Gardens of Filoli and some detective work!

Filoli is known primarily for her gardens admittedly. Yes I love the house but most visitors are drawn there for the gardens and the Dynasty connections (more on that later in the post, stay tuned Ed!).

A few years ago I briefly blogged about the gardens HERE but you can never have enough pretty pictures, right?

The gardens encompass many outdoor 'rooms' which because of deer (and security one would imagine) are walled off.

The deer actually linger just outside of the gates, visibly!  They probably smell all of the goodies inside!

The carriage house has been turned into a lovely gift shop and garden center. Some of the produce from the garden is sold here; I bought some lovely rose tea grown on site.

The roses weren't at their peak during my visit in early June but were none-the-less lovely.

If you're curious about any of the rose names the images are entitled by the names I got off the tags.

And as always you can click on any image to enlarge it on your screen!

Most of the roses were heavily scented.

Why have a one color rose when you can have two in one?

The colors were vivid and beautiful in the California sunshine.

Areas of shade were never far away either; a blessing for my sunburn!

I loved this rose arbor over a bench; a wonderful spot to rest.

The summer or tea house remains my favorite part of the property.

See a lengthier post on the summer house from my previous visit HERE.

However the best view of all isn't of the gardens but of the adjacent mountain.

Now down to the detective work.  Filoli is known to many from the 80s tv drama "Dynasty". Both of my visits I overhead snippets of conversation about the lily pond and a cat fight.  Above you see the swimming pool with the house beyond.  To the right of the pool is the lily pond and then the carriage house.

Above is the lily pond which is off the dining room terrace and the carriage house.  However the lily pond is clearly not the one used in Dynasty. Thanks to youtube I have proof - see the video below!

After driving into the entry court of Filoli the women are seen talking in the library. I watched the video closely and it is this exact library (with different furniture and artwork). See my earlier post on the library HERE.  HOWEVER you can see that the lily pond is different - different shape, different plantings, AND A DIFFERENT HOUSE in the background! 

Does anyone know where this iconic scene from Dynasty was actually filmed?

Taste

"Taste is having the courage of your own convictions"

True words.....from Wilhelmina Slater ( Vanessa Williams) of Ugly Betty (yes, Ugly Betty!) This show has been so seriously good this season (after a brief lapse of said taste), I can't believe it's being cancelled!

Project Runway

Do you watch Project Runway? I'm excited for the new season! It should be pretty good as we have some interesting....uh....characters on this season and as always Michael Kors tells it like it is -and I love him for that.
Probably the most interesting, and slightly scary contestant is Blayne (well, he's tied with Suede - is that even a name??). This was his creating....interesting diaper bathing suit right? The top looks like a skirt that is permanently stuck up in 'flasher' mode.....oy vey.......2 thumbs DOWN The LOSER from the competition was Jerry - a really really pompous designer who really was the most annoying person I've seen on tv in a long time. I was so happy he was kicked off! You gotta have the goods to backup your talk, Jerry. Like they said on the show -it looks like a psycho killer's outfit.
This was the winner's outfit by Kelli. Hard to tell from the photo, but the details were beautiful. However, the coffee filters make a flat chested model look even MORE flat chested. bad move.....
I secretly loved this dress by Kenley. Isn't this a fun party dress? This was probably the prettiest model, too! Turquoise and red -my favorite color combo!!

This was the runner-up (for being the loser) -the designer, Stella -was REALLY whiney. Like - work with it lady - she kept complaining but didn't work at all! No wonder the dress turned out awfully. I think maybe the bones of this piece were ok, but it was cut very unattractively. It looked like the garbage bags it was. And I'm sorry, but those shoes are SOOOOO ugly!!
This had poor ratings on the bravo website, but I loved this piece as well by Emily. I see great things coming from her hopefully. The dress itself was cute and the little sweatery neck thing is colorful, fun and pretty!
This dress by Korto was probably the most fabulous. The dress itself was magnificent - great workmanship. Then she was the only designer to up the ante of the challenge -she used fresh produce! While that's sort of icky -it was the challenge!! This kimino style dress in yellow with the green and red accent (done beautifully for being garnish, literally) is really really probably the most couture piece in my book.
Props to Daniel for this beautifully done dress. While not produce, it's an unusual material ( plastic solo cups) and meets the requirements in a sophisticated manner. He seems like his workmanship will be impecable. Can't wait for the rest of the season!