Summer snow, in a pot

Snow bush ( Breynia nivosa Roseopicta) loves warm, humid climates. In its native Melanesia, it can reach 6 feet tall or more; in Southern California, it typically tops out at just 3 to 4 feet tall. So why is the one

A little water music

Slideshow: 10 inspiring water features for your gardenA garden without water is like a theater without a stage, says English garden designer Rosemary Verey. But you dont need a huge pond to bring water to your garde

Build your dream backyard

BLAME IT ON THE BARBECUE ― a super-size stainless steel number that caught Jordan Rubins eye. It needed a place to park outside the Seattle home Jordan shares with his wife, Leanne. The only question was where; the

Fall-planted beauty

This garden in Boulder, Colorado, was started in October.Landscape architect Martin Mosko of Marpa & Associates ( www.marpa.com or 303/442-5220) has discovered that when the weather stays mild, fall-planted gard

Lush look for a hard spot

Hemmed in by a driveway and brick walk, a lush-looking entry garden composed of colorful and unthirsty plants greets visitors to the home of Peggy Ives and Roger Heroux in Colorado Springs.When local landscape archi

Apple pillars

Colonnade apples, introduced into the United States in the mid 90s, grow upright and narrow.Instead of developing horizontal branches like standard apple trees do, these trees form fruit on short spurs that develop

Sidewalk tapestry in Seattle

In this Seattle garden, ground covers, shrubs, and perennial flowers and grasses compose an elaborate living tapestry in a parking strip and along a stairway leading up a slope to the front entry.Designed by Glenn W

Sage advice

Shorts garden basicsMore views of Nancy Shorts garden There are very few places in life where you can do exactly as you please, says Nancy Davidson Short, an extraordinary gardener and former Northwest editor of Sun

Playing plants off painted walls

Phoenix-based landscape designer Debra Burnette loves color and sculptural plants. Clients Rachel and George Klink found they shared these passions after Burnette created a walled garden at their home near the Phoen

The Sunset Garden Tour

Sunset garden tours: The gardens at 80 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA are no longer open for self-guided walking tours, as we are boxing up our office in preparation for our dual moves to Oakland’s Jack London Square a

Wow power

If youre new to gardening, planting a flower border may seem intimidating ― a job best left to professionals with lots of experience.The truth is that even seasoned gardeners sometimes struggle with plant selection

A path invites discovery

If a landscape remodel is among your New Years resolutions, keep this in mind: A garden can actively engage visitors or leave them as passive spectators; it all depends on the design. A few years ago, Carol and Davi

Fresno, California: Old World charm

Elegant urns filled with agaves, splashing lions-head fountains, slate countertops: Although these could be details from a lavish Tuscan villa, theyre actually in Kimberly Chamberlains Italianate garden, designed by

Under an oak in California

Established native oaks can succumb to fungal root diseases if theyre watered during the summer months. Thats what Cara and Tim Hoxie of Orinda, CA, discovered before they relandscaped their front yard. Their coast

An herbal haven on Californias South Coast

Rana Malas wanted a garden that felt like the ones she grew up with near the Mediterranean Sea. That meant aromatic foliage plants like scented geraniums, lavender, rosemary, and thyme.Malas insisted on a few edible

Rethink the driveway

Diagonals make the most of narrow figures ― even twig-thin supermodels look curvier in bias-cut garments. The same holds true for skinny gardens.Before the renovation, the 37½-foot-wide property in Los Osos, Califor

Make your own magic

Flying colorsThe shade structureThe Zischkes five-sided gazebo is about 100 square feet ― within a nearly 900-square-foot courtyard ― but you could substitute a smaller arbor purchased from a nursery. To provide sha

Fountain with a past

Fantastical, gutsy, and refreshing is how jurors described this garden. Its fountain recalls the water channels of ancient civilizations; landscape architect Gregory Trutza calls it an 8-foot-tall ancient aqueduct w

Southwest: Fairy dusters sweep the air

Showy flowers, long bloom season, ferny foliage, airy form, low maintenance, little to moderate water ― all these pluses make fairy dusters (Calliandra species) some of the most desirable shrubs for Southwest landsc

Sails by the sea

Outdoor living: Southern CaliforniaOcean waves and coastal breezes inspired this whimsical garden in Southern California, designed by landscape architect Jana Ruzicka. Its an extraordinary marriage of art and the na