Last week Pennsylvania Street Gardens was invited by Kathy of the Carmel Valley Village Improvement Committee (CVVIC) to lecture on how to create and maintain a public garden. Not only did I get to see the birth place of the Cal Academy's green roof (more on that later), meet many really nice people, but Kathy let Ryan and I stay in her gorgeous guest cottage for the weekend. You missed out Annie!
So first thing, I gave a lecture to CVVIC. They are really interested in creating mor
e parks, so I tried to relay what we've learned at PSG about how write grants, get volunteers, and manage a public garden. There were a lot of good questions, and it was awesome to talk with people who were so motivated about helping out their community. Maggie, the nursery manager for Rana Creek came, and afterward invited Ryan and I for a tour of the nursery (wow).
Never heard of Rana Creek? I bet you've seen them - they did the
green roof for the California Academy of Sciences, and they have done lots of spectacular green roofs and walls around the world. They also focus on habitat restoration and do projects for homeowners too. Their website is an amazing resource, definitely check it out. They are a distributor for Sempergreen sedum mats, which is literally a roll out mat of Sedums for doing green walls/roofs. It is a neat product, and I'd love to work with it in the future.
As for the nursery site, it is nestled in between rolling hills, oak trees, and it is absolutely beautiful. Maggie gave us a grand tour, and she refused to let us leave without taking a few plants for Pennsylvania Garden. How could I resist?
2 Aquilegia formosa -western columbine
2 Galvezia speciosa - bush snapdragon
7 Lavendula a. 'Munstead'
1 Eriogonum parvifolium (or Eriogonum fasciculatum I can't tell the difference)
If you ever get the chance I recommend taking a long weekend, exploring the Carmel Valley and stopping by Rana Creek to get some beautiful native plants!
Woot - awesome report Emily!
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