Who was Howard Gilkey?  He was a little boy from Iowa who loved to collect seeds and bulbs.  He was a California teenager who worked for a famous botanist, cross pollinating plants as a “bumble bee”.  He was a U.C. Berkeley student who sold gladiolus bulbs to pay his tuition.  He was a City of Oakland payroll clerk who designed Lakeside Drive in his spare time.  He was a landscape architect who designed the Cleveland Cascade in 1923.  He conceptualized the grounds of Highland Hospital.  He consulted on the landscape and gardens of Mills College.  He designed projects such as the Woodminster Cascade and Amphitheater, the original Lake Merritt Wild Duck Refuge, and the Arboretum at Knowland Park.  He produced the annual themed California Spring Garden Show for 23 years.  Are you surprised you haven’t heard of him?  I know I was.

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When I stumbled on information about the Schilling Gardens late one evening, a double dose of irony was at play.  I had just finished reading a book I thoroughly enjoyed called The Forgotten Garden, the story of an abandoned girl at the turn of the 20th century and her connection to a secret garden inside a maze on the other side of the world.  I had also just arranged my visit to Oaktown Spice Shop; since I am curious about connections to Oakland history, I spent a bit of time looking into Oakland’s involvement in spice trading, which didn’t turn up much.  The name Schilling rung a bell; images of old red and white spice tins popped into my head.  As I opened more windows on my screen and read article after article about this hidden treasure on the western shores of Lake Merritt known as the “Gold Coast”, I discovered that this once treasured oasis of a local spice tycoon is a shadow of its former self.  Furthermore, its remnants may completely disappear as development encroaches on the lakeside community.  I knew it was a story I had to share.

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As Monday got underway in our household, my son asked if we could go to Fairyland.  While I know how blessed I am to be home with both my children on Monday and Tuesday, it is critical to all of our sanity to keep them moving and out of the house.  Unfortunately, until summer officially hits and the school year fades into memory, Fairyland is closed on these two days.  So as my brain churned away on how to spend the morning, I thought, “maybe we can SEE Fairyland from the Kaiser rooftop garden.”  The garden has been on my radar for quite some time.  The overcast morning would be perfect for snapping pictures.  I had to pick sometime up downtown.  So, why not go look?  The answer to my question turned out to be no, you can only see the Fairyland sign.  Yet we had fun exploring, snacking, and watching the family of ducks come and go.  Once the largest rooftop garden in the world, this oasis amidst concrete gave us a fun family park trip to kick off the week.

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