Sunset Gardens
Sunset Gardens
On Friday D. and I visited the Sunset Gardens at the Sunset Magazine headquarters in Menlo Park.
According to Wikipedia, "Its new headquarters was designed by Cliff May, known for his designs of ranch-style houses, which had been featured in Sunset for two decades. May created a long, low, adobe homestead that surrounded a central courtyard. The central courtyard, or the Sunset Gardens, were designed by famous landscape artist Thomas Church. For a while, Sunset referred to the Menlo Park headquarters as the Laboratory of Western Living. Its test kitchen processes thousands of recipes a year. It tests its gardening advice in it's 3,000 sq ft editorial test gardens, which is designed to achieve high performance in tight spaces. Roughly 50% of Sunset's garden photography is taken in this area."
Time Warner, owner of Sunset Magazine, is shutting down local operations and selling off their headquarters, so we took a look at the gardens while they were still open.
The 1.2 acre lawn is irrigated with non-potable well water (as is the rest of the gardens).
In the Southwest Desert section, we see Santolina chamaecyparissus 'Pretty Carol' and some kind of spiky plant without an ID tag.
Prunus yedoensis 'Akebono' Flowering Cherry.
A raven expresses its displeasure at our presence in the Central California section of the gardens.
In the Northern California section we see schizanthus and Japanese maple Acer palmatum 'Tamukeyama.'
The entrance to the Editorial Test Gardens is a showcase for container plants.
Inside the test gardens we see lots of pretty annuals and perennials.
There are plenty of flowers for bees to visit.
Two species of cacti arranged in a dish garden.
Thrift makes a brilliant salmon-pink splash.
Another look at the grounds before we head home.
.
On Friday D. and I visited the Sunset Gardens at the Sunset Magazine headquarters in Menlo Park.
According to Wikipedia, "Its new headquarters was designed by Cliff May, known for his designs of ranch-style houses, which had been featured in Sunset for two decades. May created a long, low, adobe homestead that surrounded a central courtyard. The central courtyard, or the Sunset Gardens, were designed by famous landscape artist Thomas Church. For a while, Sunset referred to the Menlo Park headquarters as the Laboratory of Western Living. Its test kitchen processes thousands of recipes a year. It tests its gardening advice in it's 3,000 sq ft editorial test gardens, which is designed to achieve high performance in tight spaces. Roughly 50% of Sunset's garden photography is taken in this area."
Time Warner, owner of Sunset Magazine, is shutting down local operations and selling off their headquarters, so we took a look at the gardens while they were still open.
The 1.2 acre lawn is irrigated with non-potable well water (as is the rest of the gardens).
In the Southwest Desert section, we see Santolina chamaecyparissus 'Pretty Carol' and some kind of spiky plant without an ID tag.
Prunus yedoensis 'Akebono' Flowering Cherry.
A raven expresses its displeasure at our presence in the Central California section of the gardens.
In the Northern California section we see schizanthus and Japanese maple Acer palmatum 'Tamukeyama.'
The entrance to the Editorial Test Gardens is a showcase for container plants.
Inside the test gardens we see lots of pretty annuals and perennials.
There are plenty of flowers for bees to visit.
Two species of cacti arranged in a dish garden.
Thrift makes a brilliant salmon-pink splash.
Another look at the grounds before we head home.
.