Alcatraz: The Garden Tour, Part One

If you've not yet had the opportunity to visit the Rock, I hope that you gardeners out there will want to see it soon. Its many restored gardens are unlike any others you've ever seen and the atmosphere is incredible. Free docent led garden tours are offered at 9:30am on Fridays and Sundays, but you have to be on the first boat out to the island. Purchase tickets in advance online though because they almost always sell out ahead of time. 

Visits to the Rock are not always quite this warm and sunny but when they are, it makes the trip even more enjoyable. Don't forget to pack some extra clothing too because the area can become windy.

The first plants you'll see while you are still on the boat are the Century Plants, or Agave parryi.

During the garden tour our guide told us these were planted as a barrier by the early military posted on the island. 

The trail that grants access to this area of the island is closed during most of the tourist season because of nesting birds. If you'd like to get up close and personal with these gentle giants you'll have to plan a visit during the fall or winter months. That's the only time during the year when the trail is open. 

Aeonium species and hybrids as well as Jade Plants (Crassula argentea) can be seen all over the island.

This Australian Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) is most likely the oldest tree on the island. There are also several Dragon Trees (Dracaena draco) that were also planted by members of the military that were stationed here between 1850-1934.)

As you leave the dock and begin to walk up the Rock you are passing through the area with the oldest gardens on the island.

 Australian Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia).

The oldest Fuchsia on the Rock, this specimen is 70 years old.

A Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) near the cellhouse.

One of the advantages of the garden tour is that you are taken off the beaten path to admire all of the hard work volunteers have done over the last decade or so as they've improved gardening conditions. An extra added plus is that you get to see this! It's the official compost area on Alcatraz!

This compost has even won some ribbons at the Marin County Fair! What's not to love about that right?

With the help of the The Garden Conservancy the program here has truly flourished.

Limited to using historically accurate plant materials what's wonderful is that after all of the overgrowth was removed from many of the gardens long overshadowed plants and bulbs started to return. With each new discovery we're all learning more and more about how the island's occupants once gardened. It is also a testament to the hardiness of many of these plants.

This rose was one of the amazing plants to be rediscovered on the island. Actually, it is probably the most important rediscovery. It is what's called the Welsh Rose and up until 2003 it was thought extinct. That's when this specimen was discovered on the island! Since then propagation work has been done and work has continued.

Aeonium arboreum gone wild.

Just above the compost and greenhouse level on the east side of the island are the last rows of gardens that were created around and in between the houses that once stood above the citadel. During my last trip I'd wanted so badly to wander down to them but due to the narrowness of the stairways and the unevenness of the paving they are too unsafe for the general public to walk around so be sure to take a tour! That's the only way to gain access to these areas.

The plants in these little alcoves are very much the plants of gardeners who wanted to cheer up their isolated little spot in the bay. They were the first gardens of Alcatraz, but certainly not the last.

Just beyond the terraced area is the last portion of the earliest gardens and it is a bit more windswept and wild since it is at the top. Like the area below it, the housing structure has lost its wood to fire of uncertain cause and all that remains is the concrete skeleton.

I was left with some great pictures from the top of the Rock. 

Kenilworth Ivy (Cymbalaria muralis) hugging the warm wall.

The spent flower stalks of Century Plants (Agave americana).

Note how the Jade plant (Crassula ovata) has its trunk partially in the shade. This adaptation also allows the plant to remain protected from the wind.

The hummingbirds of Alcatraz.

I should add that many of these areas were maintained by the prisoners of the Federal Penitentiary era but I will say more about that tomorrow.


To be continued...

Garden Performance Art—Ikebana on Alcatraz

A lot has been going on recently and although I'd wanted to say something about this here sooner, I've just not had the time. This past summer I had a realization that I wanted something new and challenging in my life and that I wanted to grow and learn from it. The activity had to be rewarding both medically and, in a sense, spiritually, oh, and it had to involve plants of course! Living with chronic health issues has been difficult and I've wanted to return to meditation for years, but my inability to concentrate through the static has been really difficult. That was until a door opened unto me.

Guard door in the Recreational Yard at Alcatraz. You can just barely see the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge. The rest is obscured in that horizontal fog cover.

We had already been planning to go to Alcatraz for my birthday because it has been a few years since my last visit and I love the gardens, but when I realized that I wanted to work on an "Ikebana a day to keep the doctor away" I knew that this project had to start on the Rock. How many times have you heard a chronic illness described as: isolating, a life sentence, prison-like, or being trapped? Well, this project will begin and end on Alcatraz and over the next year I intend to really try to challenge these descriptors as much as I can by freeing up some happiness.

Here is the first picture from the new blog A Year of Ikebana and if you're interested in daily updates follow along as I learn more and more about the practice of Ikebana. In the meantime, I am just going to begin arranging in order to get a feel for expressing things through my fingertips. 

PS—Gardens of Alcatraz will be up next!

Wordless Wednesday: Houseplant: Episcia 'Toy Silver'

Preparing the Annual Annuals for Fall and Winter

As the nights continue to cool, I know that the garden will have to adapt soon to its fall and winter movements. The willow arbor will lose its leaves, and like many of the other tree and shrubs, I will admire its bones for awhile. It is also time to begin considering the fates of many of my annuals. This is a job I never like much.

Unknown Begonia.

The Begonia cuttings I received last year in the mail from another gardener will either be repotted or I will make cuttings from them again. If I am able to save some of their seeds, I will do that too. I will miss them though, so I will also try to keep them indoors under lights if possible. This year for me really has been the year of the Begonia. (This is only one of the five different types I was sent and they all grew so beautifully.)

Unknown Coleus.

Capturing Coleus seeds can be tedious but I will make an attempt this year with all of the different ones I have and there will be many cuttings of them all winter in the windowsills in the kitchen. Some can also be kept as a houseplants, and I may do that again this year if I have the space.

Boston Fern, Nephrolepis exaltata.

When the houseplants all begin to move back indoors the house seems to get smaller and smaller. That's when I really have to begin making decisions that are difficult. It's a bit like being the queen in Alice in Wonderland and I feel like I have to say "Off with their heads!" ad infinitum.

Fuchsia 'Swingtime'.

It will be off with their heads for a few of these gals this year, but at least they will go into the flower press. Up until now I have been pretty bad at saving Fuchsia plants over the winter, but I think this year I will make an attempt after pressing the blooms.

Unknown Petunia.

These fancy hybrid Petunias grown from seed will have to hit that big compost pile in the sky. You can't save them since in this case there are no seeds to be saved.

Dark leaved white Begonia semperflorens and a Polka Dot Plant Hypoestes phyllostachya.

These two will survive the winter by having their seeds stored. I know for a fact that both are viable and I am happy to grow them again next year.

Impatiens glandulifera candida.

Impatiens have been a lot of fun too this year—even the dangerous ones. This is the white version of a very aggressive re-seeder that is no longer welcome in the Pacific Northwest. I am not sure if you've ever met one of these Touch-Me-Nots but if you have, you'll know why they are so dangerous. When their seedheads are ripe, the pod holding them explodes and the seeds go flying in every direction. If you happen to be collecting them, you have to grab the pod quickly and let it unfurl in your hand. It kind of tickles so it is fun to do. I've been playing with these for the last few weeks. Saving their seeds is more sporting than others and I like the challenge.

So as summer begins to turn into fall, this year, I vow to appreciate my perennials more. I also vow to collect every single last seed from every annual I'm able to collect from...