Plant Porn

The knot garden at Filoli Center in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Lavender, germander, santolina, barberry.  You'd think that a knot garden would be very formal, but this is curvy and delicious.  I'm tempted to try it myself.

Comments

[chuck b.]

Oh, Amy. Whoreticulture readers pleasured in the knot garden months ago. :) Of course, you wouldn't know that because you were engrossed in the book tour by then.

http://coldcalculation.blogspot.com/2007/04/filoli.html

[chuck b.]

Actually, it's looking better and more interesting
in your pictures now that it's all grown in. You can visit that link for a couple "before" shots.

[Amy Stewart]

Any non-reading of whorticulture is entirely unintentional on my part. We're all big chuck b. fans around here. In fact, we nearly scored you a date while we were in Buffalo. Apparently you're considered quite the hottie among a certain gardening crowd there. Who knew?

[Michelle Derviss]

How about some horti-gossip about the knot garden by a former Filoli horticulturist ?
The knot garden was not a part of the original design when the Bournes owned the garden and had Mr. Porter lay out the design.
They ( the knot gardenes ) did not appear on the scene until the estate was passed into the hands of the Hysterical Historical Society and the group of lady volunteer gardens who also served on the board decided that their grand estate garden 'needed' a knot garden to keep with the other great estate gardens across the world.
.. Sooo the Jones.
So they plunked ' two' in, side by side.
-- hey if you're going to out do the Jones ,don't put in just one knot garden, put in two !

Problem is, to really get the full aesthetic value from a well designed knot garden one should design it so that it can be viewed from above.

The Filoli knot garden is in the middle of the flats, wedged between the perennial garden , the cutting garden and the rose garden .

This bit of enlightened design theory did not deter the 'blue haired powers that be', - the knot garden was installed.

Fortunately the blue haired contingency also found it in their powers to install a couple of nice solid wooden benches so if one wants to see the knot gardens in the way they were historically meant to be viewed, you can stand on a bench to get your view.

[Susan Harris]

Eliz, I agree, but can't find anywhere on the NPR site to comment on the story. Any ideas?

[chuck b.]

Too funny, Michelle! I've heard some pretty funny stories about the well-meaning, but clueless, blue-haired Filoli ladies.

I was told, whatever you do, don't take a docent-led tour there.