Thank you so much Jeannie -- We live not far from the water but up on a hill not too far from the Verazzano Narrows. I so feel sorry for the poor people in Staten Island and on the Jersey and Long Island barrier islands who lost everything. And also downtown Manhattan. The darkened skyline was so very sad looking, when we walked down to the pier to look. It reminded me of 9/11. There was noticeable debris -- chairs, and wooden boards washed up on the rocks, but people were fishing and jogging unconcernedly. Another walk -- to Sunset Park in the other direction --revealed the same unearthly sight of a darkened skyline and Statue of Liberty. But even there there were children on swings, as usual. Nor was Halloween affected. For our part, we didn't lose power and our basement miraculously didn't flood. We had cleaned out the gutters, filled the bath tub, made chili and brownies and brought the houseplants plants inside. My shrubs and perennials in containers (many slated to be gifts for friends) stayed outside and weren't affected. An exception was my little plastic greenhouse that blew up to the top of the retaining wall, despite the cement block I had put in it to keep it down. Otherwise, our garden, an eternal work in progress, appreciated the rain very much. Starting Tuesday, Verizon took away our cell-phone and internet for 48 hours. I suppose they needed the interchanges for other people. And there is no gas -- it was like a zombie movie. But one doesn't need a car here. For the most part it was not the wind but the tidal surge in low areas and then the gas shortage that have been disruptive. The gas stations are still closed, but most subway lines are running. There is a nip in the air, though, and tomorrow we are going to have another storm.

I've been to all the botanic gardens mentioned so far, and would recommend UC Davis as having parts that feature nice displays of perennials that are more adapted to California drought conditions, but most of the gardens are mostly larger growing trees and shrubs. UC Berkeley Botanic Garden is fantastic and well maintained, and has the most complete native plants section in the area, and African hill is great this time of year with lots of aloes and South African bulbs in bloom. Tilden Botanic Garden is also in Berkeley, and well worth a visit for the natives from around the state. The Ruth Bancroft Garden is also a fantastic one of a kind botanic garden, well worth a visit. Over in San Francisco, all of Golden Gate Park is special, with the San Francisco Botanic Garden, the Conservatory, the Japanese Tea Gardens and the museums all worth a visit. There is also a special retail nursery called Flora Grubb, in the Bayview District that is a must see for what fun an urban California retail nursery can be, they even have a great coffee bar on the premises, as well as a book store. If you are looking to see more natural sorts of places while visiting, Mount Tamalpais State Park, Muir Woods State Park, Point Reyes National Seashore, the Presidio are all worth a visit. If you are willing to head a bit further south, the Filoli Gardens are beautiful in a more formal way, as representative of an estate garden style, and heading on down to Santa Cruz area, the South African collection of proteas will be in spectacular full bloom at the UC Santa Cruz Botanic Garden. Continuing the drive down to Carmel/Monterey, and a visit to Point Lobos State Park or doing the 17 mile drive on the Monterey Peninsula or on down to have lunch or dinner at Nepenthe Restaurant on the Big Sur coast can be wonderful as well. It will be a lot of driving, and allow enough time to get between spots, or simply concentrate on one area, and come back for another visit again...

Thanks everyone, it was definitely a very very pleasant surprise for me. Imagine having that in your own backyard and not even having a clue lol. The people who takes care of this garden are pros! They're unbelievable healthy looking roses. Irisgal, it's a beautiful space for sure! It took me so long uploading each individual photo yesterday so i emailed Houzz about the issue and they replied to me today, "At this time, GardenWeb does not support uploading more than one photo at a time. We will pass along your suggestion to the web engineers to consider for future updates to Houzz.com and the GardenWeb forums."

I wish I had seen all these wonderful gardens. Apart from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Bronx rose gardens, I have been to very few. I was very impressed by the Barcelona Rose garden when I saw it 15 years ago. The rose is Barcelona's official symbol and they take it very seriously, and of course their climate is superb for growing roses.. The beds were arranged chronologically, as I recall, and the collection was comprehensive, well labeled, and spacious, the model of how a rose great garden should be IMO: namely both historically informed and delightful. But I think the BBG is also great and improving yearly. I'm so glad I'm able to hop over there whenever I feel like it. Meantime, I hope people will keep posting pictures of the wonderful gardens they visit. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187497-d2625535-Reviews-Jardin_de_Rosas_de_Cervantes-Barcelona_Catalonia.html#photos;aggregationId=&albumid=101&filter=7