By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

I caught up with fellow Southern Cailfornia garden writer Debra Lee Baldwin between presentations at the Annual Garden Seminar of the Master Gardeners of Orange County on October 17.  (If you haven't gone to this seminar before, put it on your calendar for 2010; their roster of speakers is always excellent.)

Anyway, somehow Debra and I got onto the subject of photography.  And, more specifically, about magazines and books never showing anything but young, flawless flowers and plants.  Never any spots or fading or crinkled edges or other signs of age.  As if there weren't beauty in those stages, too.  (I know, I know, Sunset perpetuates this illusion, too.)

"You'd like my post on Gardening Gone Wild about Wabi-Sabi in the garden," said Debra in response to our conversation.  And so I did. If you're not familiar with the expression, here's how Debra defines "wabi-sabi" on her post--"the Japanese aesthetic that finds beauty in imperfection and transience."

Below are two photos from Debra's post.  I encourage you to check out the rest.

I also found out from Debra that her second book on succulents from Timber Press, which will be titled Succulent Container Gardens is coming out sooner than I expected.  It is targeted for a January release. 

Despite our conversation, don't expect many photos like the ones above in Debra's new book.  They're going to look like the one on the cover of her new book shown below.  Gorgeous and perfect.

Also check out this short article on Designing with Succulents written by Baldwin on our website.