By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Editors like change.  So they seem genuinely disappointed when I tell them that, no, gardeners are not losing interest in succulents even though this trend has been going on awhile.  If anything our love affair with succulents seems to be getting more passionate.  I see more quanity and variety at nurseries with every visit.

Not to mention great new ways to use them.

Take the container shown here, which I saw at The Outdoor Room in Pacific Palisades, California recently.  Only one type of succulent is used here.  And it's not even a particularly showy one -- no variegation, ruffles, or other fancy details.

But it's a wonderful color -- a combination of blue, gray, and green.  And the designer used that subtle shade to evoke a seascape.  A container that reminds you of a big shell, a top mulch of gray sand, and a few seashells popped in is all it took.

Looking at this container every day, I think, would be almost as good as meditating.  But then I already told you I was drawn to monochromatic plantings, didn't I?

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

One of the things the Big Red Sun is famous for is its distinctive succulent plantings.  The plants are paired with sea shells, seed pods, and other natural objects and assembled like a collage in shallow welded steel containers the garden boutique calls "metros."   (Those of you from Texas are no doubt already familiar with Big Red Sun's flagship store in Austin; I'm happy to say Venice, California now has a branch, too.

Here's a metro I saw at the Venice store last week. The piece was designed by Patrick Marston. The little "pots" he's tucked the plants into are cylinders of birch bark. 

Several different varieties of dried moss tie the assemblage together visually, says Marston.  The moss also absorbs water like a sponge and helps keep the plants healthy.  "A gentle spritz once a week and these `paintings' should last forever," he says.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

While I admired the sophisticated succulent wall hanging from Big Red Sun I just posted about, I also loved the charm of their succulents planted in retro containers.  The Venice garden boutique scavenges for interesting pieces to plant up you can buy on the spot, but you can also bring in your own vintage treasure and they'll design a creation for you.  In fact their designer Patrick Marston wishes you would.  He loves the challenge.  Here's some sample pieces.

Some challenges, though, are obviously harder than others.

By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

Tuesday I listed some of Steve Solomon's favorite seed catalogs—all good choices, in my mind. Here are five more that Sharon and I like.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Started in 1997 by a 17-year-old seed lover named Jere (rhymes with air) Gettle, the company has grown up with its owner. Its current 124-page color catalog includes 92 pages of heirlooms vegetables and herbs, and 11 pages of flowers. Gettle is death on GMOs (genetically modified organisms), so he has all his heirloom corn tested to make sure genetically modified pollen hasn't tainted it; in his catalog, he remarks on how often he finds that it is tainted, and has to move to another clean source. An entrepreneur to his core, Gettle has founded a garden magazine called The Heirloom Gardener, a small historic village in his native Ozarks, and a family.

The Natural Gardening Company. David Baldwin bills his Petaluma, California company as the oldest certified organic nursery in the United States. He offers seeds and seedlings of herbs, vegetables, and flowers, plus drip irrigation supplies. The catalog also offers a couple of tools; but go to the Natural Gardening Company's web site for a much larger selection.

Nichols Garden Nursery. Based in western Oregon, Nichols is a standby for herbs, vegetables, and flowers; most are sold as seed, and many are sold as plants by second-generation owner Rose Marie Nichols McGee. She's also very much into the culinary side of the equation, offering everything from cheese-making supplies to tea, essential oils, soaps, and even sourdough starter.

Seeds of Change. In its 20th year, Seeds of Change offers only certified organic seeds grown by themselves or a network of affiliates. Like Baker Creek, SoC is 100 percent GMO free, and focuses on open-pollinated vegetables, though they also offer some hybrids. Their catalog is quite broad: you can also buy garlic, apple trees, rhubarb, flowers, tools, herbs, and medicinal plants from them. Sharon is particularly taken with their selection of beans. SoC headquarters and main trial grounds are in New Mexico, though they also have affiliate trial grounds as far away as Maine and Oregon.

Wood Prairie Farm. Another GMO-free, certified organic operation, WPF does sell vegetable seed, but I like them for their potatoes. I've discussed potatoes at length with owner Jim Gerritsen and he's clearly mastered every aspect of growing and cooking with these humble tubers. He can tell you which varieties are best boiled, baked, mashed, in chips, or fried. Once I talked with him just after a New York food writer called to ask him which variety would give potato soup that silky texture that goes down so well. He knows this stuff cold. WPF is in Bridgewater, Maine; highly recommended.

It is striking that most of these companies are family operations held together by visionaries who love growing food and flowers—and who love showing other people how to do the same thing. One thing we like about them is that if you have a sowing-or-growing problem, you often end up talking with an owner who is as committed to your success as you are. They deserve your support.

By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

If you have a little space—a wide path or even a driveway—bordering rows of flowering trees can transform it. Two favorites are flowering plums because they are among the first trees to bloom in spring, and goldenchain trees, whose cascading flowers appear at the end of spring. Plant both kinds now from inexpensive bare-root stock, and they'll be working their full floral magic in four or five years.

The pink rows of 'Thundercloud' plums pictured here border J.R. and Carolyn Tiede's driveway in Winlock, Washington. They give a lovely country-casual elegance to what would otherwise be just a commonplace entry. If you're traveling from Portland to Seattle, you'll probably notice these in their glory about the end of March on the east side of Interstate 5 just north of exit 63.

The yellow goldenchain trees (Laburnum x watereri) shown below are in Dave and Pat Eckerdt's garden in Salem, Oregon. Because goldenchain's beauty is in its hanging clusters of flowers, the Eckerdts trained these trees over a steel frame. A slight caution is in order here: Laburnums are toxic in all their parts.

By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

In his book Gardening When it Counts, Steve Solomon writes about what makes a great seed company. He should know: he started one (Territorial Seed) before moving to Tasmania, where he grows most of the vegetables he eats.

Solomon puts a lot of stock in companies that conduct their own germination tests (these show what percentage of the seed is viable) and that hold field trials for everything they sell. "For real, believable, and accurate information," writes Solomon, "you have to do trials." The alternative is to simply buy and repackage seeds—but if you haven't grown them, you don't really know them.

Organic field trials reveal much. They confirm germination tests, demonstrate regional adaptability, show which varieties resist diseases and insects, and reveal size and quality of plants. Solomon points out that heirloom varieties grown by a network of collaborating amateurs "often become irregular, inbred, weak." That shows up in trials, and can lead the grower to search for better sources or drop the line. And "only your own variety trial can reveal what tastes good." When produce is ripe, he starts by trying every variety raw (think not just tomatoes and peas—yum—but potatoes and pumpkins!). Those that don't make it over that hurdle never make it to kitchen trials.

Solomon has discussed these things with seed sellers on several continents. Here are his picks of the best seed sellers in the United States.

For both short-season and moderate climates, he likes Johnny's Selected Seeds and Stokes Seeds. For moderate climates only, he adds Harris Seeds and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. For warm climates, he likes Park Seed Company. And for gardening in maritime climates (like the Pacific Northwest), he recommends Territorial Seed Company.

I've bought and grown seed from all of them, and second his recommendations. Thursday, I'll add a few favored by Sharon and myself.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

The next Garden Conservancy seminar on landscape design and its history takes place in Los Angeles on February 27-28.  The location is the Ayres Hall at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia.

Gardens that Re-Make Themselves: a discourse on regeneration, sustainability, and preservation is the topic.  The seminar presentations on the 27th will cover both residential and public landscapes with special attention to the Los Angeles State Historic Park, a new park in the heart of downtown that celebrates the natural and cultural heritage of Los Angeles. 

There's an impressive list of speakers lined up including Stephen Orr, garden writer (Domino magazine and New York Times ); Virginia-based landscape architect Thomas Woltz of the firm Nelson, Byrd, Woltz; Ron Radziner of the LA design firm Marmol Radziner;  Mia Lehrer of Mia Lehrer & Associates, Culver City garden designer Mayita Dinos, and Ken Smith from the New York firm Ken Smith Workshop.

The optional tour on the 28th includes a visit to the Los Angeles State Historic Park as well as to some private and public gardens in the Pasadena area.

General admission tickets for the seminar are $155.  The fee for both the seminar and study tour is $300.  (Garden Conservancy, Arboretum members, or Pacific Horticulture subscribers get discounts.

You can enroll on line or call 415/441-4300.

***

Another Garden Conservancy seminar of note:

April 3-4, The Influence of China on West Coast Gardens, at The Presidio in San Francisco.  Read more about it here.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Whether it's personal attire, interior decor, or garden landscape, unfailingly I am drawn to close harmonies or nearly monochromatic color schemes.  So naturally this combination of pot and plant appealed to me.

That's my style, and I'm probably stuck with it.  But, just once, I'd like to go for something like the combination below.  Full-out contrast.  So bold it makes your heart race like two back-to-back cups of Peets Sumatra. 

Which is you?

Both pots were found at Malibu Market & Design in, where else, Malibu, California.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Since the red-orange pot shown in the previous post is so unusual, I thought you might like to see the full range of sizes and colors available in this line at Malibu Market & Design. The high-fired, glazed clay pots are from Vietnam and range in price from $50 to $1500.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Whatever happened to Zephyrathes candida?  The rain lily used to be a pretty common plant in Southern California.  But now I rarely see it used.  In fact, Z. candida had fallen totally off my radar until I saw this example in an Arizona garden recently.  Chad Robert, the Phoenix landscape architect who designed the garden, used it as a border on either side of a row of citrus. It's a really sweet look--adds a little formality to the orchard--and is a good use of this sturdy, undemanding plant.

Robert's firm uses Z. candida often, according to Todor Spasov, another designer with the firm.  They usually install one-gallon plants for the instant effect, he says.  In his area plants are generally available in nurseries year-round, says Spasov.  Don't think I can say that here.  But maybe I just haven't been looking.  Is rain lily easy to find where you garden?

Zephyranthes candida works in Sunset Western Garden zones 4-9, 12-24, H1, and H2. If you can't find it as a potted plant, it is available as a bulb through the mail-order company Easy to Grow Bulbs or from Brent & Becky's Bulbs.