natives

Wake your Winter Garden – Inspiration from the Washington Park Arboretum

by Rebecca Sweet
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There’s something magical about a winter garden, and I never pass up an opportunity to visit one – especially one that’s known for looking it’s best during the bleakest months of the year.  While attending a family wedding in Seattle this past weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting the J. Witt Winter Garden in [...]

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Cornerstone Garden Grasses

by Rebecca Sweet
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Sonoma’s Cornerstone Gardens is one of my very favorite public gardens to visit any time of year.  In my opinion, though, the fall is the best time of all. Not only are the summer crowds long gone but the colors of fall are just beginning to explode.  No longer filled with grapes, the surrounding vineyards [...]

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Garden Designers Roundtable: Designing with Natives

by Rebecca Sweet
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The natives are coming, the natives are coming!    Each passing year brings more and more native plants to our California nurseries, and I couldn’t be more pleased. In response to this growing demand, even the smallest nursery these days seems to have a section dedicated to native plants. However, there are some clients who are [...]

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Pasadena’s Arlington Garden

by Rebecca Sweet
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While driving around Pasadena early the other morning, I had a few hours to spare before the Huntington Gardens opened. Imagine my surprise when, while looking for a coffee shop, I accidentally stumbled upon this treasure!  Tucked away in the middle of a residential neighborhood is one of the most exciting public gardens I think [...]

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Flowers in February? Absolutely!

by Rebecca Sweet
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While visiting the garden of one of my favorite clients yesterday I was really pleased with how it looked in the middle of February.  When designing, one of my priorities is to create a garden that looks good throughout the year.  Luckily, living in Northern California’s zone 9, this is a very attainable goal.  However, [...]

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Garden Designers Roundtable – Designing with Deer

by Rebecca Sweet
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Sure, it’s tempting to title this post Deer-Proof Plants or something of that nature but truth be told, deer will eat just about anything when they’re hungry.  And not only that, but they’re some of the craftiest animals around when it comes to sneaking into your garden.  The second you leave your gate open, they [...]

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A low-water, high-style garden in San Diego

by Rebecca Sweet
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I don’t think I’ve ever been as rude to another designer as I was when I saw this garden. A few weeks ago I visited my good friend Debra Lee Baldwin who graciously introduced me to a wonderful landscape designer, Frank Mitzel of Aesthetic Design.   Frank kindly took us to see a garden that [...]

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Lake Tahoe’s Glorious Wildflowers

by Rebecca Sweet

I think the official number of tourists who visit Lake Tahoe every summer is something like a zillion, give or take a few.  Getting from one place to another on the lake means you’ll be driving along beautiful highway 89, most likely looking at (you guessed it) the lake.    However, sometimes if you turn your [...]

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Dutchman’s Pipevine

by Rebecca Sweet
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While visiting my friends in Connecticut last week I couldn’t help but fall in love with the massive Dutchman’s Pipevine that seductively draped over their arbor. It’s giant heart-shaped leaves seemed to glow from within when backlit by the setting sun. The tendrils gently coiled downwards, adding an almost ethereal appearance to this cozy space.

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The Green Roof at SF’s Academy of Sciences

by Rebecca Sweet

No, this isn’t a scene from Teletubbies.   Last night I attended an APLD meeting in San Francisco to listen to Alan Good, the Academy’s Landscape Exhibit Supervisor, give a fascinating presentation about the building’s green-roof infrastructure and its plant life.   While I found the specific construction of the roof interesting, it was the [...]

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Design tips for a low-water Meadow Garden

by Rebecca Sweet
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Today I’m participating in a massive, worldwide blogging event called Blog Action Day, where the topic we’ll all write about is Water. As any California gardener knows, water is our most precious resource.  In this post, I’m going to show you how to create a lawn-and-chemical-free meadow garden teeming with life, color, scent and natural [...]

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Beauty is everywhere – if you look hard enough

by Rebecca Sweet

. It’s close to Halloween and it’s the perfect time to introduce you to one of my very favorite places on earth: Virginia City, Nevada.  Why is it one of my favorites? Don’t ask, because I can’t explain it.  But for the past 40 years or so, I’ve been infatuated with this place. For those [...]

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Wordless Wednesday – Lupine Meadow at Lake Tahoe

by Rebecca Sweet

I can never seem to manage a truly ‘wordless’ Wednesday post, so I’ll try again to be brief. I took these photos last week while vacationing in Lake Tahoe.  This naturally occurring meadow was just a few miles from Tahoe City, and the Lupines and yellow Monkeyflowers were at their peak. I was counting my [...]

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Gardeners and their Gardens – ‘Town Mouse’

by Rebecca Sweet

One of the perks that goes along with being a garden writer is the chance to meet the most amazing gardeners. Visiting these gardens are always such a treat, as I feel like I’m getting a sneak peek into the gardener’s soul.  You can almost feel the blood, sweat and tears that went into the garden’s creation. [...]

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At Annie’s Annuals with Growing a Greener World

by Rebecca Sweet

By now, many of you know what an amazing nursery Annie’s Annuals is.  The sheer amount of unusual and super-cool plants for sale is staggering, and the stuffed-to-the-brim planting beds provide enough eye candy to let you feast there for hours. I was fortunate enough to attend a little soiree there last spring, in celebration [...]

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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – January 2010

by Rebecca Sweet

. With most of the country being hit so hard this past month with unusually frigid weather I thought it might be a bit rude to talk about the blooms that are currently in my Northern Californian garden.  Yes, I know that’s the whole purpose of the Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day event, (a wonderful monthly [...]

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I’m in love with Roger….

by Rebecca Sweet

In love with my Rogers Red grapevine, that is.   Vitis californica ‘Roger’s Red’ is a California native, grows with very little water, quickly reaching a massive 30×30 – growing 3 to 6 feet per year!  It produces TONS of grapes which are filled with seeds, so while they’re not the first choice for a [...]

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