Re: Summer plantings in a balmy Bay Area Garden/Photo links

Nan in San Diego had asked if I could link this Oakland garden to some photos, so I am including some links to older photos of this garden from 2005.  These photos were taken when the garden was on a tour for our local SF Bromeliad Society, and were taken about the same time of year, mid August.  The majority of the garden is still much the same, but the entry pots and upper terrace are the main area that were recently "tweaked" with the new cycads, new Mandevilla vines, etc.  Nan had also asked about where I get some of these less common plants, and I must admit, first off, that I am an inveterate collector of "new to me" plants that I think will do well under our local collections, and that they do not come from any one place.  I have traveled all the way down to San Diego to get some of these, or Los Angeles, (where Gary Hammer when he still operated his old nursery in Montebello was a major influence), as well as local botanic garden sales, and
 of course, some of our
 great California wholesale nurseries such as San Marcos Growers, Suncrest Nursery, Monterey Bay Nursery, Rosendale Nursery, Emerisa Nursery, Kartuz Nursery, and local retail nurseries such as The Dry Garden Nursery and Annie's Annuals.  Other plants I have even collected overseas, such as the Strobilanthes gossipinus from Sri Lanka.

The first link to the garden in Montclair/Oakland Hills can be seen by going to the SFBromeliad.org web site, and clicking on the scrapbook index for local society tours.  I have this garden's photos in the 2005 Randy and Katy garden, but other photos of similar gardens can also be seen in the 2005 Trejo garden, and the 2003 Stacy Michaels garden.  As well, there is a powerpoint presentation to the California Horticulture Society that I gave in combination with my good friend Dan Arcos, on hardy outdoor bromeliads for California gardens, at 

http://www.sfbromeliad.org/slideshow/calHortShow.ppt.htm

More photos of the Oakland Hills/Montclair garden, also from 2005 that were featured in a short article in the garden section of the SF Chronicle can be seen at this link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/10/05/HOGNLEN11522.DTL

All of these gardens/photos will give a better idea of the subtropical/succulents/bromeliads/mediterranean climate plants combinations that do so well in the fog kissed parts of the San Francisco Bay Area that see little frost.  All of these gardens are typically also drip irrigated with 2 to 3 times a week irrigation for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, mostly using either in-line drip tubing or combination of micro spray or misters.

I think it goes to show that cloud forest tropical environments have a wealth of plants that are suitable for coastal California's fog belt marine influenced mediterranean climates, both north and south. 
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