By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer
I always thought tri-cut gardening books--the kind where you flip pages back and forth to see different plant combos together--were just gimmicks. So when The Southern California Native Flower Garden, which uses that format, appeared in the mail, I was fairly skeptical, even though I know and trust the author. But there's no harm in road testing it, I decided. And I used the book as a planning tool to come up with some alternative vignettes for a section of my native garden I'm not pleased with.
I'm still road testing. Not that the book hasn't been useful--it's great, in fact. It's just that it makes research so much fun, I'm having a hard time putting it down even though I'm pretty sure I've already decided on my replacement vignette.
The book is set up with plant illustrations on the right. Tall on the top, medium in the middle, and low on the bottom. The illustrations also show exposure, water needs, peak interest period, habitat value, and--we like this--Sunset climate zones. And, on the left, there's a plant profile. Most of them include companion plantings. Using these suggestions to create vignettes is a great way to begin getting acquainted with the book's format.
The more you use the book, the better you get at making the most of it, I'm finding. For instance, at first I was just paying attention to make sure the plants I was combining needed the same amount of sun and water. But, then, after awhile, without really setting out to, I began combining plants that had the same origin--woodland, coastal sage, etc.--and the combinations, not surprisingly, looked like they belonged together.
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised this would be a great book. I've seen and loved many a Susan Van Atta garden--several of which have appeared in Sunset's pages. And I know Van Atta dearly loves native plants and that the 164 species she's chosen for this book have been thoroughly vetted. It's just the format I was dubious about. And, surprise, surprise, it's what I like best.
If you can't find the book at your usual sources, you can order it on-line directly from Gibbs Smith, the publisher.
