Like Botany on Mars: Ruth Bancroft Garden, Walnut Creek

Agave americana v. medio-picta

In the 1950's, Ruth Bancroft began creating a garden of succulents and other drought-tolerant plants that store water in their leaves and stems. Today, her creation is one of the oldest dry gardens in North America and an inspiration for botanists, water conservationists and gardeners.

Every July, the garden becomes an outdoor art gallery where sculptures complement and contrast the plants.

Read about centenarian Ruth Bancroft and the history of her garden here:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/garden/04bancroft.html?pagewanted=all&referrer=

'A Moment of Zen', manzanita wood, ceramic and steel

The Ruth Bancroft Garden Menagerie

Swimming fish, metallic spiders and other critters clustered underneath the Blue Oak.

Down the path were the sculptural cacti. Please see previous sketches.

Ruth Bancroft Garden

We spent a balmy summer night in suburbia at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek.  In 1972, at the age of 64, Ms. Bancroft started her dry garden, amassing a dramatic collection--agaves,  aloes, yuccas, cacti--over the years.  Her garden was the first preservation project of the organization which would become the Garden Conservancy and was opened to the public in the 1990s.  Last week, they were organizing for their annual Blues, Beer and BBQ Event, part of the 2015 Sculpture in the Garden exhibit.

Two statues amidst the large plants (with a photo of Ms. Bancroft gardening)

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Ruth Bancroft Garden

My painting group spent a nice, warm morning at the garden which is located in Walnut Creek. I covered all the bases with a sketch of cactus (of course), the giant Washington palms (notice the size of the orange garden umbrellas in the sketch), a shed with old tractors and other farm machinery.

Ruth Bancroft Garden, Walnut Creek

Sculpture in the Ruth Bancroft Garden

Wonderful morning spent at the Ruth Bancroft Garden, sketching natural and man-made sculpture with the East Bay Plein Air Painters.

On the left, looking up into an agave and a giant flowering succulent. What I couldn't portray is the riot of bees and birds enjoying the nectar of these bright yellow and green blossoms on 12-foot stalks.

On the right, a cement and ceramic sculpture,  Age of Exploration Rocket by Wes Horn.

The show runs through 7/13; check it out!