Morning in the Garden

When the sun goes down, another world wakes up at Filoli. Longtime residents Jim Salyards and Alex Fernandez share tales of mountain lion meetups, midnight newt migrations, and unexplained happenings in the Historic House. Plant Curator John Chau reveals how fragrant flowers lure moths after dark.

 

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Go behind the scenes of a flower show like no other! During a bustling morning of preparations, Fleurs de Villes co-founders Karen Marshall and Tina Barkley share the stories behind the exhibition’s elaborate floral mannequins. Florists Maryam Issa and Chrissy Condie reveal the ingenious techniques they use to bring characters from the screen to life using entirely botanical materials.

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Heads up! The next episode, “Across the Creek (Season 4, Episode 15 - our first video episode!) is not available on Spotify due to their video upload restrictions. You can listen or view it on Apple Podcasts or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnG-nlUQd3I

Step inside the greenhouses with guest host Katie Kenna, and realize the delicate choreography hidden in how life in the Garden begins. Production Garden Manager Jackie Salas traces the step-by-step journey of formal blooms to the rich soil of our compost windrows. Out in the open terrain, Natural Lands Apprentice Amelia Mauer embraces a wilder wisdom, letting experimental wildflower plots adapt to untamed elements, native grazers, and historic land management.

Slow down, and the Garden reveals a world of beauty hidden in the details. Plein air artist and watercolor instructor Ali Walker finds simple shapes in complex blooms, from the geometry of a dahlia to the ombré petals of a rose. Rowan Smith and Bobby Gamba uncover the Bourn family’s historic artworks in the Garden, including one inscribed with Festina Lente – “make haste slowly” – a century-old invitation to pause and look more closely.

Follow the wave of color spilling through the garden this week. Haley O'Connor greets Willa with a handful of cherry plums and a theory of punctuation for every garden room – the Perennial Border reads like a run-on sentence, the Walled Garden like a form letter. Aimee Saunders leads the way into a secret garden of giant blue hydrangeas.