Filoli Garden caretakers take measures to keep beautiful blooms amid the high heat
By CBS Bay Area
It’s a hot day out in the beautiful Filoli garden, but for Regina Carter, she loves her job rain or shine.
“I’ve been doing gardening and landscaping for about 16 years now. And it’s just become my art form,” Carter said.
The horticulturalist helps tend to the 16 acres of gardens at Filoli, which is baking in the record-setting heat in the Bay Area this week.
“This is a kind of low-growing guara, which is actually from Texas,” said Carter. “So it can withstand a lot of heat and still look lush.”
With the heat spike, she is digging for certain types of weeds.
“What really loves the heat is bindweed, which I know a lot of your viewers probably know of, and it loves this weather and creeps and crawls and can suffocate plants,” Carter said. “So we’re really keeping an eye on that one.”
Jim Salyards, Filoli’s associate director of horticulture initiatives, helps to oversee the maintenance of 5,000 types of plants on the grounds, which can change with the onset of long periods of heat.
“Using more drought-tolerant plants, or doing a display like this where it’s based on Mediterranean plants,” Salyards said. “Plants that require less water, are beautiful, have different textures. They have blooms.”
Carter said with the heat, she and her team are being extra diligent in hand-watering the pots every morning, as well as making sure workers have the resources in place to be safe out in the field.
“Hydration and electrolytes are huge for energy and just to stay hydrated,” Carter said.
Salyards says that with the temperature changes this year, it will cut their show season a bit short.
“Mid March to mid-April is kind of our peak of spring. This year, with the crazy weather we’ve had and this heat spike we’re having, it’s really pushing it much earlier,” Salyards said. “So, probably by the end of March, a lot of what is traditionally our spring color is going to start wrapping up.”
Carter said she is determined to make sure, no matter the climate, the beautiful landscape is well taken care of.
“It feeds my soul, it grounds me,” she said.
