Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The 2013 Mission Hills Garden Walk In San Diego Rocks!

The Garden Walk in Mission Hills is one of my favorite annual walks, probably because it is my favorite of San Diego's old neighborhoods. It is centrally located to the city. There are boutique shops (like the Maison en Provence for my love of all things French) and a number of good restaurants. There is even Chicago-style pizza at Lefty's. And, one of my favorites,  the Mission Hills Nursery on Ft Stockton Drive was originally owned in 1910 by Kate Sessions, the horticulturalist and landscape architect known as 'the Mother of Balboa Park.'



 No two homes are alike here (no cookie cutters, which is otherwise so common in the San Diego area).  And there is a wide range of styles and square footage. There are hills, and views--of the airport, the bay and downtown San Diego. There is also a wide variety of garden styles here as the "Something For Everyone" 15th Annual Garden Walk on May 11, 2013, (sponsored by the Mission Hills Garden Club) highlighted.


From the minimalist and modern garden


to the formal, all of the 2013 gardens were just as beautiful as I anticipated. 


Personally, I loved this formal garden from the moment I stepped in. I was taken in by the architectural elements of the house, especially the white columns and balconies,


 clean lines, tall formal hedges 


and especially this checkerboard patio that I would love to have in my own garden.
(Psst..the grass here is faux but convincing. Brilliant!)


Jasmine vines and climbing roses
clamor up redbrick between windows and doors. The look is beautiful and the scent, even better.


An upscale tree house built by previous owners sits in an 80 to 90-year-old Deodar cedar tree in the front yard.


 This tree is considered to be worth about $66,640 in value and environmental benefits to the community, the Mission Hills Garden Club would like you to know.  Identifying trees and their worth in terms of energy savings, air quality and storm water reduction benefits to the neighborhood was a new feature of this year's walk.


A large patio with shade cover is located just off the kitchen and faces the front yard,


which is simple, just green and so elegant. The yard is enclosed by tall hedges, with a large swath of grass and a row of young trees near the path to the patio.  


Guests are greeted at the entrance steps by a set of lovely sculptures of a graceful young man posing with a horse standing up on its hind legs.


There are several pieces of statuary in this garden and,


 like this knight in armor,


some of them are just not your usual suspects--but a touch of the unexpected!


And this guy, a classic man-faced fountain spout, now converted into a head planter, somewhat irreverently has plant roots growing out of his mouth!


 Speaking of head planters, I do have a few other favorite sights to share from other gardens on this tour, such as this silver lady-face planter. Actually, I may becoming obsessed with head planters since I fell head over heels for the lady head with tillandsia hair from a garden (click here) in a previous post.



Meanwhile, I also seem to be falling for any orange blooms these days; they are so bright and cheery--I always seem to feel a little better when I see orange flowers.


Finally, after a couple hours on a 2.6 mile walk with nine gardens on tour, this little nook with terracotta brick, white-paned windows and a climbing yellow rose is an inviting spot for a comfy chair, a good book and a tall glass of icy lemonade.

 But the truth is I'm already looking forward to the 2014 garden walk.


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