If you're looking for something to do Thursday night...

Our Garden Bloggers Fling group has been invited to the wonderfully creative house of landscape designer Shirley Watts for a get together the night before the Fling is to start. We were unfortunately unable to get Shirley's garden on the tour for the days of the Fling but she kindly offered to have those of us who can make it over for a little shin-dig the evening of Thursday, June 27th. Her garden is in Alameda (across the Bay from San Francisco) so we'll need to do some carpooling or public transportation to get there.

If you are in town and aren't too pooped from your travels come join us! The party will be from 6:00-9:00 in the evening. We're also asking a contribution of $10 or so for Shirley to help offset the cost of the food and drinks.

If you would like to come to Shirley's please RSVP to me at kelly@floradoragardens.com so we can get a headcount and organize transportation.

Hope you can come!

Golden Gate Park

A longer visit to Golden Gate Park is time well spent. There are several worthwhile destinations right up against each other, and you can easily pass a day here.

The de Young Museum is a beautifully realized architectural achievement.

If you don't want to pay to go in and visit the galleries, you can still see the Goldsworthy courtyard

and go around the side to find James Turrell's atmospheric installation.

Across from the museum is the California Academy of Sciences, another architectural achievement, this one with an extensive green roof,

and a famous albino alligator.

He gets to loll on a heated rock in his grotto, and ignore the attentions of legions of fans.

The Botanic Garden AKA Strybing Arboretum is just down the way, and invites you to get lost along its curving paths as you visit plants and trees from climate zones around the world.

Cloud forest plants!

Afterward, walk across the moon bridge in the Japanese Tea Garden.

Alternately, you can go with Helen to find the nearest ice cream, here located in a mobile truck.

Really, if you've come this far you may as well go all the way down to the Beach Chalet

and have a meal looking out at Ocean Beach. On the way are buffalo, a nice lake, a windmill, and more of life's rich tapestry.

Buon lavoro!

Hi All! Registration is now closed for the 2013 San Francisco Garden Blogger's Fling! We'll see you in June!

If you have any questions please contact Kelly Kilpatrick at kelly@floradoragardens.com.

Ma che bella!

MUNI is the city's bus system. The 30 Stockton bus may be caught right downtown off Market Street, not far from L'Hotel des Flingers, and will take you directly to Columbus Avenue, the front porch of North Beach's historically Italian neighborhood.

Right next door is the Chinatown neighborhood, the boundary of which you can identify by changes in storefront offerings.

Just off Columbus Ave, on Montgomery, is William Stout Books, a fantastic bookstore with lots of architecture, gardening, and landscape books.

It's worth a visit even if you don't have room in your luggage for all the books you're going to want.
OH WAIT! They ship domestically and internationally.

There are too many shops, restaurants and cafes in North Beach to recommend any one.
The best way to decide is to walk up and down Columbus Ave and any side streets that catch your interest to decide for yourself.

I will, however, say that on a sunny weekday a stop to buy some focaccia here:

Liguria Bakery 1700 Stockton

and take it across the street to be eaten here (the park, not the church)

Washington Square Park

would not be an unworthy use of one's time.

And what is a neighborhood without ice cream, or, more specifically gelato?
Helen can find some here:

at Gelateria Naia

or here:

at Gelato Classico.

Delizioso!

Sneak Peak - The Nichols Garden

I recently went to visit another garden that will be on the Fling tour. I am super-excited about it and I thought I'd give you all quick preview.

Created by Ann Nichols, an avid plant lover with an exceptional eye, the garden is full of delightful surprises with treasures everywhere you look.

I know you guys are going to love it!

And don't forget (as of 3.11.13) there are only 15 spots left on the San Francisco Fling! If you haven't registered yet, make sure and get your spot before they are all gone!

You can register here.

Embarcation

From your fling hotel, head down (AKA to the right) Market Street toward the bay, until you reach the Embarcadero. You may also take BART the few stops to Embarcadero station.

You will find yourself facing the Ferry Building Marketplace:










a building which has been converted into a food and shopping destination, while still providing embarkation and disembarkation for bay ferries and selling ferry tickets.

Ferries are used by commuters; you can take a ferry from here across the bay to Oakland's Jack London Square.
Other pleasure ferries take visitors to Alcatraz and Angel Islands, and Marin county locations.
You can also find information about ferry trips and purchase ferry tickets inside the Ferry Building Marketplace here.

Also inside the Ferry Building Marketplace you will find places to eat, have a coffee, and browse shops selling locally produced items including olive oil, cheeses, and ceramics. The olive oil is delicious, and the ceramics are iconic.

heath ceramics

ferry building now

ferry building then

Hmm. What have I neglected to mention?

Oh yes, that's right, you can also find ice cream, in the form of gelato, here, at Ciao Bella.
Helen, you're good for another day.

After your gelato, you can perambulate in either direction. South of the Ferry Building is Rincon Park, a public open space that revitalized a previously desolate section of waterfront.

Thank your local landscape architects for creating a successful destination.

The public piers also provide locations for views and general good feelings.







From these locations along the water you will also be in an excellent position to view the upcoming Bay Lights, an installation that, starting March 5, will be up for two years.







North along the Embarcadero are other local treasures, including the Exploratorium, the coolest interactive science museum/workshop/experimental space ever.

Its brand-new location will be open by the time flingers arrive!
And it includes exhibits on plants!

Continuing north will deliver one to more destinations, including ferries for Alcatraz Island, an aquarium, the tourist-choked Cannery and Fisherman's Wharf, and the promenade at Aquatic Park.

And what else is available northward, you ask? More ice cream. There are two locations, but in the spirit of fair play I will count them as one.

Bernard Trainor garden preview

I'm so excited we get to tour a garden by one of my favorite designers - Bernard Trainor. This garden, featured in an issue of Pacific Horticulture (an excellent garden journal - if you've not heard of Pacific Hort, please check it out) was designed to embrace the California ideal of indoor-outdoor living.

Bernard Trainor excels at creating a fluidity between interior and exterior spaces. The arbor, walls and paving in the garden create the architectural bones and provide an excellent stage for the plantings.

The plantings were selected from several mediterranean climates and adapt well to our dry California summers.

If you would like to read more about how this wonderful garden came to be, please check out this Pac Hort article, written by the garden owner, Andrea Testa-Vought - The Secret is Finding the Right Garden Designer.  Photo credits: Andrea Testa-Vought.

And again, don't forget you can register for the San Francisco Garden Blogger's Fling here and get to see this gorgeous garden in person!

Missionaries

The Mission District's most recognizable namesake is the beautiful Mission Dolores, an architectural and cultural landmark.
It's really a beautiful building.

And its neighbor, Dolores Park, is another urban green space treasure that is well loved.

New playground area is great

You'll want to save a walk to Dolores Park for after you've had a historically significant burrito at Taqueria La Cumbre.
Walking out onto the sidewalk, stunned by the deliciousness you have just experienced, you will need a good walk to recover your equilibrium.

And, if you're Helen, you will need to make room for locally made ice creams.

Bi-Rite Creamery is a required stop

As is Humphry Slocumbe

Then, when balance has been regained, it's time to blow your mind at Paxton Gate,

where all the cool things live.

The mission district is too large and vibrant to sum up, or to see in a brief visit. Walking around on Mission and Valencia Streets, however, will give visitors an idea of the vibe.

The BART stop at 16th Street will let you off at a busy, central location from which you can find your way to the spots mentioned above.