A Visit to Filoli

Filoli is an estate in the San Francisco Bay Area near Woodside, which is near San Carlos, where, as it happens, I grew up. (Not at Filoli, but in San Carlos!) I still have family in the area and was there for a visit in late July and early August this year. My sister-in-law and I visited Filoli. The estate is now run by the County Parks Department and is supported by the Roth endowment, entry fees, subscriptions and donations.

It’s known for its gardens for good reason. The estate comprises 16 acres of mostly formal gardens. Now, any of you who know me or have been reading my newsletters for a while might know I am not in any way, shape or form a formal gardener. I appreciate the time and effort it takes to create and maintain such gardens. And, I certainly appreciate the quiet and peace of a formal garden.

 

One garden aspect Filoli is known for is it’s seasonal array of annuals- mostly in containers, some in beds as in the picture below. In the summer, when we visited this year, it was begonias. Pots and pots of them and huge beds full of begonias! The effect is stunning.

In the Spring the gardens are filled with tulips. I don’t know what they fill the containers with in the fall and winter. But, I’m sure it’s spectacular!

Upon entry, we walked though a courtyard with plants for sale outside of the gift shop. Of course we had to look around at the plants there. Look what greeted me, much to my delight- a beautiful tray of Lemon Verbena!

And, lovely succulent containers: 

To get into the gardens, we walked through a rustic garden gate into a vista of a sunken pool surrounded by green lawn and formal pathways. The estate is surrounded by woodlands which make a thick, green backdrop.

As you might know, California is in a major drought right now. Many of the outer lawn areas at Filoli are not being watered. There were signs everywhere with a message concerning the drought and Filoli’s response to it. 

One pathway was lined with the biggest dahlia’s I’ve ever seen as well as fabulous roses.

As we walked along the paths looking at the gardens, imagining what it was like when the family lived there, we walked through a gate in a wall into the pathways lined with heirloom fruit trees- apple, pear and some peaches.

Next to the gate is this tiled plaque of one of the owners of Filoli, who loved and cherished the gardens: 

Lurline B. Roth and husband, William, were the second owners of Filoli. They gave the estate, along with a generous endowment, to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1975.

There is a large orchard known as the Gentlemen’s Orchard, which has been restored. It houses the largest private collection of heirloom fruit in North America. The pathways we walked had representatives of those trees lining the walkway. The trees were filled with pears and apples  looking ripe for picking! Needless to say, I kept my hands in my pockets!!

From the Filoli Website:

“Today the goals for the orchard, in addition to restoring an original landscape feature, are to preserve historic fruit germplasm, develop educational programs, and distribute scions to other organizations. The orchard contains approximately 649 trees and a rare collection of more than 141 American hybrid table grapes, such as Concord, from the 19th and early 20th centuries.”

We saw someone in the kitchen of the house and asked what they did with all the fruit. We were told it’s used in dinners they serve at the Estate, in their cooking demonstrations and the rest is donated to local food banks. I like that.

One of my favorite parts of the gardens was right near all the fruit trees lining the paths. I started to notice a lot of bees and then I noticed large plantings of lavender, salvia and other plants to attract pollinators, especially the bees. Filoli was assuring that their fruit trees would be pollinated to grow lots of fruit! 

And, of course, this being Filoli, the plantings were done          as knot gardens!

Even the big Amaranth, below, was planted near the fruit trees because Amaranth is a great bee plant, too.

We left the fruit area and entered a shade garden complete with huge ferns and towering trees. 

Nearby is a lovely collection of Hydrangeas, one of my favorite large flowering shrubs.

 

After wandering through all the garden areas, we went inside the house, which is now air conditioned, and very quiet and elegant. I didn’t take pictures in the house. Here’s one from a previous early spring visit, of my sister-in-law, who stands about 5 ft. tall, showing off the fireplace in the Grand Ballroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are Botanical Drawings in the house, as well. I’m very partial to Botanical Drawings and the ones at Filoli are very nice. They give classes from time to time for those who would like to learn how to do Botanical Drawings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our last stop was the gift shop, which, if you’re into gift shops, is very tempting! I loved this particular display for summer:

 

Here’s more of the gift shop- there were lots of herbal products, elegantly packaged and aromatic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wandered again through the plants for sale on our way out.

 

 

 

What a lovely day we enjoyed at Filoli. If you’re ever in the San Francisco Bay Area and have a few hours, it’s definitely worth a visit.

To find out lots more about Filoli, visit their website.

QUOTE FOR THE MONTH

I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I’d rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way. -Edgar Guest, poet (20 Aug 1881-1959)