask them more about this magical place.

The story they told me was a sad one and until I can verify it, I'm not going to repeat it here, so please, please, if anybody finds out more about this beautiful garden, do let me know. In all honesty, I don't even know if The Wave Garden is its name, but it seems so appropriate, I'm going to borrow it from the Garden Visit editorial.

In heaven - magical Monday!

There's no doubt about it - I've gone to heaven!!! The gardens here in California are just fabulous and I thought I'd give you a sneak preview, because I haven't got time to write them up yet. Yesterday, I went to Hakone Garden (above) in Saratoga, a beautiful Japanese gem.

Then I went on to the Elizabeth Gamble Garden in Palo Alto (above), which is filled with wonderful flowers ... and it's free!

And then there's Filoli, just south of San Francisco (above)... which left me speechless! I'll be reviewing them all when I get my head above this fog in the bay area, but in the mean time, I need to some sightseeing here, so thought I'd just give you a taster!

California dreaming ... Happy Valentine's!

No words today .... just pictures ... the flowers here in California are just fantastic and I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be! Happy Valentine's Day to you all and back to gardens tomorrow!