Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve

This year we're visiting several parks in the East Bay watershed that are an integral part of our emergency water supply. These parks and preserves capture, filter, and store water, but they also provide recreational opportunities right in our own backyard! This time we are visiting Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, which is the site of ancient volcanic activity from 9 - 10 million years ago.

Sibley staging area off Skyline Boulevard

Self-serve Visitor Center

The Sibley visitor center provides exhibits that describe the geology of "Round Top" (elevation 1763 feet), and a self-guided tour brochure that also describes the geological features. Round Top Road goes from the visitor center to the top of Round Top. Volcanic Trail contains most of the stops on the self-guided volcanic tour.

Sibley's geology

Sibley's geological history

The 928 square acre park was opened in 1936 as Round Top, with the formation of the Park District. In 1972 the park was renamed to Sibley Volcanic to honor Robert W. Sibley, a Park District founder and director.

Overlook Trail

View from the water tower - Mount Tamalpais (upper left corner)

View of Wildcat Fault

Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve provides great opportunities to study the core of an ancient volcano. Follow the self-guided tour of Round Top to learn more about the site. The picnic site looks a little stark, but I was surprised to find a cooling breeze on the day I visited.

Geo Marker 1: Basalt dike

Geo Marker 3: Orinda Formation gravels

Geo Marker 7: Basalt flow

Picnic Area in a quarry pit

Geo Marker 9: hard and soft lava flow

View to Orinda and Mount Diablo

Round Top Loop Trail circles the peak, and provides stunning views of the East Bay and surrounding hills, from Mount Tamalpais all the way to Mount Diablo. In addition to the view, interesting geology, and excellent birding opportunities, check out the several labyrinths and bring your dog.

Coyote bush - green in mid summer	Teasal
Yarrow	Aster

HTML Tables

The trail is completely exposed, so carry plenty of water, and wear a hat and sun screen, especially in summer and fall. In winter, take the road down to the quarry, and look for the California newts in the ponds near the old labyrinth.

Address:  Sibley Staging Area – 6701 Skyline Boulevard; Oakland, CA 94611  Web Site: http://www.ebparks.org/parks/sibley  Map: http://www.ebparks.org/Assets/_Nav_Categories/Parks/Maps/Redwood+map.pdf Wild flowers (sorted by color): http://www.ebparks.org/Assets/files/EBRPD_files/photoguides/wild-flowers/EBRPD_Sibley_Volcanic_Wildflowers.pdf For other parks and preserves in the East Bay watershed, see:  http://edenbythebay.blogspot.com/2017/02/parks-of-east-bay-watershed.html

HTML Tables

History of Gardens – Public Parks

Public parks emerged in England in the 1800s, enabling access to common land for all. In 1835 John Claudius Loudon (1783 - 1845) published "Remarks on Laying out Public Gardens and Promenades" in his publication, The Gardener's Magazine. In the article, Loudon defined a public garden as "a garden into which the public are admitted, either gratuitously, or on the payment of a small fee." He observed that Britain had few public gardens, but that they were becoming more frequently available in Europe, especially in Germany, France, and Spain. He offered that these public gardens were taking the place of ramparts and fortifications, and seemed to be a pledge for the general peace of Europe and release from the ancient and tedious quarrels of the past.

Map of Birkenhead Park and adjoining Villa Sites (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
The map appears in Parks, by Frederick Law Olmsted in American Cyclopaedia, v. 13, p. 103)

In the article, Loudon remarked on public promenades, parks, scientific gardens, landscape gardens, recreational gardens, and gardens for burial. Scientific gardens included zoological, botanical, horticultural, agricultural, arboretums, herbacetums, plantariums, British flora, local flora, exotic, geographical, and geological. He recommended garden plans, soil and drainage, site preparation, and design principles. His comments showed a practical knowledge of landscaping, as well as an aesthetic and historical sense. He recommended the public funding of gardens for the benefit of all, not just for rulers and the wealthy.

The first publicly funded garden in England was designed by Joseph Paxton (1803 - 1865) at Birkenhead Park, Liverpool in 1843. Funding was provided through parliament, and through the sale of residential parcels surrounding the park. Park grounds were dedicated to the free use by its residents for recreation, nature, and health. Birkenhead paved the way for the public park movement in Britain and beyond. Frederick Law Olmsted was influenced by the writings of Loudon and the implementation of Birkenhead by Paxton. In 1858, he submitted his design for New York's Central Park in America, with architect Calvert Vaux. Public parks continue to be an important component of society.

Learn More:

• The History of Gardens, by Christopher Thacker
• The Story of Gardening, by Penelope Hobhouse
• The Gardener’s magazine and register of rural and domestic improvement, by J.C. Loudon

History of Gardens – Gardenesque

Another style that came out of the Landscape Movement was Gardenesque, which was popular from 1830 - 1930s. The Gardenesque style celebrates individual plants, and comes from the desire to plant plants for their own merits, rather than for garden design. The style gained popularity because of all the plants pouring into England from all over the world, the increasing knowledge about propagation, and the availability of large scale green houses in which to raise exotic plants.

Gardenesque: flowers, trees, and shrubs (The Gardener's Magazine, 1938)

John Claudius Loudon (1783 - 1845) was a proponent of Gardenesque, and wrote in 1840 that "the aim of the Gardenesque is to add to the acknowledged charms of the [picturesque], all those which the sciences of gardening and botany, in their present advanced state, are capable of producing". Gardenesque often displays plants in the picturesque setting.

Gardenesque: specimen trees (The Gardener's Magazine, 1938)

In 1866, architect and writer John Arthur Hughes described Gardenesque as being "distinguished by the trees and shrubs, whether in masses or groups, being planted and thinned in such a manner as to never touch each other; so that viewed near, each tree or shrub would be seen distinctly while from a distance they show a high degree of beauty...Grace rather than grandeur is its characteristic." The garden becomes a collection of individual specimens rather than composed. Many of the trees and shrubs coming out of the Americas were perfect candidates for this garden style.

Learn More:

• The History of Gardens, by Christopher Thacker
• The Story of Gardening, by Penelope Hobhouse
• The Gardener’s magazine and register of rural and domestic improvement, by J.C. Loudon

History of Gardens – Picturesque

A couple of years ago we explored the Landscape Movement, which was introduced in England and lasted over a hundred years (roughly 1720 – 1810s). The gardens were meant to be indistinguishable from nature, and even to improve on natrue. Landscape characteristics included sweeping house-to-borrowed views, serpentine lines, trees and plants silhouetted against the sky, and the use of eye catchers. Capability Brown was one of its chief promoters and implementers (see Garden History – Landscape Movement, and Elements of the Landscape Movement).

Around 1800, garden design took a turn from the beautiful and the sublime. Critics argued that it was impossible to tell what was designed by man, and what was pure countryside. They felt that that true landscape gardening must show the hand of man. A new movement emerged—Picturesque—in which the garden or landscape was not just wild, but was further refined to emulate a picture that an artist might create. Humphry Repton (1752 – 1818) became the successor to Brown, and champion of the Picturesque.

Red Book: Repton's redesign of a village (see Alchetron)

In 1788, Repton started his gardening career, with little practical horticulture experience, but lots of good ideas. Where he lacked practical gardening experience, he excelled at presentation and salesmanship. For each garden design, he created a Red Book (referring to its binding) that contained a description of the proposal, and watercolor paintings showing the before and after look of the design. This approach helped educate and persuade his clients.

Red Book: Repton's redesign of the estate view from the house (see Alchetron)
Notice the tab in the upper picture that is used to peel away the "before" picture to reveal the "after".

Repton followed many of Brown’s basic design principles, but he started to prettify the areas around the house. Where Brown brought the lawn right up to the house, Repton brought in terraces, balustrades, shrubs, and flower beds around the house. He used long winding roads to make the property seem larger and access to the house more dramatic. He reintroduced the fountain, and used trellises and greenhouses. He designed picturesque themes, such as Chinese, American, arboretum, and forcing gardens. He modified many of Brown’s original landscape gardens with these new ideas, and created new landscapes in the Picturesque style.

Learn More:

• The History of Gardens, by Christopher Thacker
• The Story of Gardening, by Penelope Hobhouse
• Humphry Repton, by Alchetron Free Encyclopedia (watch the videos!)

Color in the Garden: Strong Reds

This year we are learning more about color in the garden, and developing a palette of plants for each color that we can use in our San Francisco Bay Area gardens. English garden writer Penelope Hobhouse is our guide, and we're using her book, Color in Your Garden to better understand color. Her information and guidance can help us add reds to our garden.

The color range explored in the red chapter includes full strength red, or darkened or shaded reds with blue or brown, leaning towards purple, maroon, and almost black. They are on the cold side of the reds, and contain no warming yellow.  Names used to describe these reds include crimson, magenta, carmine, cherry (cerise), bronze, maroon, claret, and burgundy, amethyst, fuchsia, and so forth.

Spring:

Rose	Flame Tree
Giant Trillium	Gooseberry (Chinese Lanterns)
Azalea	Tulips

HTML Tables

Hobhouse writes that red is the most bold and provocative of spectral hues. It appears most vibrant when enriched by complementary mid-greens of trees, plants, and grass. Recall the strong impact of the red azaleas lining the green Wedding Garden at Filoli (see Spring Details at Filoli). Red is easily spotted in the tropics to ensure pollination; and red seeds are easily seen in temperate climates to ensure dispersal. Nature uses red sparingly, except in the fall when leaves turn red.

Summer:

Unknown Inflorescence

Kangaroo Paws

HTML Tables

The texture of petals or leaves influence how reds appear. Shiny petals may appear lighter and brighter than velvety petals. Foliage may appear more matt. The colors are often richest when the sun's rays are longest and reddest in the evening, especially glowing when light shines through a leaf towards the observer.

Fall:

Vitis

Toyon Berries

HTML Tables

Hobhouse recommends pairing flowers and foliage that are "linked" on the color wheel, or are complementary to either heat up or cool down the affect (some of these concepts are well beyond my gardening abilities, but good to know about)! She also states that the emotional qualities of red make their strongest impact if they come as a surprise.

Winter:

Camellia

Rambling Rose

HTML Tables

Red foliage is especially prominent in the fall, but can also appear in new foliage (such as Photinia). Use these colors to your advantage in the garden design.

Foliage:

Liquid Amber in fall	Succulents trimmed in red
Flax	Unknown
Maroon leaves (almost black)	Prunus

HTML Tables

To find more about red flowers and foliage that thrive in the San Francisco Bay Area, see Wildflowers of the East Bay Regional Park District. Another good source is Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates.