Friday, July 26, 2013

Fling 2013 - The Wave Garden

Wave Header copy
It's time for another look at one of the gardens we visited during the San Francisco Fling last month. It's amazing to realize it was a month ago already, almost to the day, that we were there.

The Wave Garden is located across the Bay from downtown San Francisco in Richmond Point. The neighborhood is perched on a steep hillside which overlooks the city, the bay and several bridges...they are blessed with multi-million dollar views!

Wave vertical walls 1
The most noticeable aspect of this garden (other than the location) is it's intense usage of molded concrete for the paths, walls and many decorative elements.

wave horizontal view
I'm not always the biggest fan of concrete...it often feels too heavy-handed when used in such quantities. Amazingly, this is not at all the case here. The complex, weaving layout of the paths and walls totally mitigate the impact all that concrete would otherwise have. The most you see is at the bottom, from above, it all but disappears.

wave judyWave anementhele and succulents v
The swooping, curving walls are visually arresting and break up the bulk of the structure...it's almost Escher-esque at times.

Wave big succulent
While succulents are a big part of the garden here, as in most of the gardens we visited...

Wave anementhele
...I was happy to see great use of grasses to soften the hard edges.

Wave anementhele h
I love Anementhele...and the ones in San Francisco had the most intense coloring of any I've seen.

wave gardener
Flingers listened as the owner explained some of the history of the garden. Apparently, the owners purchased this land as an empty lot. They installed the hardscaping (which is totally wheelchair accessible) to enable their son, who is in a wheelchair, to be able to enjoy it as well. Amazingly, they allow the people in the neighborhood to use the space as well...how cool is that! I must say that all the gardeners we met during the fling were unfailingly generous in spirit...love them all!

wave restio and sculpture
There were quite a few nautical-themed sculptures throughout the garden.

wave looking downwave protea 21
Again, the curving, intersecting pathways made for a seemingly infinite amount of interesting views.

wave verbena
Love this shot of cool color on a HOT day!

wave pointing
The best part about touring with a group of fellow gardeners is hearing people exclaim with excitement over something!

wave trachelium and sculpture
Here, you have another piece of sculpture, reminiscent of a whale's tale, hearkening back to the ocean in the distance.

wave grasses and restios 3wave puya
I love the mix of grasses and restios...similar textures, yet still so different.

aeonium bloom
I've never cared about Aeoniums...but the faded gray bloom stalk in the middle of these was fascinating.

wave restio
More lovely Restios.

wave leucodendron 1wave walkways and jane
Again, more nice layering of plants...and people!

wave stipa 2
A large clump of Stipa gigantea anchored one corner of the garden...shimmering in the bright sun.

wave trachelium 1wave restio walk
I love the pairing of deep purple Trachelium with whatever chartreuse foliage plant that is...I know someone told me what it was...but it went in one ear and out the other. In texture, it reminds me a lot of an Amsonia.

Wave group
And here's part of our group, swarming about, cameras at the ready.

wave walls v
And here I leave you, in spite of being drenched in sweat, I greatly enjoyed this garden, especially it's great layering of colors and textures.

39 comments:

  1. Great post Scott! With our warm weather, it's almost like being back there. I love that everyone paid attention to different parts of this cool garden!

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    1. It's so funny, but true, I love seeing everyone else post on the gardens, because we all focus on such wildly different aspects of the gardens.

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  2. Hi Scott. What a treat. You must have felt like you were in heaven, except for the heat which made you feel like you were in that other place. :) I love the plant layering and undulating pathways, however I am still completely baffled that people would call home the hillside of an earthquake-prone area. Maybe it's because it's also very beautiful.

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    1. Hahahaha...yes, we were all a little bit wilted by this point in the day! I was thinking the same thing, Grace, it seems such a huge investment in such a geologically unstable area...but I guess love blinds us all, right!

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  3. I love the sweeping curves of the concrete, and the warm color keeps it from getting that institutional look. I think it sets off and organizes the plantings very well. Of course you would focus on the grasses. They are spectacular.

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    1. So very true, Ricki, it was a wonderful stage for the plants to perform on!

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  4. The sweeping curves of this garden is gorgeous (and so is everything else)!

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    1. Wasn't it lovely, guys...I thought you'd like it :-)

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  5. Really beautiful, but the most amazing thing: they let the neighbors use the space?! How wonderful!

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    1. I know! I thought that was wonderful of them...not sure i'd be so trusting!

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  6. Beautiful!!! must visit this garden sometime!

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    1. You'd love it, Lisa! I hope you can make it there someday :-)

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  7. Hi Scott,

    Lovely garden! And of course an amazing view, I can't believe you didn't just stare at the view!

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    1. Hahahaha, well, I did stare at the view for quite a while, to be honest!

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  8. I've almost got dizzy! Your pictures have such a sense of height! The garden is interesting!

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    1. Yay...I'm glad that feeling came across in the photos...because that's really what it was like :-)

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  9. It IS amazing that a month has already passed since we were there. I love your photos, Scott. You have a knack for capturing light, even on a bright day with overhead sun.

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    1. I know, I'm going through a little bit of Fling Withdrawal, Pam...miss all of you! Thanks...I try to make the best of things when the lighting is less than ideal...you do have to adjust how you would shoot things, don't you?

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  10. Isn't it though, it seems like we were just there...sigh. Thanks...a polarizer and some creative positioning can make the best of a not-ideal situation ;-)

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  11. Love the way you captured the plants and views through the waves...

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    1. Thanks, Donna...the garden's layout really made for some interesting vantage points!

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  12. Excellent post. There was such an incredibly contrasting mix of textures in this garden, from the different grasses to the big and small succulents.

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    1. Totally, it was fascinating...but very well done...it felt like there was a very tight reign on everything...but in a good way...I keep coming back to this as one of my favorite Fling gardens :-)

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  13. Great photography, it's almost as good as being there. What an enchanting garden. I would love to have the hardscaping. The hillside gardens in SF are so spectacular.

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    1. OMG, you said it...they are in a spectacular location and make the most of it!

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  14. Wow! this garden really excites me, thanks for a brilliant post that made me feel like I was there with you. Great colour even on a bright, sun bleaching day.

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    1. You would have loved it there, Christina, it was wonderful, rich and vibrant!

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  15. Scott, I'm so glad you identified the Trachelium. I lost my photo card from Annie's--yes, I know, bad, bad--and I couldn't remember the name of that short-lived perennial. I think it needs to live here somehow. Your photos show the garden as much softer than it felt. I love that they did this for their son and the rest of the community. Loved the grasses, but ornamental grasses are such wonderful plants anyway. Those structural succulents were cool too.

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    1. Glad I could help, Dee...although, I admit, it might be one of the only plants I actually knew!!! I can't believe you lost your photo card...I would be devastated! With so much going on, it would have been easy to do, sadly...I kept checking constantly to make sure I didn't leave something behind! I do think it had a "hard" sort of feeling in many places...but I usually choose to focus on the softer side of things ;-)

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  16. You captured the brilliance there in colors and design! That soft (grasses) and sharp (spikiness) at it again. The heat made it even more surreal of a garden.

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    1. So true, David, perhaps the heat served to heighten the effect...or, at least, make me light-headed ;-)

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  17. That purple and chartreuse combo is so, so good. It was nice to see your take on this garden--I feel like you captured really different stuff than others.

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    1. I love that combo...seriously, I must have taken 100 photos of that spot...hahahaha! It's funny you say that, I had the same feeling when looking at others posting on the garden...it looks so very different though other's eyes...proof again that my brain must see things very differently from others...I should probably have that looked at ;-)

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  18. What a fabulous garden! I wish I had been on this tour. The complex mixture of textures and colors is so interesting. And the generosity of the owners, sharing this special space, deserves a "good neighbor" award!
    Thanks for the post,
    Suzanne

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    1. I wish you had come, Suzanne...you would have loved it...hopefully you'll come to the Portland tour!!! I totally agree about them being good neighbors...gardeners are the most generous folk, aren't they!

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  19. Ah Scott, thanks for taking us along on your San Francisco sojourn! Great photos and gardens.

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    1. It was fun, Greg, mixed with a bit of heat stroke ;-)

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