By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Calandrina grandiflora, Chilean rock purslane, has becoming an increasingly popular landscaping plant in Southern California, and no wonder.  It is drought-tolerant, easy to grow, and its magenta flowers bloom a long time.  I'm used to seeing it used en masse, especially in parkways and medians.  And it always looks good that way.

But the garden staff at Casa Romantica (see yesterday's post) decided to plant it in a pair of shoulder-high planter boxes, which brought the blooms up to eye level and literally made you see the plant in a new way.  The effect was charming.  Wish I had someplace to duplicate the idea in my own garden.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

The gardens of Casa Romantica were included in San Clemente Garden Club's Annual Garden Tour on June 20th.  (Casa Romantica, designed by Carl Lindom, who also designed Casa Pacifica, better known as the Western White House, is the former home of the founder and developer of San Clemente, Ole Hanson.)  I was so impressed with the gardens I went back for a second look.  Here's some snapshots of that follow-up trip.

Matilija poppy and Cleveland sage were still holding on in the Native Bowl (the photo on the left), and the new Herb Garden, just planted last November (photo on the right), was going strong -- artichokes in bud, borage and creeping thyme in exuberant bloom, scented geraniums perfuming the air, and lettuces in full romantic bolt.

And on the other side of Casa Romantica some of the gardens just seemed to be hitting their stride.  The Butterfly Garden, for instance, shown below. 

Same thing with the Spanky Chang Children's Garden.  Lion's Tail, shown here, Lamb's Ears, Parrot's Beak, and Salvia 'Hot Lips all looking splendid, and Mint Marigold still to come. 

If it's been awhile since you visited Casa Romantica, come back and take another look.  Maybe you visited once and thought some parts of the garden looked a little, shall we say, scrufty.  I've sometimes thought so, too.

Well, that's definitely not that case now.  Launa Gould, the head gardener, is primarily responsible for that.  (Gould used to be the president of the San Clemente Garden Club, has lots of experience with civic beautification projects, and put in six years volunteering at the Casa before being hired for this position.)  But Gould is blessed with a great second-in-command in Lisa Goff, a volunteer who also happens to be a landscape architect.

The garden has always had a magnificient setting. And excellent bones, too--Isabelle Greene designed the basic layout. But somehow it just didn't seem to come together.  Now it does.

I'm already looking forward to my next visit.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Here Aaron Chang combines photography and function.  This wall hanging also doubles as a recirculating fountain.  Water cascades down the print in the areas where the waterfalls cascade in the photo.  The clear tank at the bottom holds the recirculating water.  And, to add to the illusion, lava rocks and living plants as well.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

There are few lavender farms in Southern California you can even visit, but between late June and the end of July you can not only visit New Oak Ranch in Ojai, California, you can harvest bundles of lavender stems for about what you'd pay for a frappuccino -- $5 for as much as you can stuff into an 8-inch twist-tie. The owners, Bill and Karen Evender provide shears and ties; you the labor, if you can call it that.  

 Even if you're not a crafter, it's a fun thing to do.  It gives you an excuse to plant yourself smack in the middle of 5,000 lavender plants and inhale for all you are worth.

To make the most of the day, pick up picnic supplies in Ojai first and have lunch at the Ranch; there's plenty of shade under the walnut trees. 

And take home some of the Ranch's products.  I recommend the lavender water.  It's lovely sprayed on your pillow just before you go to bed.  Or, if you are as domestic as Martha Stewart, sprayed on your linens before you iron them.  Not much chance of that happening in my house.

For day, hours, and directions, see their website.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

The Pacific Horticulture Symposium, "Gardening Under Mediterranean Skies VII: Lessons in Sustainable Gardening" set for Sept. 26-27 in Santa Barbara, California sold out a few days after it was posted.   If you missed out, you have another chance.  The same symposium will be repeated on October 3-4.

Here's what the package includes:

Saturday, Oct. 3:  continental breakfast and morning lecture at the Hotel Mar Monte, docent-lead tour and al fresco luncheon at spectacular Lotusland, (see photos below for a sneak preview) tour of a Susan Van Atta designed garden, and finally twlight tour and wine reception at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

Both photos above by Bill Dewey

Sunday:  continental breakfast, again at the Hotel Mar Monte, followed by tours of four private gardens designed by such well-known landscape architects such as Isabelle Greene and Lynn Woodbury.

There is also a bonus Friday night lecture.  Owen Dell will be speaking on "Sustainable Landscaping: A Visionary Look at the Future of Gardens".  Dell is the author of Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies which we reviewed on Fresh Dirt recently. 

If you sign up before September 1, the fee for the whole package is $320, which includes a one-year subscription to Pacific Horticulture magazine.  If you already a subscriber or are a member of either the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden or the Mediterranean Garden Society, your early registration fee is discounted to $295.   After September 1, add $50 to those figures.

Sounds like a lot of education and entertainment for the price.  The Hotel Mar Monte are offering discounted rates for Symposium members, which helps, too.

I think I've just talked myself into going.

For a registration form, email medskies@SDHortSoc.org or call (760) 295-2173.

By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

Favored with abundant sunlight, sharply defined seasons, and plenty of avid gardeners to take advantage of these things, Yakima puts on a splendid annual garden tour. This year the self-guided, 5-garden tour is scheduled for Saturday, June 13.

Expect to see some wonderful landscapes; I previewed Ann & Mel Stohl's garden (shown here) earlier this week, and loved hearing about its 30-year development. Garden owners will be ready to talk at the other four gardens on the tour as well.

Cost is $20 per person, or $30 with a sack lunch. Get tickets at Yakima Area Arboretum, Loo Wit Gardens (3806 Summitview Ave., Yakima), Russell’s Nursery, or Cowiche Creek Nursery (2401 Cowiche Mill Rd., Cowiche). Call (509) 248-7337 for more information.

Proceeds benefit the Yakima Area Arboretum, which should get a couple of hours of your time before or after the tour of private gardens. This arboretum is maturing fast, and its parts—the Japanese garden, for example—are constantly being upgraded.

By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

One of California’s finest native plant repositories, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden saw much of its collection go up in flames May 6 in the devastating Jesusita Fire. About 60 of 78 acres were burned, including the canyon, lath houses, all tools except one shovel, and all vehicles but one. (How do you run a garden without trucks or tools?) Firefighters made their stand in SBBG’s iconic wildflower meadow, and that’s where the fire was stopped.

So what happens now? “We just do the massive job of getting back to normal,” says garden VP Nancy Johnson, “and we want people to come.”

Though many trails are closed, there’s still plenty to see: the meadow survived, the redwood grove is singed, but intact, and a new art installation—a 1200-square-foot labyrinth made from redwood poles by Herb Parker (below)—is being installed on schedule, starting just a few days after the blaze. It had been in planning for 18 months.  The Arroyo, Discovery Garden, Teahouse, and most of the Manzanita Exhibit also remain open.

During the coming months, you'll have the chance to hear fire ecology talks and walk trails routed to let you watch regeneration first hand. Fire is, after all, a necessary event in many California floral regions, including this one.

During this inferno, not everything went wrong. The garden had just completed a million dollar irrigation system, which staff horticulturists were able to keep on until the fire swept over the garden, so plants were well-hydrated up to the last minute. That should help some come back. The library, admin building, herbarium, garden shop and retail nursery were all spared.

The human cost from this fire was high. As Johnson told me, "if you weren't an evacuee yourself, you were housing them." She had several living with her for the duration of the fire.

Sadly, the garden CEO's on-site residence was burned to the ground, even as he directed firefighters to save the garden's seed bank, which they did.

Now it's back to business. You can help with a membership, a contribution, or some volunteer time. But before you do anything, stop by for a visit.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

I've been trying to sort out the differences between oregano and marjoram because I want to add one or both to my garden, and it's making my head hurt.  Both plants are in the same genus, Origanum, that much I know, but after that everything gets fuzzy.  

For instance, what we commonly think of as marjoram is O. majorana, but there are many other species that are called marjorams, too.  O. syriacum is known as Syrian marjoram, for instance, and O. onites as Cretan marjoram.  But they're also called Syrian oregano and Cretan oregano just as often.

And what we classify as basic oregano botanically, O. vulgare, is commonly called wild marjoram.  And what we're probably used to tasting if we buy oregano from the supermarket is a cross between O. vulgare and O. majorana and is described as Italian oregano or hardy marjoram. (It's 'Italian oregano' that is shown here.)  See what I mean? What confusion!

That's why I was very happy to come across Richard Frost's summary of the whole problem in a recent article in Talking Plants, the monthly publication of the San Diego Horticulture Society.  Frost sensibly skips the whole botanical issue and cuts to what is most important--how the different varieties taste.  It's such a nice succinct summary I'm going to reprint it in total here with his permission:

"When it comes to oreganos, there are opinions as strong as the herb can be in taste.  The standard kind that you find generically labeled in U.S. supermarkets is 'Italian.'  On the milder, sweeter side is 'Sweet Oregano', which many people know by the name "marjoram."  The white oregano cultivar 'Kaliteri' is even milder but with a traditional oregano taste.

For regular oregano with a peppery taste, try 'Greek' (a small bite will be sufficient for most people).  The Middle-Eastern variety 'Za-atar' is the main ingredient of a sauce of the same name and has pleasant cumin-like overtones.  The most pungent oregano I have ever tried is 'Syrian', which will stand out in almost any dish."

***

That cleared it up for me. Seems like you ought to have a mild one and a spicy one and I love anything that hints at cumin.  So I'm ordering 'Kaliteri' and 'Za-atar'.  What would you order?

***

For more examples of Frost's clear thinking, see the website, www.PlantsThatProduce.

***

If you live in Southern California, here are two great places to taste oregano and lots of other herbs:

Herb weekend at Fullerton Arboretum this weekend, May 30-31, 10 am.-4pm.

Pearson's Garden & Herb Farm in Vista, California -- any time

How to grow oregano

How to grow marjoram

By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

Looking at a bamboo in a 1-gallon pot, it’s hard to tell what it will be like in 5 or 10 years. How tall will it grow? Will the new culms (canes) be colored, patterned, or scented? Can it stand up to snow, and might it spread much? You learn these things by looking at mature bamboo growing outside, and one of the best places to do that is at Bamboo Garden near Portland.

Located on an old farm in the forested hills above North Plains, Oregon, Bamboo Garden has acres of mature bamboos in the ground, and a nursery lot full of the same varieties in containers of all sizes. By looking at the mature groves here, you can see for yourself how different varieties held up (or not) under snow loads. You can smell the sandalwood fragrance of incense bamboo (Phyllostachys atrovaginata), and be wowed by the towering timber bamboos that arch overhead. I personally love the layered look of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), and the green strength of Phyllostachys nigra ‘Henon’, and found the patterned culms of Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Spectabilis' irresistable (pictured at bottom right).

Most of these are runners—they can get away from you if you don’t contain them or nip them back—but many are well-behaved clumpers. The checkerboard pattern of culm sheaths on Fargesia robusta (bottom left) will win you over even if you don’t care about its well controlled growth habit.

Bamboo Garden is run by Ned Jaquith (left) and his incredibly well-informed staff, who will give you a golf-cart tour of mature plants to help you choose. I learned much there: that runners, for example, tend to run downhill and toward the south; and the parts of the grove that get the most sun usually grow tallest. Little tips like these can save you long-term maintenance when you place bamboo in the garden.

Bamboo Garden is open Tuesday through Saturday 9 to 4, or Sunday by appointment from 10 to 3. Go to their web site for directions (which you'll definitely need).

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Rancho Los Alamitos, a historic ranch and gardens in Long Beach, California once owned by Fred and Florence Bixby, has put a lot of effort into restoring its native garden.  The original garden was designed by landscape architect Paul Howard in 1929 along with native plant expert Allen L. Chickering.  The Native Garden is now complete and ready for public viewing.

The Rancho is celebrating the occasion on Saturday, June 6, 11:30 am to 5:00 pm with an event it is calling In the Nature of the Place: Native Plants and Mediterranean Gardens. 

Activities will include garden tours, seminars, a California native plant sale hosted by Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and the Tree of Life Nursery, one-hour seminars, culinary workshops, arts and crafts activities for children, and entertainment by the Susie Hansen Latin Band.

Admission to the garden and on site activities are all free.  The seminars are $12 each or $40 for all four.  Advance registration is necessary for the seminars.  You can fiind out more about them as well as register online at the Rancho Los Alamitos website.

The oil painting seen here is "Morning Light in the Native Garden" by Steven Looman.  You can see more of his work at his website.

Slide show: 8 great natives