Atrium Gardens

I was struck how drab some of the buildings appear in Anchorage. Some downtown buildings seem to occupy an entire block, and have no landscaping (with severe winters this may be practical, but leaves some sections of the city looking bleak).

I soon learned that many of these buildings are designed as large atriums with the landscaping inside. The atriums are filled with light, planted with trees and plants that flourish in the filtered light, and routinely used by locals to meet or relax.

This is a brilliant and practical solution for handling landscaping in a cold climate - bring the garden inside! This idea that could be incorporated in the San Francisco Bay Area as well, with our cold, foggy, gray days.

Moose Crossing

I am "on assignment" in Anchorage, Alaska to attend the opening of our son's First Friday art exhibit, on display at Crush Bistro during the month of August. He created fourteen prints for the show (our son is studying print making at University of Alaska), all around the theme of our shells or masks. The pieces are interesting, complex, and beautifully rendered (I have learned all about the processes he uses to create his "fusion" prints over the last year). Did I mention how proud, impressed, and excited I am?

Various family members are converging on the city for the show. We are exploring Anchorage and the surrounding environment, and have plans to visit Denali. Anchorage is a fairly large city, situated on Cook Inlet and surrounded by spectacular mountain ranges. I last visited Anchorage as a teenager, so a lot has changed.

While I am here, I am on the hunt for delicious local grown produce, and interesting garden ideas. Anchorage is close to the Matanuska Valley, with its rich, fertile earth; and short, intense growing season. We have already heard tales of eight feet high moose easily jumping ten feet high fences to browse in people's vegetable gardens (my deer problem now seems fairly insignificant).

I like this coexistence attitude - moose and wild flowers.

Landscape Plants for California Gardens

I am exploring a new book, which is destined to be a “go to” reference for choosing plants and trees for the landscape. The book is Landscape Plants for California Gardens by Bob Perry, published by Land Design Publishing (Claremont, 2010). Perry is Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). He has been a licensed Landscape Architect since 1972, and specializes in water conservation.

Perry’s stated goals for the book are to (1) provide a comprehensive reference of plants commonly grown in the landscape, and (2) provide information and guidelines to support landscape water conservation. The book is divided into four sections:

• Section 1 describes plant climate zones and water estimates. The book advocates grouping plants in the landscape by water needs.
• Section 2 provides plant lists by type, such as vines, palms, flowering trees, and Asian garden plants.
• Section 3 provides plant palettes, organized in two irrigation groups – regular and reduced summer water.
• Section 4 provides an illustrated plant compendium. Specimens are from both Northern and Southern California.

The book is well illustrated, and includes ingenious charts for conveying information about plants. This is a convenient encoded reference, but takes some time to get up-to-speed reading the charts. The plant lists and their associated plant list abbreviations, which include information about water usage, are especially useful.