edible cactus, Rivenrock Gardens logo.

Confucious said: "A mirror reflects the world because it does not obscure it...But water with its purity reflects accurately the inner qualities of that which it shows"

The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of the birds for mirth
One is nearer God in a garden
Than anywhere on Earth

I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
Eat, O friends, and drink;
drink your fill, O lovers.

Song of Solomon 5:1

Today's mighty oak
is just yesterday's nut
that held its ground.

Tranquil pond garden setting, Rivenrock Gardens, organic edible cactus.

California Coastal Live Oak, 'Quercus agrifolia', its beauty reflected in the reflecting pool of Rivenrock Gardens
Is the sky really azure, or is it an illusion? What is the true nature of the sky? What is the true nature of the garden?

Monterey Pine reflected in the Rivenrock pond. Monterey Pine, 'Pinus radiata', reflected in the water garden of Rivenrock Gardens, in February 2000. Winter rains have filled the pool, which dries away in summer.

When standing still,
the water is in the most perfect state of repose.
Let that be your model.
It remains quietly within, and is not agitated without.
It is from the cultivation of such harmony that virtue results.
And if virtue takes no outward form,
man will not be able to keep aloof from it."
Confucius

San Andreas Fault

By Natalie Merchant

Go west
Paradise is there
You'll have all that you can eat
Of milk and honey over there

You'll be the brightest light
The world has ever seen
Sun-baked slender heroine
Of film and magazine

Go west
Paradise is there
You'll have all that you can eat
Of milk and honey over there

You'll be the brightest light
The world has ever seen
The dizzy height of a jet-set life
That you could never dream

Your pale blue eyes
Strawberry hair
Lips so sweet
Skin so fair

Your future's bright
Beyond compare
It's rags to riches
Over there

San Andreas Fault
Moved its fingers
Through the ground
Earth divided
Plates collided
Such an awful sound

San Andreas Fault
Moved its fingers
Through the ground
Terra cotta shattered
And the walls came
Tumbling down

O Promised Land
O wicked ground
Build a dream
Tear it down

O Promised Land
What a wicked ground
Build a dream
Watch it all fall down

Agave americana, Trichocereus spachianus and Yucca elephantipes.
Agave americana, Trichocereuas spachianus, Yucca.
All growing above the reflecting pool.

Opuntia galapagaia and Opuntia robusta growing on the hillside

Opuntia galapagaia and Opuntia Robusta
growing on a Rivenrock hillside with mushrooms
Winter 2000.

Opuntia robusta landscape photo

Opuntia Robusta and yucca filamentosa
By the terraced walls over the Rivenrock water garden

HOME SEASONS