Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Some Impressions from the Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Last weekend my husband and I spent quite a bit of time in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. This Park is really big and quite beautiful in parts and has many attractions that are worth seeing. In this post I just want to share with you some random things that we came across.

(you can click on the photos to enlarge)


Can you guess what this is?



It is a close-up of the back of one of the leaves of this wonderful blueish/grayish agave. To me it is quite fascinating how the outer leaves have left a permanent "imprint" on back side of the inner ones before unfolding. 



Here is another stately specimen. Unfortunately there were no name tags to find. I wonder how old both of these giant agaves might be.



I find their look so fascinating. Each one is almost like an art sculpture.



Just loved the way this planting around the old bridge is done. Usually I am not a big fan of grasses but I liked those.



Similar view, but shot from a little further away.  Here the flowerbeds are much better to see. They say autumn to me in a cheerful way.



There is a rhododendron walk planted with a lot of rhododendrons, but this was the very last one that we spotted that was still in bloom. Surprisingly to me it was quite fragrant.



I guess, that this is some type of ajuga, which grew very well there. I love the bronze color of the leaves and the blue flowers are quite nice, too. It went on my plant-wish-list.



A white flowering oakleaf hydrangea that I liked quite a bit. I would love to plant a white hydrangea in my own garden. So far I only have some blue flowering ones that refuse to bloom blue and stubbornly stick to pink flowers despite all my efforts to acidify the soil!



This plant looks like some type of forget-me-not to me. Is it possible that forget-me-nots are blooming in September? I am wondering if there is a perennial forget-me-not out there, hmmm... If you know this plant, I would be happy if you could leave a comment and let me know its name. 



This photo was taken at the museum complex of the Golden Gate Park. To the right you can see just a little bit of the relatively new de Young fine arts museum of San Francisco, which was hosting an exhibition of Picasso. But that day I was just interested in plants and landscape design so we did not go in. What do you think of the formal planting of the small trees in the middle of the plaza? I am not sure what to make of it...



In the same area they had planted a border with a couple of specimen of this rose. I do not know what it is, but it sure is gorgeous!



Mass planting of Tibouchinas or Princess Flowers (common name). They seem to love the fog and humidity in San Francisco. This is a plant that can be grown in San Diego, too, and I am thinking about trying it.



Just love the contrast between the purple flowers and the red buds. Normally I would never plant red and purple together, but when mother nature does it it works!



Close-up of one of the flower buds of the same Tibouchina plant shown above. Isn't it awesome how the stamens come out first in their blue/purple color?



I think the blooms are so pretty!



Just love the lushness and opulence of this bed and of course the color of the blooms. I think this plant is also quite pretty together with the palms in the background.



On the way to the Rose Garden we past this lovely Japanese building, belonging to the Japanese Garden, which is also located in the Golden Gate Park. Japanese architecture never fails to impress me.



I loved the lines of the roof and the detailed wood work above the doors.



Here is a shot from the front. I always admire the Japanese art of trimming shrubs and trees. This little building and the surrounding landscape radiates so much calmness. This time we did not visit the Japanese Garden, because we have seen it for quite a number of times and wanted to check out the Rose Garden and the Botanical Garden that day. The Japanese Garden in the Golden Gate Park is very beautiful though and I highly recommend to visit it, if you are in San Francisco and have some time to spare.

See you in the garden!

Christina



14 comments:

  1. Very pretty. Is the first photo a Whale's Tongue or a Century plant?

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  2. Thank you, for the lovely walk, Christina ! Beautiful park !!! The Princess Flowers are gorgeous ... a blue millefiori carpet ...

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  3. These are wonderful photos and how great it must have been to walk around this lovely garden. I've been inspired to get out into my bed where I have blue agave and a wonderful aloe to make these gems stand out. Everything really got overgrown this summer as I did not have the inclination to get out there to keep it all up.

    Thank you for sharing this wonderful garden with us. It's like being on a mini vacation without leaving home.

    FlowerLady

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  4. What an interesting tour this must have been. The agave are spectacular. Great photogaphy.

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  5. Very pretty park - a little something for everyone. I especially love, love, love the tibouchinas - I don't think I've ever seen those before and they are spectacular! I love the coloring. I also like the trees planted like that. Almost an orchard feel.

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  6. hundredsofideas, thanks for visiting my blog! I looked up Whale's Tongue and Century Plant agaves and I think the agave on my photo matches a century plant! But of course, I am not an agave expert ;-)! Thanks for coming up with a possible ID!

    Dani, thanks for your comment. I love the Princess Flowers, too!

    FlowerLady, the Golden Gate Park is indeed a wonderful Park to walk around. Happy weeding! I would love to see photos of your agave and aloe on your blog!

    redneckrosarian, thanks for leaving a comment! I agree, the agaves are stunning. I am glad that you like my photography!

    Holley, thanks for your comment! The Tibouchinas are great, aren't they? I am glad I was able to show a plant that you didn't know before :-)!

    Christina

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  7. coco, welcome to my blog! I am glad that you like my pics!

    Christina

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  8. Z przyjemnością bym pospacerowała z Tobą po tym pięknym ogrodzie. Pozdrawiam

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  9. Giga, nice to have you visiting again! I am glad that you liked the little tour through the Golden Gate Park!

    Christina

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  10. I've been to that place, but long ago and for a very short time. Thank you for the tour! I think you are right - that is forget-me-nots.

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  11. Tatyana, thanks for your comment! Thanks also for giving your opinion regarding the plant that could be a forget-me-not. I still wonder why it is blooming in almost autumn, since I believe it is supposed to be a spring bloomer.
    Christina

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  12. Only just read this post. Lovely pictures. By the way, there is a perennial forget-me-not, it's called a Brunnera, and looks a lot like the plant in your photo. I've not grown one myself,although it has been on my wish-list for a while. In fact, you've inspired me to search for one this year.

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  13. Hi Crystal, welcome to my blog and thanks for leaving me a comment! I was trying to grow brunnera macrophylla, the perennial plant with flowers that look like forget-me-nots for a year or so, but it didn't like my garden. So sadly I just tossed it out a couple of weeks ago. Hope it does better for you! I don't think that brunnera marcrophylla and the plant that I showed in this post are the same, though. The leaves of my brunnera have been much bigger and more heart shaped. Very lovely even when not blooming, if it only had been growing...

    Christina

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