Gamble Garden Spring Tour: 2013

We've been going to Gamble Garden's Spring garden tour for well over 5 years now.  (For a quick refresher on what Gamble Garden is all about - check out last year's tour post here.)  I love going because it's a great excuse to spend the day with my honey (sometimes friends included) walking about the tree lined streets of Palo Alto, checking out beautiful gardens, breaking for a picnic lunch at Gamble Garden, and returning with new ideas and energy that get translated into the continued visioning and creation of our very own garden oasis back home.

This year's theme was "Down The Garden Path" and all the gardens featured some sort of garden pathway/s which were often hard to photograph given the amount of foot traffic this event attracts.  Some of the gardens contained a favorite of mine - "sitting areas" - like this very large garden in the picture above.  This "stage area" (with blue backdrop and backstage) had a magical feel and energy to it.  It was located at the back of the garden - a large expanse of lawn and an oak tree separating it from the main home.  It's cool shade was a sweet respite from the heat of the afternoon sun.  

Tucked in a corner of the garden was the family pool, a small kitchen and another place to sit and enjoy the space.  My husband and I took full advantage of doing so as this was actually the last house of 6 that we visited on the tour.  (I'm going out of order and am saving the best, at least from our perspective, for last!)

The pictures above are from the first house we visited.  It had a lovely front garden with fountain and stunning heirloom roses whose name escapes me.  They were soft pink, full of petals, and as big as a salad or appetizer plate.  Around the corner and in back is where the fun really began.  A tree house tucked up high in a Redwood for the enjoyment of kids and parents alike!  Plus a lovely dining and entertaining area and basket ball hoop for the kids.  I love seeing that because while the homeowners aren't around during the tour (at least that's the sense I get), seeing the basketballs tucked around the hoop, and the herbs planted at the doorway, I can imagine a group of rowdy kids laughing, playing and shooting hoops; or a parent snipping a few herbs for an evening meal, or relaxing with their loved ones and a glass a wine high up in their tree house above.  All places have an energy to them, at least for me, and this one's was really nice.  I wish I could explain it better.  I do my best to capture the essence I feel in the photos I snap and share.

The next few gardens (one in the two pics above and one below) didn't quite "do it" for us.  One had a beautifully executed English style garden and amusing artwork - but what I chose not to show you are the two white doves enclosed in a rusted old birdhouse with mesh so thick and dark it made me sad to think of those two little creatures having to live their life looking out at the world from this prison like view.  I asked a Gamble Garden volunteer if they ever got outside - but she did not know.  I hope they do.  

I love the pool of the home above, but there was something missing from this space too.  While it had beauty and color, it somehow lacked "life".  Not sure what that was about.  I know if I had built the cottage in the far back right corner - it would have had windows all around to invite green space and light in.  It's funny though how some places ooze energy and activity, while others don't.

If you like the modern aesthetic, you'd have loved the house above.  It had a little something for both of us too.  For my honey - the succulents, for me - the peaceful meditation corner with slider bench.  The front garden was really well done, with rivers of drought tolerant plants in ribbons of color pouring over the path that led you to the front door.  They had a large area for entertaining as well.  Clean lines, a water element, and splashes of tasteful color throughout.  What's not to love about that?

About mid-way through the tour we stopped off at Gamble Garden to picnic, and check out the marketplace, live music, plant sale, and garden itself.  They do such a fabulous job of it all and as the tour benefits Gamble Garden - it's all for a great cause. 

This year, maybe because we are smack dab in the middle of a bathroom remodel, I did not feel compelled to buy a pot like last year, but I did meet a lovely woman / artist / small business entrepreneur in the marketplace.  Her name is Peg Conley, and she paints and creates greeting cards, notecards, memo list pads, wrapping paper etc. - combining garden scenes with inspirational words.  Her work speaks to my heart and I spoke with her at length.  Talk about great energy!  I'll be following up with Peg to do some bulk ordering AND to keep our connection going.  You can check her work out at  Words and Watercolors.  

I said I'd saved the best for last and here we are at last.  It was the smallest garden and house on the tour - proving that bigger doesn't always mean better.  ;-)  Above is the front yard orchard - filled with various fruit trees:  apples, plums, citrus and stone.  Despite having moved to a suburban setting to care for aging parents - the homeowners - having at one point lived "off-the-grid" on a small ranch - wanted to recreate that experience and use their knowledge and expertise to create an edible and sustainable garden. 

A butterfly wing gate beckons you in, and it won't be long before the rebar trellis archway is covered with green beans, or was that peas?  Everywhere you looked - there were vegetables galore.  In that small side yard alone - lettuce lined the path, asparagus still poked it's head above ground, the beans (or peas) had begun their upward march, plus so much more.

I just took a peek at the book that came with the tour, and see here now that the owner of this little gem is an architect - Jonathan Stoumen - whose "design approach is about integrating the needs of the homeowners and the environment with available natural energy systems to deliver the maximum levels of comfort with the minimum resources"  Reading this on his website - it's no wonder why this home's garden was our favorite.  His approach speaks to a lot that is important to us too.  

Or maybe it was just the chickens and their charming home (also designed by Jonathan) that spoke to us so.  This is just the sweetest, prettiest, most functional coop I've ever seen.  Filled with what looked like happy chickens to me - though I'm no expert on that subject by any means.  And we were both tickled with the wine corks cleverly used to balance the pots against the fence.  One wonders - did they drink all that wine themselves??  We'd like to think that they and their friends and family did.

Nestled next to the coop was a green house filled with seedlings that will one day make their way into the homeowner's vegetable garden.  As a green house is on our dream garden list too, this one is definitely going up on the Pinterest board - along with their chicken coop!

And now for the garden itself.  It was filled with rows and rows of veggies and fruits - strategically oriented and planted to minimize plant to plant shading and maximize exposure to the sun.  It contains a healthy abundance of veggies and fruits including:  corn, broccoli, kale, chard, lettuce, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers..... just see for yourself!

We lingered long - enjoying every nook and cranny this garden had to offer - as did other tour attendees too I noticed.  There was so much life, beauty, color and variety to enjoy in this garden - it had amazing energy.  I did wonder about the homeowners.  A place like that requires attendance and care.  I saw no drip system to water the pansies (violas?) and all those plants and chickens need daily care too.  So while I dream of having chickens and more veggies in our garden one day - I'm grateful for what we do have, and mindful that right now - with all that's on our plates with work and so on - to be patient.  There will be a "right-time" when this all comes to fruition for us too.  In the mean time - we enjoy every day what we've created (my honey's cactus house below) and keep dreaming up new ideas and plans for our ever evolving garden to come.

What garden dreams grow within you?