Home&Real Estate
OPEN HOME GUIDE 58
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Home Front BRIGHTEN YOUR YARD? ... The De Anza Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society will hold a plant sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, at the intersection of State and Main streets in Los Altos. The sale could include Maddenii and Vireya-series rhododendrons. Information: www. deanza-ars.com NATIVE GARDEN TOUR ... Gardens, from Sunnyvale through Hillsborough) showcasing California native plants will be included in the Going Native Garden Tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 21. Gardens will demonstrate low water use, reduced chemical and pesticide use and improved habitat. The do-it-yourself, open-house tour is free, but pre-registration is required to obtain the list of gardens, addresses and garden descriptions. Information: http:// gngt.org GOOD, BAD BUGS ... Ann Northrup will address the Garden Club of Los Altos about “Pathology in the Garden” at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 24. She will talk about the life cycles of good and bad bugs and how to control them. Cost is $5 for guests. The group meets at Los Altos Lutheran Church, 460 S. El Monte Ave., Los Altos. Info: www.gardencluboflosaltos.org YEAR ‘ROUND CITRUS ... UC Master Gardeners will present the basics of “Growing Citrus for Year-Round Harvest” from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24, at the Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos. Focus of the free workshop is which varieties are the most productive in this region. Information: Master Gardeners at 408-282-3105, between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., Monday through Friday or http://mastergardeners.org DECORATIVE POTS ... Debbie Kundrat, Marian Parlett and Kathie Shaw will teach a class called “Rob’s Pots” — how to make decorative containers for flower arranging — from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, at Filoli, 86 Canada Road, Woodside. The class will include sponging, stamping, painting and decoupage. Cost is $80 for nonmembers, $65 for members. Information: 650364-8300 or www.filoli.org Send notices of news and events related to real estate, interior design, home improvement and gardening to Home Front, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302, or email cblitzer@paweekly.com. Deadline is Thursday at 5 p.m.
Clockwise, from above: “Cape Cod Corner,” designed by Betty Lee of Topiary Design, Palo Alto, incorporates a modern take on the white picket fence, with plantings seen both from the street and inside the house; colorful pansies, carnations and tulips bloom just in time for the Gamble Garden Spring Tour; white clematis are also in bloom. by Carol Blitzer ? photographs by Veronica Weber
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Good enough to eat
Gamble Garden’s spring tour offers ‘gardens full of life’
olor all year ‘round, a play area for small kids, plenty of edibles, as well as the protection of the towering oaks — these were the challenges of landscape designer Betty Lee of Topiary Design, Palo Alto. Lee’s solutions for the pie-shaped, corner lot in Crescent Park — dubbed “Cape Cod Corner” — can be viewed on the Gamble Garden Spring Tour on April 27 and 28. With a theme of “Gardens Full of Life!,” the tour will include five homes in Palo Alto, along with the Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden Center itself. At the core of this year’s theme is an emphasis on edible gardens, Lee said. Delectable treats appear throughout the landscape — from the Fukushu kumquat in front to the Calamondin orange tree in back. The actual vegetable garden was set in a circle at the point of the triangular space,
with various herbs, three kinds of apple trees, a pear tree, tomatoes and sugar snap peas growing up trellises, five kinds of mint (including pineapple and apple), blueberries, strawberries, kiwi and a “gi-normous artichoke,” Lee pointed out. A small amount of meadow rue was added to discourage neighborhood cats from using the spot as kitty litter, she laughed. Very little of the original landscape remains, other than the large oaks, wild plums and the brick walkway leading up to the front door. Lee added a modern version of a white picket fence to the front, with plantings that can be viewed from the street and from the living room and kitchen. The owners emphasized a few key things: The yard had to be safe for the children, they wanted the plants to go with the New England feel of the house (continued on page 47)
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