Pamela Harper

Harland Hand [1922-1998], inspired by the principles of fine art and rock formations in the High Sierra, designed this hillside garden with breathtaking views of San Francisco Bay.

Using concrete, curving lines and dramatic color combinations, Hand created an emotionally evocative space that houses an extraordinary plant collection.

Visit Pamela Harper's Photogallery

Writer, photographer, and lecturer, Pamela Harper met Harland Hand in 1976 and became one of his dearest friends. She wrote about his garden in various publications. Originally skeptical when she heard of his concrete garden, she recently wrote, “I have never, elsewhere, experienced the excitement I felt when I first saw Harland's garden. Something utterly different from anything I'd seen before. Or since."

Time-Tested Plants, available from Amazon.com

Designing with Perennials: Amazon.com
Pamela Harper on the Hand garden as art: "Step-down Garden: This Half Acre Near San Francisco Contains Infinity" Text and Photographs by Pamela Harper (reprinted by permission from Connoisseur, February 1987). Pamela Harper wrote to Marjory Harris, "Of all the articles that appeared, mine and others, Harland was proudest of this because he wanted, so desperately, to have his garden recognized as ART. I'll always be sad that that dream wasn't realised in his lifetime."

Courtesy Patrick D. Harper

"Harland Hand: the Artist as Gardener" (pdf) by Pamela Harper (reprinted by permission of Pacific Horticulture, Spring 1999, Vol 60, No. 1)