By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

If you've ever thought about growing your own winter tomatoes indoors (a book like Tomatoland will give you reason), now there are free plans that make it easy. Developed by a Silicon Valley semiconductor exec named Ray Newstead, the InnTainer is a non-commercial hydroponic growing system that you make yourself.

An offshoot of Newstead's EarthTainer system, the InnTainers go together in a Saturday afternoon. If you don't have a sunroom or an unobstructed south window (or if you live too far north), you can add artificial lights to make your tomatoes thrive.

To direct you to tomato varieties that grow well in containers, Gary Ibsen at TomatoFest.com has set up links offering seed that grows particularly well in containers. Check out his Indoor Container Collection #1 and Indoor Container Collection #2.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

I try not to look at Dirt Couture, the retail portion of Cindy McNatt's garden blog, Dirt Du Jour, because--between Coldwater Creek and Chico on-line sales--I have enough temptations as it is.

But, visiting her garden recently and seeing some of her products first hand, I got curious about what her best sellers might be.

Turns out Hose Clothes, which you might describe as tights for the common garden hose and which turn a utilitarian item into garden decor, are her top seller.  Especially in this leopard version.

Guess gals just can't get enough of animal prints.

And her best customers?  Germans.  Not sure why that surprises and tickles me but it does.

Air Head, a foliar feeder designed for tillandsia, is another customer favorite.

Tillandsias are such easy plants, says, McNatt, people forget they do need some care.  Soak them in water at least once a month, mist once a week and feed them with this mist-form fertilizer every other week, and they'll stay healthy and happy, she promises.

Here's another best seller.  When a friend complained about having to buy a 50-lb. bag of cement just to make one  hypertufa trough, McNatt saw a marketing opportunity.

Premix the hypertufa ingredients and sell in a size just right for one larger container or a couple of small ones.  Just add water and you're ready to sculpt.

Her mix also includes some colorant, which is a nice touch.

And the artisan-made concrete bowl below?  A little too pricey to be one of her best sellers most likely. But, maybe, why I've been wise to stay off Dirt Couture until now.  Tempting, very tempting.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

 I caught up with fellow garden blogger, Cindy McNatt (Dirt Du Jour), last week at her own garden in Tustin.  I found much to like there, but this quiet spot may have been my favorite.

An inviting bench under the shade of an apricot tree with this object in dappled shade to hold my attention and encourage me to linger.

Just a large fish bowl filled with clear water with a few water lettuce floating on top. 

What could be easier?  Or more pleasing.

What to copy the idea?  Cindy makes it easy.  You can buy water lettuce plants from the retail section of her blog, Dirt Couture.  The plants are harvested from her own garden.

Cindy also likes to use water lettuce as a houseplant. Sometimes she places several plants in a large glass salad bowl.  Other times just one in a tall glass cylinder. 

"Water lettuce is an entertaining houseplant," says Cindy.  "The roots look beautiful when the lights hit them."  Indeed.  Below photos are Cindy's.

By Johanna Silver, Sunset test garden coordinator

Sharon blogged earlier this spring about this new petunia from Proven Winners. I'm not typically a petunias and pansies type of gal, but it was love at first site with 'White Russian'. Sharon called it, "sophisticated." I think of it as a sweet petunia with a dark little secret. I'm obsessed. It's a great annual flower, without being all sunshine and rainbows.

It lends itself to all sorts of interesting combinations. I've been playing around in the test garden, and here are a few container ideas to choose from, depending on your current disposition.

Just got your heart broken into a million pieces? Feeling sad and alone, with moments of hopeful anticipation for the future? Easy -- pair it with a dark sweet potato vine (this is 'Blackie') and this cool Agasthache mexicana, part of the Acapulco series - 'Salmon & Pink':

Past the initial stages of lonliness and embracing your newly found singlehood? Maybe playing the field?  Staying out late and drinking too much? Go with 'Blackie' again, and add a saucy, firey salvia into the mix. This is one 'Forest Fire':

Online dating finally paid off and you've met The One? Feeling blissful and, yes, all sunshine and rainbows? Keep it light with a limey sweet potato vine ('Margarita'), and some 'Ballerina' Gaura for that whispy, light-as-a-feather look:

It'll be commercially available this next spring, so get ready to stock up, no matter what the state of your love life.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Been meaning to get to Dustin Gimbel's garden in Long Beach for months and finally made it this week.  Dustin, owner of Second Nature Garden Design, always has tons of intriguing ideas and often tries them out in his own garden first.  This "lawn chair" -- a tall, wide container cushioned with variegated St. Augustine grass -- was my favorite.

Visitors, he tells me, find it irresistible.  On this occasion, they were three fellow garden designers; left to right, Chris Oakley, Brooke Dietrich, and Julie Garland.

Two more views of the chair.  This is Dustin, being contemplative.  And the chair without an occupant, a rare occasion apparently.

Similar idea, grass ottoman

Similar idea requiring no water

To see what else Dustin is up to, check out his blog

By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

I love my second-story deck, but sometimes we feel a little overexposed up there. That's why I'm so taken with the screening job Rebecca Sams and Buell Steelman did with their own second-story deck, shown here.

Principals of Mosaic Gardens in Eugene, OR, Sams and Steelman chose arrow bamboo (Pseudosasa japonica) for the living screen, and galvanized steel stock tanks for containers. The bamboo is cooling and rustles when breezes come through. The tanks are narrow, and do a perfect job containing this running bamboo. You can buy them for a couple of hundred dollars each at farm supply stores and some big box stores.

The deck chairs are from the Fusion series by Henry Hall; the table was custom designed by Mosaic, and made by a local steel fabricator.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Dress up your alfresco dining scene with this pretty centerpiece.  Instructions here.

Extend the theme to your front lawn with these stenciled stars.  Instructions here.

Compete with fireworks with this glamorous party lighting idea.

And if you're going to this much trouble you want to serve something more sophisticated than grilled hot dogs and canned beans, right?  You'll find plenty of ideas for a 4th of July menu here.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

I admired this Mandevilla at a Proven Winners growing grounds open house recently.  That gorgeous dark red color was most of it, of course.  (This is Vogue Ruby, a new introduction that will be available next spring.)

But I think I also just liked the fact Mandevilla was allowed to trail instead of being trained onto a trellis or tuteur this time. 

Looks fresher and more modern, don't you think? Especially in a sleek contemporary pot.

Though Vogue Ruby won't be available until next year, you could create nearly the same effect with Vogue Audrey, which was introduced last year, as I recall, and is nearly as deep a red.

Or Sun Parasol Giant Crimson or Sun Parasol Carmine King.

Or good old pink Mandevilla for that matter.

But, blame it on rapidly approaching Fourth of July, but I'm having a hard time imagining any other color than red at the moment.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Plant breeders seemed especially generous this year.  Box after box arrived at my doorstep this spring to trial.  And greedy for color I planted up nearly all of it instead of sharing with neighbors as I usually do.  Of everything I received, this Shock Wave Coral Crush petunia from PanAmerican Seed is hands-down my favorite.

It's a gorgeous shade.  Not too bright and garish.  Not too pale and inspid.  Right in the middle.  Clear and cheery.  I can imagine toe nail polish or lipstick in this color or a blouse or summer shift, and, if I want to act on any of those notions, this is the year for it.  Coral seems to be back in style again. 

(Apparently I'm not the only one with a crush on coral this year.  Check out these fashionista blog posts, for instance: http://www.savvysassymoms.com/summer-fashion-and-my-coral-crush/; http://www.blondeepisodes.com/2011/04/wordless-wednesday-coral-crush.html; http://www.fashionmeetsfood.com/2011/04/coral-crush.html)

Surprisingly, this bright clear color also seems to be a good mixer.  At the moment I also happen to have a lot of magenta pinks and burgundies in my garden--penstemons and yarrows from last year's trial plants.  Plus a lot of orange--heuchera foliage, diascia, kangaroo paws, and alstromeria from my semi-permanent collection.  By all rights it ought to look awful out there.  Somehow, though, this particular shade of coral-pink seems to bridge the two camps, blending everything together.  I'm also finding it a great partner for true blues, such as dwarf plumbago.

Enough about the color, already.  Coral Crush petunia is also a performer. It's been blooming non-stop since I put it in.  Nice mounding habit, easy disposition, no problems. I'm loving it.

This little dear won't be in retail nurseries until 2012, unfortunately.  But put it on your radar for next year.  It's a keeper.

By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

DiggersList works pretty much like Craigslist except that it only lists home improvement items.  So you can type in your zip code and browse to see what's available for sale near you under such categories as kitchen, bath, storage, building materials, and, our favorite subject, garden. 

The shabby chic table opposite, for instance, is in my zip code range and seriously tempting.

Or you can use DiggersList to get rid of things, which, for most of us, may be the more useful option. 

See if anyone wants that piece of garden art you had to have but now loathe -- "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and all that.

Or, if you can't wait a moment longer to get rid of that former treasure, donate it online via DiggersList to an organization like the Habitat for Humanity Restores (outlets that accept donated goods for resale) and be done with it.

Or take the "Good Samitarian" option. 

Ask for a reminder email from DiggersList in, say, 30 days. If that sweet little cherub statue that now seems so cloying hasn't sold by then, just click the "donate" option and watch it fly away.