Max and Justin's wonderland in Oakland

As I mentioned in earlier posts, my friend Loree Bohl (danger garden) from Portland, Oregon visited a couple of weekends ago. We spent three jam-packed days exploring gardens in the East Bay, from Walnut Creek to Berkeley/Oakland to Livermore. The first stop on Saturday was the garden of Max and Justin in Oakland. They are mutual friends, and seeing their garden was at the top of Loree’s wish list.

I had visited Max and Justin in October 2020 and blogged about their front garden and back garden. However, 4+ years is a long time in the life of a garden, especially when it belongs to two very active gardeners who are constantly refining things. Max is a horticulturist with extensive knowledge of plants and, just as importantly, access to many different sources, commercial and private. Justin, an Episcopal priest, may not be a plant professional, but he, too, knows a ton about plants. Both of them are drawn to plants that are anything but ordinary.

Justin (left) and Max (right)

From Justin’s Instagram account (@microbotanica), I knew their garden had matured, but I was still stunned by how much everything had changed. Before you look at the photos below, I suggest you take a quick peek at my 2020 posts (front and back) so you know what I mean.

Max and Justin’s property, which they bought in 2017, is 4200 sq.ft. Judging from the satellite image below (what did we ever do before Google Maps?), the front and back are approximately 1200 sq.ft. each. That’s not a lot of room to play, but Max and Justin have created a garden so full of wondrous sights that you quickly forget you’re in a small space.

Imagery © Airbus, Map data © 2025

On that note, let’s start our tour, beginning in front of the house.

Plantings along the driveway

Every square inch is filled with something special – plants, rocks, art

Many of the art pieces are by Berkeley ceramic artist Marcia Donahue, whose garden we visited later that day

Superbly grown mangaves (and an Agave pablocarrilloi for good measure)...

...loving life in Oakland’s mild climate

This is the most perfect ×Mangave ‘Aztec King’ I’ve ever seen

View of the same corner from the front porch

Beautiful vrieseas in pots next to the front door

Aechmea recurvata ‘Aztec Gold’

Panel by Oakland steel artist Mark Bulwinkle, front...

...and back (or vice versa)

One of several upcycled galvanized garbage can lids

Agave ‘Blue Glow’

×Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’ with perfect form and zero blemishes

This path leads to a hidden garden along the side of the house

This narrow planting bed next to the house is an extraordinary spot, brimming with plants that thrive in the shade, like ferns, begonias, and bromeliads. In my 2020 post, a reader called it a “fern table on a massive scale.”

More Marcia Donahue pieces

Japanese stone basin

Now let’s check out the back garden along the other side of the house:

Fancy begonia and Vriesea 'Nova'

Since the back garden is so small, Max and Justin have cleverly expanded vertically to accommodate more plants

Aechmea orlandiana

Quesnelia marmorata ‘Tim Plowman’

You might think these are bracket mushrooms, but they’re not. They’re another ceramic creation by Marcia Donahue.

Another garbage lid planter...

...and another. Max could give a master class in repurposing metal garbage lids!

The square concrete pots that caught my eye in 2020 are still there. The spiral aloes (Aloe polyphylla) are noticeably bigger now.

This little guy is a Davallia

Stone basin with an ammonite

Ceramic bamboo poles by Marcia Donahue inviting a closer look

The far end of the back garden is a veritable jungle. Behind the curtain of foliage is a quiet spot perfect for hiding from the world.

I know I’m repeating myself, but the plants in Max and Justin’s gardens are stupendously perfect

The final set of photos shows the plants against the wall of the house. I absolutely love the color they picked. I immediately thought of Majorelle Blue, the signature color of the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech, Morocco. This is a slightly different shade called Tanzanite. It forms a dramatic backdrop for a wide variety of exotic plants, mostly bromeliads and succulents.

More concrete pots

This is cramscaping at its finest

Take a look at the mass of tillandsias on the wall. They’re attached to rusty innersprings salvaged from an old mattress.

The wooden hexagon with the metal roof is a bee box

The tall plant in the center is a Furcraea macdougallii

Alluaudia procera...

...is a perfect perch for tillandsias

One final vignette

Tillandsias living on an Operculicarya decaryi, with a variegated Euphorbia ammak on the right

What you see in these photos is really just the tip of the iceberg. I could easily have taken another couple of hundred photos – and someday I will. But on this visit, my time and attention were split between the botanical wonders around me and trying to hold a halfway coherent conversation with Max, Justin, and Loree.

From the sheer number of plants it’s obvious that Max and Justin are passionate collectors. Some people might call it hoarding, but these plants are well loved and well taken care of, as I’m sure you noticed in my photos. As I was working on this post, I realized that what may seem a haphazard accumulation of plants at first glance is anything but. Everything is done with intent and purpose. If a plant or pot is in a certain place, it’s because Max and Justin want it to be there. Cramscaping can easily veer off track, but when it’s done with this level of mindfulness, it’s magic.

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I love looking at “before” photos, so here’s a Google Streets image from December 2016 (Max and Justin bought the house in the spring of 2017). Things have changed a bit since then, haven’t they?

© Gerhard Bock, 2025. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.