The Gardeners Anonymous Blog

In Search of Lotusland

I ran into an old friend at the beach. She told me her daughter is attending college in Santa Barbara.

First of all, that is where I want my kids to go to college. 

Is it a good school? Who cares? Education, shmeducation. 

It’s all about attending a place that I want to visit, isn’t it? 

I also like Cal Poly, because it sits smack dab in the middle of SLO County, another one of my favorite places. 

Or, Maybe I could ship them off to Hawaii? 

I digress. 

My friend and I got on the subject of, surprise…gardening…and she told me about a garden in Santa Barbara called Lotusland. It’s a public garden that operates in a private residential neighborhood in Montecito. 

Lotusland has a rich and colorful history, but not as colorful as it’s creator, Madame Ganna Walska. As part of her search for creative fulfillment and personal enlightenment, Madame Walska bought the 37-acre Cuesta Linda estate in 1941. She called it Tibetland.

After the dissolution of her sixth marriage, she changed its name to Lotusland.

So, I happen to have another friend whose parents happen to live in Montecito. 

You know who you are.

I plan to kidnap you, drive you to Montecito, pick up your mom, and zip off to Lotusland. 

Someday. 

Soon. 

Please comment if you’ve been to Lotusland. I want to hear all about it.

Poppy Fair Farm

Nurseries are like crack to me.  Throw in some bluegrass music,

cute goats, 

wonderful vending booths with native plants,

great art,

hand made soaps,

specialty plants, home made beauty products and jewelry, beautiful original paintings, and cool crafts then you have Poppy Fair Farm.

 

And Happiness.

My friend Erin, who owns Native Revival Nursery in Aptos, put on her first annual Poppy Fair Farm last Saturday. I went over to be a part of the festivities, and they did not disappoint. There was something for everyone—and their five senses.

The bluegrass music—banjo, mandolin, guitar, and bass fiddle—was particularly good. 

When Erin was asking for information from the lead in the bluegrass band, Jimmy Chickenpants, for the poster, this is what he said: 

"Some people make the mistake of spelling Chickenpants as 2 words. That's just plain wrong"

 

Perfect.

Shakespeare Garden

I took my 11- and 13-year-old sons to the Birth of Impressionism show at the De Young Museum in San Francisco yesterday. My oldest boy actually enjoyed the show.

My youngest son would rather have been water-boarded. “What time is it? What time did we get here? What time are we leaving?”

With his own form of psychological torture, he asked those questions so many times that I felt like I was being water-boarded.

The show was great and it was over all too soon, much to my son’s relief.

Walking back to the car, I noticed a small fenced garden situated next to the Academy of Sciences. I made my boys follow it around with me until we found the entrance.

Written in wrought iron above the entrance were the words “Shakespeare Garden.” It was a relatively small garden, simple and serene.

I strolled through the entrance and along the walkway under a canopy of crabapple trees.

At the rear of the garden was an elegant brick wall embedded with four bronze plaques and places for two more. In the center of the brick wall was a large steel door.

I wondered aloud what was behind the door and my little boy said he thought it was a giant cuckoo clock.

I did a little research online when I got home. The Shakespeare Garden was built in 1928. Behind the steel door is a bronze sculpture created by George Bullock of William Shakespeare. The door to the sculpture is only opened in the presence of parks personnel, due to the threat of vandalism and theft.

There were once six bronze plaques each featuring a quote by Shakespeare relating to the plants in the garden. The other two were stolen.

I have been in this area of the city many times and never noticed the garden before.

It was truly an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

Sierra Azul Sculpture Garden

I saw an article in Sunset Magazine about the Sierra Azul Sculpture Garden. It looked intriguing and it was close. So I packed up my youngest son and a couple of dogs and drove down the coast to Watsonville.

Going to a sculpture garden with an eleven-year-old boy and 140 pounds of dogs was not the best way to view the art and greenery but who said easy is fun? 

I was up for an adventure, not your average everyday stroll through a nursery uninterrupted, enjoying the sunlight, inhaling the perfume from the flowers appreciating the nuances of each piece of art, taking notes on each artist, talking with the docents, noticing the pairing of art and plant.

What was I thinking?

Luckily I took pictures so I can actually remember what I saw while being drug through by three individuals whose focus was to get in and out as fast as possible.

Nude Carrot Controversy

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS FULL FRONTAL VEGETABLE NUDITY.

In my daily quest to combine art and science with my gardening and cooking, I have created this sculpture.

I found the medium at the local Farmer’s market.

I call it Nude Descending Into Pot of Chicken Soup.

 

 

 

 

 

 
NOTE: ALL TUBERS CONTAINED IN THIS POST WERE NOT ONLY HARMED, THEY WERE CHOPPED, BOILED, AND TURNED INTO FABULOUS CHICKEN SOUP.

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