By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

Most people discover Los Rios Historic District just the way I did—completely by accident. They go to San Juan Capistrano to see the old mission, drift over to the shops and restaurants around the train station, then wander across the tracks to poke around in one of California’s oldest neighborhoods.

The flowers and fruits first drew me in: there were lavender, roses, plumbago, Mexican sage, and loquats weighed down with golden fruit. Yellow daisies grew beside red pelargoniums, while birds of paradise flocked under giant palms and peppers bordered by ancient prickly pear cactus. And behind them I found that what first appeared to be a pedestrian-friendly street lined with old houses was actually a very relaxed retail corridor devoted to eateries and shops full of plants, garden art, fountains, fabrics, and more.

Just off the main road—Los Rios Street—there's a full-line retail nursery that sells most of the fragrant, flowery treasures you see growing in gardens throughout the neighborhood. And across from it, a petting zoo.

It ends up being a great place to spend a sunny morning. You're never far from your car, so if you actually end up with some of that garden art, you can stow it while you finish your visit. And when you get hungry, you can sit by a fountain on a shady patio and have lunch. Garden shopping really doesn’t get much better.

To get to Los Rios, take I-5 exit 82 in San Juan Capistrano, go west a couple of blocks to Camino Capistrano, turn right, then immediately left into the parking lot at the railroad station. Los Rios is just across the tracks.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Take a look at the charming garden shed Port Orchard, Washington gardener Lisa Phipps created almost entirely out of recycled materials. And then come back for the inside view shown below.

Phipps got the idea for the romantic ceiling treatment when she found a bolt of muslin being sold at "triple clearance."  She bought the whole thing, and, with the help of a girlfriend, used all of it to cover the ceiling, arranging the fabric in deep folds. 

The draped fabric sways gently in the wind when cross-breezes blow through the shed, says Phipps.  And when she's in the space after dark, the chandelier lights turn the muslin a warm glowing color, she says. 

The interesting loveseat against the back window is actually an old Ferris wheel chair.  The oblong ornament in the window is architectural salvage.  And the chandelier?  It's new.  "It's one of the few things I've paid full price for in this shed," says Phipps.  "But it makes the space."

More ways to decorate with things you may already have

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

May 1–2, San Francisco
American Rhododendron Society show and sale, sfbotanicalgarden.org/plant_sales/plant_sales.htm

May 2 and 3, Fort Bragg
Rhododendron Show & Plant Sale, 707/964-4435 or mendocinocoast.com%20and%20gomendo.com

May 2, Moraga
Moraga Juniors Garden Tour, moragajuniors.org

May 3, East Bay
Bringing Back the Natives Tour, bringingbackthenatives.net

May 3, Napa
Napa County Master Gardeners Garden Tour, groups.ucanr.org/mgnapa/Garden%5FTour/

May 9, Ross
Beyond The Garden Gate, rossgardentour.org

May 15 and 16, Sonoma County
Sonoma County Medical Association Alliance Foundation's Annual Garden Tour,
scmaa.org/support/garden.html

May 16, Hanford
Hanford Garden Tour, 559-867-3186  or 559-582-6768

May 16 and 17, Nevada City and Grass Valley
Soroptimist of the Sierra Foothills Annual Garden Tour, sierrasoroptimist.org

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

May 1-3, Alpine
Sage & Songbirds Garden Tour.  Five bird and butterfly friendly home gardens plus a visit to a raptor rehabilitation facility.  Take in the Sage & Songbird Festival, too  (May 2-3).  (www.chirp.org or 619/445-8352)

May 1-3, Arcadia
"A Festival of Flavor", LA Garden Show at The Arboretum of Los Angeles County.  Edible gardens is this year's theme.  (www.arboretum.org or 626/821-3222)

May 2, Venice
Venice Garden & Home Tour, the annual fundraising event for the Las Doradas Children's Center in Venice that draws over 1,000 visitors every year.  Includes 25-30 gardens and homes from historical landmarks to very contemporary designs.  (www.venicegardentour.org or 310/664-8893)

May 2-3, Irvine
Spring Perennial Sale at UCI Arboretum.  Featuring unique flowering perennials, mostly from South Africa.  (http://arboretum.bio.uci.edu/calendar.cfm or 949/824-5833)

May 2-3, San Diego
San Diego Iris Society Spring Show & Sale at Casa del Prado in Balboa Park (http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/7679/showcarousel.html)

May 3, Palos Verdes Peninsula
Epiphyllum Show & Sale at South Coast Botanic Garden (www.southcoastbotanicgarden.org or 310/544-1948)

May 5-6, Fullerton
Herb Weekend at the Fullerton Arboretum. Hundreds of common and uncommon herbs. (www.fullertonarboretum.org or 714/278-3579)

May 6, Corona del Mar
Sherman Gardens' Annual Spring Garden Tour (www.slgardens.org or 949/673-2261)

May 9, La Jolla
Secret Garden Tour of Old La Jolla.  An opportunity to enjoy the hidden scenery of La Jolla.  Local musicians and artists will be at each garden. (http://www.lajollahistory.org/events/secret-garden-tour/2009-secret-garden-tour-old-la-jolla-announcement or 858/459-5335)

May 9, San Diego
"Back to Our Roots", Mission Hills Garden Walk, 14 gardens in an historic neighborhood (www.missionhillsgardenclub.org or 619/923-3624)

May 16-17, Palos Verdes Peninsula
Geranium Show & Sale at South Coast Botanic Garden (www.southcoastbotanicgarden.org or 310/544-1948)

May 17, San Marino
Annual Plant Sale at Huntington Botanical Gardens (www.huntington.org or 616/405-2141)

May 17, Cambria
Cambria Garden Tour, a fundraiser for the local Montessori school.  Begins and ends at Cambria Nursery & Florist, includes pre-tour breakfast and post-tour dessert.  (www.newdawncenter.org/gardentour.html or 805/909-2181)

May 17, Arcadia
Epiphylium Show & Sale at The Arboretum of Los Angeles County (www.arboretum.org or 626/821-3222)

NEW MEXICO

May 31 and June 6, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Botanical Garden's Annual Garden Tour.  Four different gardens in historic Santa Fe neighborhoods. (www.santafebotanicgarden.org or 505/471-9103)

By Amy Anderson, Sunset editorial intern

Even if the only green space you have at your home is a window box, you can still be a gardener. And that's exactly what Ben Fairfield and Jared Lyda want you--and 100,000 of your closest friends--to be.

Ben and Jared started The Urban Garden Project as a way to get people to embrace growing produce as a money saver, a form of self-reliance, a way to eat healthier, and a history lesson. Think the Victory Gardens of the WWII era. Their goal? The creation of 100,000 urban gardens by 2020.

If you don't know where to start your veggie growing or animal raising, The Urban Garden Project provides how-to videos on frontyard gardening, building a chicken coop, container gardening and more.

Feel a calling to start growing and help the project reach its 100,000 garden goal? Just sign up online and they'll put you down as a urban gardener. And don't forget to check out the current list of participants (82 and counting) and their pictures and blogs for inspiration. Then keep up with the web site for gardening resources and feeback from other urban growers. And take a look at Sunset's One-Block Diet blog to see how our urban garden is growing.

Maybe we'll trade tips on raising chickens with these guys--just like in our backyard, they'll be getting chickens too!

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Fashion magazines sometimes evaluate the worth of a clothes purchase by cost per use. A pair of well-made classic black slacks that fits you perfectly are worth investing in, for instance, because you'll wear them regularly for years. And a trendy top might not be, even if it was cheap, because it will be out of fashion in a season. So, if you divide the number of times you wear each piece by the price, the more expensive piece was actually the better buy.

Why do I bring this up? Because investing in your garden works the same way. Redoing your landscape, versus just jazzing it up with a little seasonal color, is unquestionably more expensive.  Which is why most of us keep talking ourselves out of making the investment. But the results are a lot more dramatic, and they can transform not just your garden but how you feel about the world.

Take a look, for example, at the Montecito front courtyard shown below, which is on page 42 of our May issue in the California editions. Then skim down to the befores and see what this entry used to look like.

Picture yourself walking through both spaces at the start and close of each day. Which space would make you happier? And think about how many times that's going to happen. Calculate the expense on a cost per use basis, and suddenly the investment doesn't seem extravagant at all.

More inspiration on Sunset.com:

14 more lawn-less front yards

20 more beautiful paths

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Cindy McNatt reports on the poultry trend today -- Chickens as Garden Accessories -- on her blog, Dirt DuJour,  and she passes on some handy tips, including which two books she found most helpful when she got started.

And, of course, it gave McNatt an excuse to post a photo of Dixie, one of her gals.

Our One-Block-Diet blog has some chicken news posted today as well.

And to read everything we've ever written about our experiment with chickens in the test garden, click here.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

One thing we've always loved about Judy Kameon's gardens is that they're always very finished.  Her firm Elysian Landscapes takes the outdoor room concept very seriously, and Kameon doesn't consider the job finished when she's installed the hardscape and the plants.  She cares about lighting, furniture, containers, even accessories.  They set the mood and create the magic, she believes. This interest led Kameon to start a separate outdoor furniture company, Plain Air, with her husband Erik Otsea, because she was having trouble finding simple, comfortable modern furniture for her clients. 

Until recently this furniture was only available to her clients and the trade.  However, when a 10 ton dump truck crashed into her offices, Kameon decided to look on it as an opportunity to rethink strategy. And she's decided to open a showroom to exhibit her custom built-ins, outdoor furniture, and garden accessories.

Starting this week, the Plain Air showroom, which is located at 2340 West Third Street in Los Angeles, California, will be open every Friday from 10 am to 5 pm.  The showroom is also open by appointment.  (213) 380-3185.

More on Sunset.com: Get a designer's secrets to creating a comfy outdoor room

By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

Looking at the year’s plant introductions, a new variety of yellow bells really jumps out. I know the species, Tecoma stans, as a small tree for mild climates, but this variety, ‘Mayan Gold’, is being sold as if it were a free-flowering annual—something you’d use in a big pot of mixed flowers. I had to know more, so I asked Bill Calkins at Ball Horticultural Company (the introducer) for his take on it. Here’s his response.

‘Mayan Gold’ is a new Tecoma stans released by Pan American Seed for sale at garden centers for the first time this spring. You may know this plant as Esperanza, Yellow Elder, Trumpetbush or one of another handful of common names, but what IS consistent is its love of heat, drought tolerance and bloom power that keeps on going all summer long.

Those of you in the South (USDA Zone 9 and warmer) will think of Tecoma stans as a long-blooming tropical shrub, but for the rest of us, it's an annual. 'Mayan Gold' is really a breakthrough because now growers can produce it from seed fairly easily and economically, bringing it to market as a bedding plant and mixed container ingredient.

The plant has awesome bright green foliage and vibrant masses of unique yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers—perfect in patio pots (try three or four plants in large monoculture containers) and summer mixed combos. And when it gets hot and humid outside, these plants are in heaven. 'Mayan Gold' will grow as tall as two or even three feet by the end of the season, throwing up more blooms the entire time. In climates where it winters over, look for it to grow up to eight feet, seriously.

Since this tecoma variety is brand new to the market, availability will be somewhat limited, but keep a look out for the striking yellow blooms when shopping your favorite local garden centers.

We’ll be testing ‘Mayan Gold’ at Sunset this summer, and we’d love to hear from any of you who try it too.

By Johanna Silver, Sunset test garden coordinator

I spent last week in my hometown of Denver and got a big reminder of what it's like to live outside of magical Sunset Zone 17. It snowed eight heavy inches in one day!

My dad and I hung out in his greenhouse for a bit of the snowstorm.

  

It was just awesome to be sheltered from the cold in his little hideout full of overwintering fuchsia and passion flowers.

I'm the only member of the family that takes any interest in his hobby, so he took the time to show off his complex watering system. I have absolutely no idea how it works.

Now I'm back in the Bay Area, suffering through this insane heat wave. I thought I'd take a break from the 91 degree weather and post pictures of snow.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Yesterday my co-blogger Jim McCausland wrote about his six favorite plants; today it's my turn:

1. French lavender (Lavandula dentata) does not have the bluest flowers; English lavender, Spanish lavender, and Canary Island lavender are all showier.  It's not the lavender that gets used for soap and perfumes; that's the L. x intermedia group.  And French lavender doesn't produce the long flower stems the craft industry likes so much; that's the English again.  But it's the first lavender I grew and the last I'll part with.

Lavandula dentata makes a great, easy care shrub in Southern California.  It is in bloom nearly year-round and seems to look especially good in winter when the rest of lavenders, especially the English varieties, look bedraggled.  (I always think they look like small dogs after they've been shampooed.) And, even though French lavender's flowers might not be the best for perfume or crafts, they still smell great to me.  I love pinching off a stem to inhale every time I pass a plant. I will never be without this plant.

.

2. In coastal Southern California, pelargoniums aren't houseplants, they're landscaping plants.  They're ground covers, perennials, even shrubs.  Pelargonium crispum 'Variegated Prince Rupert' (also known as 'Crispum Variegatum' and 'French Lace') is my favorite of the ones that can be used as shrubs. 

I always describe the plant as looking like curly celery.  The way the ruffled leaves cover the stems remind me of the inner, leafed stalks of celery--only they're two-toned and smell like lemons.  The stems look really pretty in casual bouquets, too, and they're not the same old foliage filler you find at every supermarket. 

3. I only cook with Rosmarinus officinalis occasionally, but I love it as a landscaping plant.  To begin with I admire its toughness.  It can handle salt spray, alkaline soil, and blistering heat and requires little water or fertilizer.  (I've never feed mine and it seems to be doing just fine a decade later.)

I also love its glossy, dark green leaves.  I can't think of another drought-tolerant plants with leaves quite this color.  It's that near black  green of old Jaguars.

The blue flowers are pretty great, too, and they come in winter when you need a lift.  Bees like them, too.

I also like the plant's habit.  Rosemary does get woody with age, and that used to bother me.  But now that I'm getting old enough to feel a little gnarly myself, I've come to value that, too.  In fact I even prune off some of the lower foliage to reveal more of that woody, twisted base.

We all need a ilttle wabi sabi in the garden, don't you think?

4. If you want bees, African blue basil should be in your garden.  Bees seem to find this plant's purple and pink flowers absolutely intoxicating.  And I feel exactly the same way about them.  There is something about the spicy sweet scent that makes me positively giddy.

Because the plant is sterile, it just keeps pumping out flowers non-stop.  The tender perennial will make it through winter in my coastal garden, but I usually replace it every year because it is prettier when young, and it will grow from a 4-inch plant into a small, handsome shrub in no time.

African blue basil is not a pure basil; it's a cross (Ocimum kilimandscharicum x Basilicm pupureum).  I don't think it's a great choice for cooking--the leaves are somewhat fuzzy.  But, like the lemon-scented geranium I mentioned above, it's great in bouquets.  In season, there is usually a small vase of these on my kitchen sink, and often in my office, too.

5. I'm not sure I've ever encountered a Euphorbia I haven't liked.  But E. characias wulfenii the most commonly grown form in Southern California, still remains my favorite.

I love its blue-green foliage, and the plant's overall shape,  And I am absolutely crazy about the plant's chartreuse flowers.  And that shocking lime is perfect next to those cool-looking glaucuous leaves.  How could you improve on that color combo? The flowers last forever, too, and barely fade even when they're beginning to form seeds. Which means you don't deadhead them and end up with lots of volunteers.  But I like that, too.

E. c. wulfenii is one of earliest plants to flower and is one of the seasonal indicators for me.  I don't care what the calendar says, when it blooms in Southern California, it's spring.

6. Some day, as with all agaves, my Agave bracteosa will bloom and then die, and I am already dreading that day.

The foliage color of this plant just knocks me out.  It's the exact shade of green as a Granny Smith apple. Just a wonderful, wonderful color.

I love the plant's shape, too.  The way the leaves emerge from the center and spill out and curl under.

And this agave is, as they say, "unarmed."  That means no spines to stab you.  One of the kinder, friendlier agaves.

It just might be my favorite plant in my whole yard.

***

If you haven't already, please take a peek at our co-Blogathon friends to see what their favorite are:

Defining Your Home Garden by Freda Cameron in Chapel Hill, NC

Digging by Pam Penick in Austin, TX

Diggin' It by Judy Lowe, Boston, MA

Fairegarden by Frances in TN

FreshDirt by Sharon Cohoon in Southern CA and Jim McCausland, near Seattle, WA

Gardening With Confidence by Helen Yoest in Raleigh, NC

Hoe & Shovel by Meems in central FL

Jim Long’s Garden by Jim Long in Blue Eye, MO

Sweet Home and Garden by Carolyn Choi in Chicago, IL

The Grumpy Gardener by Steve Bender in Hoover, AL