Foliage for all seasons

Written by Lauren Bonar Swezey   

Sunset Magazine Garden Guide, Northern California

April 1999 Edition

The new entry garden at Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park beautifully demonstrates the power of foliage to create a landscape with year-round eye appeal. Visitors stroll along paths that meander through a living tapestry of plants chosen for their striking foliage textures and colors. The leafy planting scheme fulfills the vision of designers Roger Raiche and David McCrory of Planet Horticulture.

"The old garden was a California version of an English perennial garden" explains Raiche. "We wanted the [new] garden to be less seasonal and to feature unusual plants that grow well in San Francisco's unique microclimate." To make the entry a preview of what was to come in the arboretum, the designers repeated some of the plants that are found elsewhere (for example, Cordyline australis 'Albertii', shown above, is also in the New Zealand collection).

Now the small botanical garden contains nearly 500 plants set on low mounds to create variations in topography. The plants are arranged around "rock outcroppings" created from 16th- century monastery stones, bottomless urns, and industrial clay pipes. There's also a bubbling spring among the flowers and foliage. "We wanted to draw people off the main walkway and completely immerse them in a world of new plants," says Raiche. "They're irresistible."

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