FROM THE BORDER
By Hilary Gordon
FROM THE BORDER, 2012
ONE WEDNESDAY AT A TIME, May 2012
"On Wednesday every week, a dedicated group of volunteers and interns show up by ten in the morning and for the next four hours, we break into crews to weed, prune, compost, and fertilize. This is the day that sets the stage for the school field trips on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and for all the wonderful Saturday programs, from the adult classes and class series to the harvest program... "
THE APRIL GARDENER IS JUNE-MINDED, April 2012
"Spring is here, and the long-awaited rains are blessing the garden. By the south gate of the Garden for the Environment, I can look with satisfaction at the bright bursts of color from Harlequin Flower and Spring Star Flower blooming on one side of the pathway, while colorful grasses, rockroses, and irises light up the other side. But this is no time for a gardener to rest on her laurels... "
GROW YOUR OWN FOOD, March 2012
"The word garden, like the word yard, comes from ancient linguistic roots meaning an enclosed space. The garden is a protected place, set apart from current dangers. In the countryside, the garden might be protected by a deer fence. In the city, our garden is protected by layered foliage of established trees and shrubs from the noise and smoke of traffic... "
GROW YOUR OWN FOOD, February 2012
"When the sunlight begins to feel warm and the first pink blossoms on the plum trees trumpet spring, it's time for a new gardening year to begin. For my family members in New England, this moment is still months away, but for us in the lucky Bay Area, it's already here...."
SOLSTICE MUSING ON STEWARDSHIP, January 2012
"There is something about the beauty of a mature garden bed, where texture and color get lost in the abundant, magical tangle of life's explosion and the human heart opens to something nourishing..."
FROM THE BORDER, 2011
TO PRUNE OR NOT TO PRUNE, THAT IS THE QUESTION, December 2011
"We are approaching the hungry time of year for our little wild birds, and gardeners can help by choosing some plants for the garden which provide nectar in January and February for our resident hummingbirds. Allowing some plants to go to seed or berry and stand during the winter, also provides for seed-loving birds. Each gardener must find his or her own balance between tidying up the garden and providing for the wildness of seed-set and fertility, as fallen leaves decompose in untidy heaps to add life to the soil..."
FALL WEED STRATEGIES, November 2011
"Good gardening calls for an organized strategy to combat the new weed season..."
OCTOBER 2011 - From the Border is on vacation.
LATE SUMMER GARDENS, Part II, September 2011
"Last month, this column covered some tips on design and care of the late summer garden. A month later, and we are still in the same late summer weather pattern, with mostly foggy days on the western side of the city, dry soils, and cool temperatures. As each week of late summer passes, the summer-dry garden looks more and more disheveled and dreary, unless the gardener follows a few simple rules..."
LATE SUMMER GARDENS, SUMMER-DRY CHALLENGES, August 2011
"Most San Francisco gardens have a big let-down at this time of year, when unhealthy plants and spent flowers compete visually with the few that are still blooming. But there are a few simple tricks of the trade which will allow you to rejuvenate your garden this August, and allow you to look forward to the late summer and fall garden in future years..."
AN OUTDOOR EDUCATION, July 2011
"This year, the Summer Sprouts program found me reflecting on something that motivates me all year long. There is a light year’s difference between learning in the garden with all the senses engaged, and learning indoors in a classroom..."
YIKES, June 2011
"If you have a garden, you are one of the lucky ones. If you don’t, there is a community or school garden project looking for your help as a volunteer. You can adopt a garden, and before you know it, you will be waking up on volunteer days and jumping out of bed, wondering if your carrot seedlings came up, and if the poppies bloomed...”
CRAZY BEAUTIFUL, May 2011
"May Day is like Christmas for gardeners except all the packages are opening themselves simultaneously. There is so much to fall in love with. Here are a few of my heartthrobs this month.”
MARCH SHOWERS BRING APRIL FLOWERS, April 2011
Listen!” As we stood quietly, you could hear the buzzing from the shrubs, heavy with flowers, their leaves almost invisible under the bright burden. “Look.” I told him. “The Ceanothus is full of honey bees, but if you look closely you will also see our fat bumbling native bees, and many tiny wasps, with flies of all kinds. It’s a pollinator party, and a loud one!”
A SATISFYING HARVEST, March 2011
"Maybe the best kept secret at the GFE is our harvest program. Every Saturday morning a small band of dedicated volunteers harvests fruits and vegetables from all over the garden, makes a beautiful bouquet and an herb bundle, and packs everything into a spicy fragrant box of freshness..."
NEW LOOK FOR THE WATERWISE GARDEN, February 2011
"February arrived in a blizzard of plum blossoms, the fruit of a warm dry January. After deluges in December, the warm weather in January brought smiles to sunbathers and worried frowns to gardeners. Irrigation timers, turned off for the rainy season, were hastily re-booted. Rain brought relief at the end of the month. But for how long?..."
WINTER BEAUTY, January 2011
"In winter, the shape and structure of the garden is unclothed. Without the distraction of flower colors, and with bare branches exposed on deciduous trees and shrubs, errors in pruning or design are painfully obvious, while good pruning and design hold the garden’s beauty firmly grounded...."
FROM THE BORDER, 2010
GFE WALKS IT'S TALK: TOUGH CHOICES IN THE BORDER, December 2010 "Sadly, part of winter work this year at the GFE includes removing our beautiful Mexican Feather Grass (Stipa tenuissima or Nassella tenuissima). This lovely, mobile, golden grass has been a signature plant in our border, framing our gates and stairways..."
Climate-Wise Spring Bulbs, November 2010 "At this time of year, if you make a visit to the nursery you will be greeted with pictures, signs, boxes and bins of spring blooming bulbs. In California some of these bulbs are not really at home. Tulips, hyacinths, and crocuses, for example, need a frosty winter to bloom successfully. Here in our mild winter climate, consider planting Ipheion uniflorum, Sparaxis tricolor, Watsonia borbonica or other bulb-forming plants which work perfectly in our mild, summer-dry climate..."
From the Border, October 2010 - On Vacation -
Generosity of Nature, September 2010. "Mother Nature’s garden has very strict rules as well as generosity. A meadow or hillside may feature many individual plants, but only a handful of species. The fierce competition in the wild eliminates all but the best-suited plants for the specific exposures of the site. The repetition of a few elements results in the beautiful chaos and rhythm of natural areas...."
What We're Hungry For, August 2010. "One fine morning, I was pruning and shaping the flowering shrubs at the GFE, when someone walked by and said, “Why don’t you pull all this out and grow food?" It’s a legitimate question..."
Art and the Garden in Summer, July 2010. "A recent visit to the Impressionist exhibit at the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park left me thinking about the similarities between a wonderful canvas and a wonderful garden..."
Butterflies in the Garden, June 2010. "As summer brings warmer temperatures and some sunny afternoons, one of the most enjoyable sights in the garden is a variety of butterflies flitting from plant to plant, seeking nectar and egg-laying opportunities."
The San Franciscan Peninsula from Long Ago, May 2010. "Deer grass, Coyote bush, Hummingbird sage, Sandhill sage, Sea thrift, even the names of our native plants sound like a poem. They conjure up a time not so long ago when the San Franciscan peninsula was a mix of dunes, low hills and valleys, where seasonal creeks threaded between shrubby, windswept slopes until they fed into the few year-round creeks running to the bay."
Newborn Spring Meadow at the GFE, April 2010. "...as climate change and population growth pressure our water resources, even a small turf lawn requires more water than we want to commit."
The Nutritious Solitude of Gardening, March 2010. "The nutritious solitude of gardening has an angle of loneliness in it as well. Who will admire the perfect shaping of a shrub, the artistic spacing of the renewed perennial border, the loft of a fluffy seedbed? This is when gardening books and garden writers become important allies."
January Showers Bring January Flowers, February 2010. "Now as I’m writing in late January, the plum trees are beginning to fly the bright flag of spring. Here by the Bay and the mild Pacific, winter turns on a dime and walks away. Spring flaunts right in with Calla lilies, Hellebores and winter blooming Salvias, Fuchsias and Aloe."
Revisioning the Garden: Losing the Lawn, January 2010. "Turf is not a sustainable choice for most garden situations in our arid state. Turf areas in the West are reported to absorb “as much as half of outdoor residential water use.” (Water-Wise Gardening for California) In most garden settings, there are more sustainable alternatives to turf."
FROM THE BORDER, 2009
Grevilleas of the Perennial Border, December 2009. "The magic of perennial borders is that as one group of plants finishes its yearly cycle and is cut down, it makes room for the next group of plants flush of growth and bloom. Sometimes nature holds her breath and for a moment we get two seasons blooming at once. Now is the magic moment..."
Fall Blooming Salvias, November 2009. "Fall color is blazing in the borders at the GFE, with Princess Flower, Lantana, and Lion’s Tail blooming generously. Grasses are also blooming, backlit by long-shadowed autumn light, and the last daisies of summer are still open. But the glory of our borders right now are the late-blooming Salvias."
100 Words for Drought Tolerant, October 2009. "... as water policies and practices have come under more and more pressure from increased demand and shrinking resources, we need one hundred words for drought-tolerance."
Go Outside and Play, September 2009. "What makes a grown-up go outside and play? When my garden space is connected to my grown-up desires and values, it draws me outside."
Helichrysum Eradication, August 2009. "The bad news is that Licorice plant has been listed officially as an invasive exotic, and no matter how useful it may be in the garden, it is no longer an appropriate plant for environmentally savvy gardeners to grow....There are always wonderful alternatives that can fill the gap in the landscape."
Fog City Gardener, July 2009. "By choosing plants suited to our maritime climate, grouping them wisely, watering them deeply but infrequently, and creating a robust sequence of bloom in the garden, you can begin to look forward to summer gardening in San Francisco, even if you have to wear a parka to do it!..."
Nostalgia and the Transplanted Gardener, June 2009. "By translating the spirit of my grandmother’s garden into the language and palette of California climate appropriate plants, I can have my memories and still do what she did; grow a healthy and sustainable garden with love and respect for nature..."
Spring Blooming Bulbs for Bay Area Climate Zones, May 2009. "Fairy wand, Harlequin flower, Bugle lily, who wouldn’t want to see flowers with such magical names? They are all blooming right now at the Garden For the Environment, a public, educational garden located at 7th Avenue and Lawton..."
What's in a Name?, April 2009."What's in a name?... In the well-known play by Shakespeare, young Juliet gives her opinion that a name doesn’t matter. Her opinion matches that of many people who are beginning to learn about gardening. Why do we need to learn all those stupid Latin names for plants? ... "
California Natives Show Off Their Winter Colors, March 2009. "In the final days of January, the buds were swelling on the purple plum trees that grace San Francisco streets. The tiny new moon heralded the Chinese New Year, marking the beginning of another growing season. By the time this newsletter reaches its readers, the plum trees will be in full bloom, as clouds of pink blossoms assert Mother Nature’s confidence..."
A New Gardening Year, February 2009. "In the final days of January, the buds were swelling on the purple plum trees that grace San Francisco streets. The tiny new moon heralded the Chinese New Year, marking the beginning of another growing season. By the time this newsletter reaches its readers, the plum trees will be in full bloom, as clouds of pink blossoms assert Mother Nature’s confidence..."
Blessing of Rain, January 2009. "This year brings change, and not just on Inauguration Day. During the end of the twentieth century, drought in California was news. ... Water rationing is (now) beginning to look like a semi-permanent situation. Many of us will need to “retool” our gardens for a new reality. One of the most important tools in our toolbox is called ‘hydrozoning”.
FROM THE BORDER, 2008
Gardens with Good Bones, December 2008. "The garden in winter should feel just like this; graceful, healthy, promising, lovely in its own way although the blush of spring is long gone. ... When a garden looks wonderful in midwinter, gardeners everywhere nod and say “that garden has good bones”."
It's November, November 2008. "It’s November, and our warm sunny days give way to the first predictions of rain. In the 24 years I have been gardening in San Francisco, many Halloween pumpkins, ripened in the heat of October, have ended their Jack-o-Lantern lives in cold rainstorms. For gardeners, this is a time for action..."
On Borders, September 2008. "Our borders provide the threshold between our garden and the creatures of the wild, natural world..."
Hilary Gordon is Sustainable Landscape Education Manager at the GFE. A life-long gardener, trained at the City College Horticulture program, she has worked as a professional landscape gardener from 1984 until the present. Each month we will feature a gardening column in a column titled, “From the Border”, in which Hilary shares her wealth of gardening experience and knowledge.
Have a question for Hilary? Meet her in the garden Wednesdays 10-2 and Saturdays 10-4.
