By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

When Tish Treherne and her husband bought their dream property on Bainbridge Island, Washington, they found that it was bordered out front with a very active, muddy drainage ditch. During heavy rain, it would overflow onto the road—we’re talking about feet of water, not inches.

A garden designer, Treherne decided to make it something beautiful, since it’s the one of the first thing that visitors see. Her solution is simple and elegant: gravel along the bottom of the ditch so that it’s not muddy, and a few plants that tolerate total immersion from time to time. In the picture above, that’s  Primula japonica 'Miller's Crimson' flowering at the front of the photograph, Japanese sweet flag (Acorus gramineus) lining the sides of the ditch, and katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) behind. There are also a few hostas and Japanese iris mixed in.

Treherne owns Bliss Garden Design, Bainbridge Island, WA, 206/799-0897 (www.blissgardendesign.com).

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

By the time a garden writer is finished with a story about a particular garden, we've gotten to know its creator pretty well and have often grown quite fond of them.  Especially if the creator also happens to be the home owner, and especially if that person is as passionate about plants as we are.  With a few special stories, though, that feeling spreads to a magazine's whole editorial staff.  And that's what happened with Sunset and Brent Green.

Brent, the owner of the design/build firm GreenArt Landscape, did a great job in turning his own garden in Mid-City L.A. from dead grass and a few scrufty shrubs to a mini-Paradise.  And that would have been a nice story all by itself. 

But, as we got to know Brent better, we realized that was only the beginning of what he had to tell us.  After he transformed his own yard, Brent took on the neighborhood.  He planted hundreds of parkway trees, starting on his own block and moving to adjoining ones, giving neighbors lots of free advice on landscaping in the process.

That's wasn't all, though.  He also lobbied to get speed bumps installed on his street to slow down traffic, helped get Neighborhood Watch and city block clubs re-established, and became the go-to guy when the community wanted their viewpoints heard at City Council meetings.  And we have the feeling he's just getting started.

Brent's a reminder how much good one optimistic and determined person can accomplish.  No wonder we're all smitten.  Linda Peters, our garden photo editor, shown here with Brent on the day of the photo shoot, is just a little bit more demonstrative about it.

See Brent Green's story on page 58 of our April issue.

By Johanna Silver, Sunset test garden coordinator

A gorgeous wisteria vine is in full bloom in our parking lot, of all places.

The view grabs my attention every time I pass by. I can't decide what is more striking: the picturesque plant or its contrast with asphalt and heavy metal.

An oldie but goodie, don't overlook wisteria for your garden. Some varieties are incredibly drought tolerant, and the bees love it like none other. 

Here is more information about wisteria on the new Sunset Plant Finder.

And here are links to more of Sunset's recommendations for unthirsty flowers.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

April 4, Cupertino
The Bountiful Garden Foundation spring heirloom tomato plant sale, www.bountiful-garden.org

April 4, Davis
UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars Centennial Celebration and Sale, arboretum.ucdavis.edu/plant_sales_and_nursery.aspx

April 4, San Francisco
Dahlia Society of California annual dahlia sale, tubers and cuttings of about 200 varieties, sfdahlia.org

April 4, San Jose
Santa Clara County Master Gardeners 2009 Spring Garden Market,
www.mastergardeners.org/events/2009/2009-spring-garden-market

April 18, Modesto
Modesto Garden Club Annual Spring Tour, www.modestogardenclub.org

April 18, Santa Cruz
Spring Plant Sales at the Arboretum at University of California Santa Cruz, www2.ucsc.edu/arboretum/calendar.html

April 18, Walnut Creek
Ruth Bancroft Garden annual spring plant sale, www.ruthbancroftgarden.org

April 19, Bay Area
Going Native Garden Tour, more than 45 gardens on a self-guided tour, www.goingnativegardentour.org

April 19, Cupertino
The Bountiful Garden Foundation spring heirloom tomato plant sale, www.bountiful-garden.org

April 24–25, Palo Alto
Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden Annual Spring Tour, five private gardens, plant sale, boutique, and more, www.gamblegarden.org

April 25, Berkeley
University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley Spring Plant Sale, botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/plantSale/PlantSale.shtml

April 25, Davis
UC Davis Arboretum Gardeners Fair and Sale, arboretum.ucdavis.edu/plant_sales_and_nursery.aspx

April 26, East Bay
Secret Gardens of the East Bay, 10 private gardens and marketplace, www.secretgardentour.org

April 26, Kenwood
Earth Day celebration and vegetable garden dedication at Wildwood Farm, wildwoodmaples.com

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

March 21-May 17, Saturdays & Sundays, Claremont
Spring Garden Walks at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.  Enjoy a guided tour through the Garden's wildflower displays and native plants collections.  (www.rsabg.org or 909/625-8767)

April 4, Claremont
Annual Spring Plant Sale at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (www.rsabg.org or 909/625-8767)

April 4, El Cajon
Native Plant Sale at Earth Discovery Institute (www.earthdiscovery.org or 619/437-7989)

April 4, Filmore
Tomatomania at Otto & Sons Nursery (www.tomatomania.com or 805/524-2123)

April 4-5, Arcadia
Spring Iris & Bulb Show & Sale at The Arboretum of Los Angeles County (www.arboretum.org or 626/821-3222)

April 4-5, Riverside
University of California Riverside Botanic Gardens Spring Plant Sale.  Nearly 10,000 plants, including many rare and unusual varieties as well as old favorites. (www.gardens.ucr.edu/ or 951/784-6962)

April 4-5, Los Angeles
Annual Theodore Payne Native Plant Tour.  More than 35 gardens in LA area, all featuring at least 50% native plants (www.theodorepayne.org or 818/768-1802)

April 4-5, Arroyo Grande
Five Cities Orchid Society's 14th Annual Show & Sale. Orchid displays and vendors plus live music and Central Coast wines and hors d'oueuvres (www.fcos.org or 805/929-6710)

April 4-5, San Diego
Southern California Plumeria Socciety's Cutting Sale at Balboa Park (www.socalplumeria.com)

April 11-12, Claremont
Wildflower Show & Festival at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.  View hundreds of flowers in a breathtaking indoor exhibit.  The Garden will be at its peak, too. (www.rsabg.org or 909/625-8767)

April 11-12, Malibu
Wildflower Show and Wildflower Walk at Malibu Bluffs Park.  Plants, books, and posters for sale.  Members of California Native Plant Society will provide a 2-hour guided walk.  10 am-4 pm.  (818/782-9346)

April 12, Arcadia
Korean Garden Festival at The Arboretum of Los Angeles County.  Includes garden lectures, plant sale, and a traditional wedding ceremony.  (www.arboretum.org or 626/821-3222)

Starting April 18, Mar Vista
The Gardenerd four-class organic gardening series
April 18—Soil, Soil Amendments and Fertilizers
April 25—Small Space and Container Gardening
May 2—Seed-Starting, Transplants and Heirlooms
May 9—Tool, Tool Care and Pruning
(http://www.gardenerd.com/Classpay.html)

April 18, Palos Verdes Peninsula
Annual Spring Sale at South Coast Botanic Garden (www.southcoastbotanicgarden.org or 310/544-1948)

April 18-19, Redlands
Redlands Horticultural and Improvement Society's 97th Annual Flower Show, Garden Show, and Plant Sale (www.rhis.org)

April 18-19, Fullerton
Fullerton Arboretum's Annual Green Scene -- lots of plant and garden accessory vendors, expert speakers, and more (www.arboretum.fullerton.edu or 714/278-3579)

April 18, North San Diego County
Community Resource Center Garden Tour & Plant Sale sponsored by Ecke Ranch & Weidners' Gardens.  Self-guided tour of 5 homes in North County and a spring plant sale at Ecke Ranch. (www.crcncc.org or 760/230-6305)

April 23-26, Costa Mesa
Southern California Spring Garden Show at South Coast Plaza.  Over 75 vendors, competition display gardens, seminars. (www.springgardenshow.com or 714/435-2160)

April 24, Poway-Rancho Bernardo
Lake Hodges Native Plant Club's Annual Garden Tour (www.lhnpc.org or 858/486-8733)

April 24-26, La Cañada-Flintridge
Mt. San Antonio College Plant Sale at Descanso Gardens (www.descansogardens.org or 818/949-4290)

April 25, Encinitas
Encinitas Garden Festival.  Tour of more than 20 private gardens plus a marketplace with vendors, garden art, and information on gardening technique. (www.encinitasgardenfestival.org or 760/753-8615).

April 25, Murrieta
Santa Rosa Plateau Garden Tour.  Tour of six 5-acre equestrian estates. (www.srpf.org or 959/678-2828)

April 25, Rancho Santa Fe
"Water-wise and Beautiful" -- Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club Tour and Luncheon (www.rsfgardenclub.org or 858/756-1554)

April 25, San Diego
Point Loma Garden Tour.  Tour of private gardens and residences plus garden boutique. (http://www.pointlomagardenwalk.com/ or 619/223-4374)

ARIZONA

April 4, Tucson
The Gardens' Annual Spring Plant Sale at Tucson Botanical Gardens (www.tucsonbotanical.org or 520/326-9686, ext. 10)

And, on top of all the tours we've already mentioned, don't forget the Garden Conservancy's Open Days events.  Click here to see their complete schedule.

By Julie Chai, Sunset associate garden editor
Photo by David Perry

Can I step into this photo please?? If you've gotten your April issue of Sunset, you may have had the same wanna-be-there impulse I did when you saw this image on page 20, featuring Erin Benzakein of Mt. Vernon, Washington. In addition to being a floral designer and owner of Floret Flowers, Erin’s also a sustainable flower grower. Here she's walking with son Jasper in her 2-acre farm, enveloped by alliums that are almost as tall as she is. Photographer and blogger David Perry shot the photo, and writer Debra Prinzing interviewed Erin for Sunset, and shares a bit of their conversation below. Click here for the full story.

Why are sustainable flowers important?
Eighty percent of the cut flowers we buy in the U.S. are imported from countries that do not have worker safety or pesticide regulations. I don’t think we should sacrifice the health of our earth, or that of the farmers, their children and animals, just to have a bunch of pretty blooms on our kitchen tables. If you buy your flowers locally - at a farmer’s market, from a roadside stand, or a grocery store that sources bouquets from local growers - they’re probably sustainably grown. You’ll help eliminate the use of jet fuel that flies flowers to America, keep money in your local economy and enjoy healthier and fresher blooms.

What’s the easiest way to bring flowers into your life?
Go into the garden you have—right now! Give yourselves permission to cut an awesome bloom or a few sprigs of this or that. You can grab greens from your hedge and pick up local tulips from the farmer’s market. It’s kind of addicting. Yes, I love flowers, but when I give them away, I see how powerful and moving they can be for others.

What inspired you to farm sustainably?
The most important reason is my children’s health and safety. Our home is in the center of our little farm and my children basically live outdoors during the growing season. Their days are spent among the flowers as they build forts in the raspberry patch, make elaborate doll picnics out of bits from the garden and race up and down the paths while we’re harvesting. I am aware that anything I might use on the flowers, such as herbicides or pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, will be directly in contact with Jasper and Elora. This reality has prompted me to only use organic practices to grow my crops.

What are some of your favorite flower crops for bouquets and other arrangements?
My main crops include sweet peas, ranunculus, peonies, ‘Limelight’ hydrangeas, old garden roses, Oriental lilies, sunflowers, and dahlias. But I harvest from spring to late fall, so there are some months when I cut branches, vines, berries, thistles, grasses and pods for my arrangements.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

If you are lucky enough to have a Hass avocado tree in your yard, our April issue has a nice surprise for you.  Elaine Johnson and Margo True in our Food Department came up with lots of scrumptious new ways to use this buttery-textured fruit.

When I get my next basket of goodies from Morning Song Farm (see my former post), I'll probably try the Spicy Avocado Poblano Salad or the Sake Soy Guacamole immediately. 

Or if I a miracle happens and one day I feel really thin, maybe Coconut Avocado Ice Cream with chocolate sauce, which sounds deliciously decadent.

You can find the recipes starting on page 74 of our April issue.  Or click here.

By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

Ever since personal computers became part of daily life, gardeners have been asking Sunset for an electronic version of the Western Garden Book. After experimenting with a CD version in the 1990’s, we’ve finally settled on a free internet version, the Sunset Plant Finder, which went live late last week. And it covers most of the United States and Canada, not just the West. We’d love you to try it and let us know what you think.

Sponsored by Monrovia, this database actually grows out of our best-selling series of plant encyclopedias, which include the Sunset Western Garden Book, National Garden Book, Northeastern Garden Book, and Southern Living Garden Book. At launch, the Plant Finder lists about 2,000 plants—enough to make this a serious reference tool, but with plenty of room to grow (the Western Garden Book, in comparison, covers about 6,000 plants). We’re literally adding more entries every day.

You can search the database by plant name, type, or characteristics, all keyed to your climate zone. Plants that answer you search show up in list form, and you can select any of them to learn more (see sample screen below). You can also save favorite plant lists. I could go on, but the best way for you to see how it works is to try it.

And we're serious about our hope for feedback from you. Since this is a new project, there will undoubtedly be room for improvement, and perhaps a few bugs to work out. Fortunately, we have an excellent team of software engineers working on this, and we can make changes fairly quickly. Just pass your suggestions on to me, gardenjim@gmail.com.

By Johanna Silver, Sunset test garden coordinator

Move over, orange! These babies come in shades of purple, yellow, white (ok, and creamy orange, too). Each one glows when pulled from the soil.

You can get most of the varieties shown above from Johnny's -- including 'White Satin', 'Yellowstone,' 'Purple Haze' (top carrot), and 'Purple Rain' (not pictured, but very similar to 'Deep Purple,' pictured above).

We've found that the purples are deepest in color when harvested on the younger side, whereas the yellows mature into brightness.

New to planting carrots? Choose a sunny spot and sow seeds directly into the soil -- most root crops prefer not to be transplanted. Make sure your soil is free from stones and clumps, as loose, fine soil will help ensure smooth, straight carrots. Keep the soil evenly moist (not soggy) to avoid split roots. Make sure you thin plants when the tops are a few inches high to give each carrot enough room to form, and keep the area well weeded. Seeds will grow best when planted in spring or late summer, and your crop will store well in the ground in mild winter climates (as ours did).

Fun carrot information for your next cocktail party:

Jan Vanderheide, carrot expert at Bejo, the breeder, producer, and distributor of these seeds, thinks purple carrots make the best carrot juice because they are beautiful in color and are not as intensely "carroty" as the traditional orange ones. He recommends adding some berries (don't worry, the color will remain as intense no matter what type is thrown into the mix). His next favorite for juice is yellow carrots, and he's not alone in this -- much of the 'Yellowstone' crop is turned into juice concentrate for the Japanese market.  Orange carrots come third for juice on his list.

I wonder if we've got a juicer in the test kitchen.....

by Elizabeth Jardina, Sunset researcher

Blustery and bright, spring arrived at my house on the San Francisco Peninsula exactly on time. Within a few days, my maple went from sticks to fully leafed.

Japanese maples are such workhorses — the apple-green leaves of this one screen the living room window much more delightfully than drapes would — that it's easy to overlook the trees' tiny charms.

Like these flowers.

I never thought about maples blooming, but of course they do. I was astonished by the delicate sprays of rosy, robust color.