By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Hopefully not too many garden writers are reading our blog yet because I'm about to give away one of my trade secrets.  Two of my favorite gardens, both of which turned into Sunset stories, were found on the Annual Green Gardens Tour in Santa Monica.  Grace Phillips garden was published in May, 2007.  And the Ping Ho/Loren Bloch garden was featured in February of this year.  Here's a vignette from that garden:

As the Tour's title suggests, all the gardens selected demonstrate sustainable designs, practices, and technologies.  And they show it can be done beautifully.

The Tour this year is on April 26, 10 am to 4 pm.  The cost is $40, and the proceeds go to the Virginia Avenue Project, a not-for-profit organization that uses the arts to help kids discover their full potential.  To order tickets, call (310) 264-4224.

Sunset.com: More on greening your garden

Photograph by Steven Gunther