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The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, April 28, 2011
Eye Street
Index Wounded Heroes Fund barbecue . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Hairspray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Green Hotel open house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Arts Alive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Bachelor Auction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 The Lowdown with Matt Munoz . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Wine Women & Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30-33
Editor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | e-mail jself@bakersfield.com
Bits of Eden in Bakersfield Tour highlights some of city’s nicest gardens BY STEFANI DIAS Californian assistant lifestyles editor sdias@bakersfield.com
V
ersailles, Alhambra, Bakersfield? While our local gardens are no match for the world-famous displays in France and Spain, the Green Thumb Garden Club wants to present natural beauty on a smaller scale with its second annual Gardens of Bakersfield Tour this Saturday. Thinking a bit smaller is something new about the tour of six gardens this year, according to Rob Rephan, who coordinates fundraisers as the club’s ways and means chairman. “Last year, two gardens were huge. (This year) some of the gardens are smaller, which is nice. Smaller yards show what you can do with your own yard. People say, ‘Hey, I could do that in my yard.’”
Who needs water? Depending on where you start your tour — there is no set order — you may first stop off at the only nonresidential garden, at E&B Natural Resources Management Corp. The local oil and gas exploration and production company boasts its own lowwater landscape with some exotic plants from South America that most people haven’t seen, Rephan said. “It won’t take long to look at. It’s different, with really unusuallooking flowers.” Also embracing the low-water, low-maintenance concept is Steve Kranyak, whose garden is full of California native plants landscaped in a tract home style. “Everything originally there was taken out and replaced with native plants, including grass,” Rephan said. Landscaping with an eye for water conservation is something that Rephan said local gardeners should all consider. He suggested tour guests can take inspiration from Kranyak’s garden or the backyard getaway designed by David Gordon and Robert Carbone. Gordon said they have incorporated a lot of shade and very little lawn (just for dinner parties and the dogs) to save water. The backyard includes a cactus garden as well as more than 100 succulents in containers.
Gardens of Bakersfield Tour When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday Where: Six local gardens, including E&B Natural Resources Management Corp. 1600 Norris Road Cost: $20; tickets can be purchased in advance at Flower Bar, 13043 Stockdale Highway #400; E&B Natural Resources; tickets day of available at E&B Information: 619-0102 or 861-0290
But lest you think the yard is bare and dry, interesting elements abound in the multitiered yard. “It’s a bit of a jungle,” Gordon said of the grounds, which also feature a small water fountain, vegetable garden, pool, spa and koi gazing pond. “You have to interact with it to see it all.” The setting is so serene that guests jokingly set travel plans there. “Friends ask, ‘Can we stay in your backyard for our next vacation?’”
CASEY CHRISTIE / THE CALIFORNIAN
Diane Lake’s garden extends over two lots after she bought the property next door in 2008.
A topiary menagerie Another garden that is a step outside the ordinary is Diane Lake’s in the Stockdale Country Club area. The lush grounds extend over two lots, the second of which Lake purchased in 2008. Lake has lived in the neighborhood since 1960, but the current look of the garden has been in the works since 1990, when Fresno landscape designer Robert C. Truxell came up with a master plan for the grounds. Lake, who loves surprises as well as beautiful plants, has incorporated many lively features in her yard with the help of a dedicated local landscaping crew, which was putting some finishing touches on the garden last week. “I love ivy topiaries. They are really fun,” she said of her collection, which includes a family of bears and a rabbit. “Maybe I’ll get a giraffe.” Lake also uses some of the smaller topiaries in her home’s front room, swapping them out weekly “because they don’t do so well inside.” Outside, the garden is home to a variety of plants — azaleas, camellias, agapanthus, Japanese maple, maidenhead fern — that
“It doesn’t take much to make things look pretty,” says Diane Lake.
reflect Lake’s love of color, including green, pink and fuschia. An assortment of fountains, including two lions, keeps the air just a bit cooler and provides a soothing background noise. “It’s so peaceful,” Lake said. “It’s Mother Nature. When you’re surrounded by beautiful things, it’s good for the soul.” Lake said she hopes tour guests will find elements that inspire them, much like she was inspired by the garden of her childhood home at 18th and Myrtle streets. Her potted peonies recall the plants that grew wild for her mother. “It doesn’t take much to make
things look pretty. If you see things that you like, someone who’s clever with planning things can take something and make it really special.” On the tour, guests will be invited to visit the gardens of Jim and Lana Smith — designed by noted landscaper Dan Monji — and Judy Domingos, which boasts a 150,000-gallon koi pond, an aviary, terraces and an abundance of succulents, roses and camellias. Rephan said the club has already made $800 on ticket sales, but that tickets will be available the day of the tour at E&B (and Flower Bar before that). For those who have bought
A lion-head fountain in Diane Lake’s backyard.
a ticket but want to bring a friend, he said, tickets will be available at the various stops and can be picked up then. Each $20 ticket comes with a map of the destinations along with some garden details. Water will be provided, but you’re on your own for food, Rephan said. He also advised wearing sunscreen and comfortable shoes as “it will be a long day.” Proceeds from the tour will benefit club projects such as the maintenance of the 24th Street triangle and a BC scholarship.