To recap: there is the terrace proper, and there is the roof...little, stolen bits of it.The floor of the terrace is surrounded by walls, but is open to the sky, a beautiful thing. It faces east, so receives wonderful morning sunlight (making this a happy apartment), which persists until the sun is overhead and starts to slide west...anything from about 12pm to 3pm, depending on season. The roof-parts on the edges keep the most sun, right until 5 or later, and that's where the sun-loving herbs and perennials perch.
This side of the terrace is the coolest, with the sun at its back in the south, the wall making shade. Japanese ribbon grass, hosta, boxwood...begonia and impatiens as annual colour spots. The cliches are welcome here.
Hosta "Fragrant Bouquet" is just that. Have you ever sniffed a hosta flower? Well, do. Dee-licious.
This terrace seems to get smaller and smaller. So every plant counts. Flowers' opening become events. The most lowly annual is seen in a new light.
Marie,
ReplyDeleteFound ur blog via the ny time article. Gardening related blogs tend to be not very interestingly written. Yours is refreshing. I garden in a much larger space than urs and in a small community garden.
Thanks for sharing
B
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI just came to your blog via the NYT...and promptly got lost in the urban wilderness (and delights of your terrace) this evening. Would you mind sharing how you came to use red in your terrace wall? Is it plaster? Concrete? I love it! Thank you. I'll come visit you often from northern cali.
Hi B - thanks for visiting...hope to see you again!
ReplyDeleteNancy - the walls are stuccoed, so plaster, yes, and I painted over the original beige-ish paint. I used Benjamin Moore paint and I forget the name...Rose Blush? I can look it up. I used it because I noticed that it photographed very well when I had it on only one wall: that was the side I wanted to photograph most often - a very good backdrop for green! Also I am a fan of Barragan's architecture, and he employs massive walls of colour sometimes, in quite spartan settings.
Thanks for the info on your terrace wall. We are in a mid-century modern home and this plane of color may be perfect for a darkish north garden area that is now a jungle of volunteers. There's Japanese influence but a bit of color, judiciously used, may be just right and your wall is inspirational. It does look great in photos; great job! if you happen to run across the color name someday, i'd appreciate, but not to worry since our sun out here will provide different tones anyway. thanks again. Love the colors in your blog.
ReplyDeletehttp://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/2009/04/blood-dimmed-tide.html
ReplyDeleteFound it - forgot I wrote a post about the colour: Benjamin Moore, Roseate