A Bit of Alameda in Sunset Magazine

While clicking through the latest offerings on Sunset.com, I came across an article on patios in the round and one particular patio caught my eye. It was comprised of irregular pieces of black slate interspersed with aluminum letters of varying sizes. Being a bit of a text-junkie, I love to see designs incorporating letters and words and entire chunks of text. I was even more impressed and surprised to see that the design is from an Alameda garden and was designed by Alameda landscape designer, Shirley Alexandra Watts.

Clicking through to Watts' web site, I found even more exciting designs. It appears Watts also has a love of incorporating text into her garden designs and she does it extremely well. Check out the Frankenstein lamps (the bottom photo on the Lights page) and the fountain at the Sicilian Garden at American Soils. I also really liked the images from the Park Street Residence. Park Street is the main drag in Alameda, mostly commercial with only a few blocks of older houses at the south end. I love the idea that tucked away on one of the busiest streets in town is this little garden hideway.

It's also worth noting that Watts was trained in the Merritt College Landscape Horticulture program. This is not the first time I've been very impressed by one of Merritt's former design students.