California Dreaming: a Davis Dalbok garden

The tabletop is a ceramic mural by midcentury ceramicist Edith Heath, whose nearby Sausalito studio is still in operation. Anchored in opposite corners are a bromeliad, Vriesia imperialis, and a pygmy date palm.

Designer Davis Dalbok strived for a diverse plant palette paired with nearly monochromatic hardscaping.

Dalbok and his client celebrate the completion of the two-year project of building the garden.

Steven Schwager of Living Green gets acquainted with Joyce Rietveld.

The modular sectional from Henry Hall Designs matches the lines of the house. Pictured at far right is Dat Pham of Living Green, who also worked on this project.

The modular sectional from Henry Hall Designs matches the lines of the house. Pictured at far right is Dat Pham of Living Green, who also worked on this project.

This grouping of containers anchors the L-shaped patio that wraps around the glass walls of the living spaces.

This chilled lobster salad was one of three courses, including a scallop carpaccio topped with Osetra caviar, created by Taste executive chef Chris Borges. Dalbok’s relationship with Taste goes back 30 years.

The giant mirror hung on the fence tricks the eye into thinking there’s an entry into another garden room.

The works of Bay Area artists Marcia Donahue and Edith Heath accent the garden’s colors and shapes. The Heath mural was purchased by the owner for this garden before she’d even found the house. Donahue’s Burmese Temple Offering Bamboo is made of high-fired ceramic pieces hand-stacked on rebar.

Dalbok attributes this “curvilicious border” to his design inspiration, luminary Roberto Burle Marx.

Individual shot glasses of strawberry-scented panna cotta with cantaloupe caviar line the dessert table, the final act of this garden’s opening night.

The area of the garden that Dalbok refers to as “stories in green.” Gravel and grasses are used to fill all of the interspace and unify the elements.

Elements from the garden are incorporated into every detail of this party, including the arrangement of the chocolate truffles created by executive pastry chef Yigit Pura.