Month: February 2018

Ferry Point, Richmond

On February 14, 2018

Ferry landing at Ferry Point, Richmond.

In recent decades Richmond has been aggressively developing its waterfront. Brickyard Cove, near Ferry Point, was once the location of a brick-making plant that used materials quarried from the nearby hillside. It is now an enclave of luxury homes and condominiums, along with a lively marina housing the Richmond Yacht Club, all set cheek to jowl with the industrial warehouses and tanks lining the city’s nearby deepwater harbor.

Ferry Landing framing San Francisco skyline.

Ferry Landing framing a glimpse of the San Francisco skyline.

Yet vestiges of the old waterfront remain, for now. One is Ferry Point, where the skeleton of an old ferry terminal remains, alongside a fishing pier maintained by the East Bay Regional Park District as part of the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline. The pier was opened to the public in 2002.

Stipa arundinacea (New Zealand Wind Grass)

By xensen

On February 9, 2018

In gardens

Stipa arundinacea.

Stipa arundinacea.

Stipa arundinacea is one of my favorite nonnative landscape plants for our area. I like its copper coloration, its fountainlike shape, its toughess, its low maintenance, and the way its graceful stalks sway in the breeze. Not fussy about soil, light, or water, and drought and deer tolerant, it grows to about three feet all around. It’s said to self-sow, but my mine have not shown much sign of that. The one shown above is growing in a fairly small container, and I’m planning to up pot it. The green bit on the left of that photo is dietes, the purple in the background is rosemary. Right is detail of another specimen, which has been growing in the ground in the front garden for several years and still looks great.

Point Pinole

By xensen

On February 7, 2018

In parks

This is a test of making a post sticky for a tag. At the moment this is only a test. Soon I will elaborate this tag.

Point Pinole pier and toyon bush.

Point Pinole pier with toyon bush in foreground.

By xensen

On February 7, 2018

In parks

cat

A dashing new visitor to the garden.

By xensen

On February 7, 2018

In animals

Red Rock Island

By xensen

On February 4, 2018

In bay

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The little island to the left of the bridge is Red Rock Island, the only privately owned island in the bay. It marks the meeting of San Francisco, Marin and Contra Costa counties. It’s for sale and can be yours for just $5 million (marked down from $12 million). It has no water, but plenty of manganese ore, if that’s your thing.

Our garden lies in what Sunset calls “one of Northern California’s finest horticultural climates.” We are located in an area of wet mild winters and dry mild summers — a Mediterranean climate zone. It’s a region with unique challenges and opportunities. I love gardening here.

Approaches to gardening are strongly determined by scale. Our garden is a small family garden. Its core was formerly a swimming pool. Often we might be growing just a single plant in a container, or a handful of plants, where a larger-scale gardening operation might be planting long rows of crops. Over time we have adjusted to find the right balance for our home garden.

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