A while back when I told a friend I was thinking of a driving visit to the Northeast, she began to enthusiastically list the gardens I should visit. But the reality is, when I’m on vacay, I don’t necessarily WANT... Continue reading

I’ve included photos from my own garden in posts from time to time, but I haven’t done a complete virtual tour since my last renovation in 2009. Ready for an update? The side yard view is still our favorite. But... Continue reading

In my ongoing search for design inspiration and gardening advice, I’ve still made time to check out the latest crop of garden books. Here are three that caught my attention: Continue reading

Susan Morrison is the new editor in chief of The Designer, the quarterly magazine from The Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) Continue reading

March and April gardening events in the Bay Area: New workshops at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, tomato sale, filoli talks. Continue reading

Crataegus laevigata 'Paul's Scarlet', (English Hawthorn) is one of my favorite trees for small gardens. Continue reading

In my new book, Refresh Your Garden Design with Color, Texture and Form, I encourage gardeners to see colors in a whole new light - more as design workhorses than ‘pretty shades of pink’. Continue reading

Refresh Your Garden Design with Color, Texture and Form by Rebecca Sweet - Virtual Book Party Continue reading

I attended an excellent seminar presented by the Garden Conservancy titled "Front Yard Gardens Take Center Stage." The seminar dished up a broad range of design ideas about how to transform a front yard. Continue reading

Saturday, September 7, the Contra Costa County Master Gardeners are hosting a sustainability fair at Our Garden in Walnut Creek. 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of our master gardener program, and what better way to celebrate than doing what we do best – sharing our passion for gardening with our community. Continue reading

For this post, I’m sticking with the heart of the demonstration: designing with succulents in containers. Continue reading

Tricking the eye to create the illusion that something is not quite what it seems is everywhere, including garden design. Continue reading

Book Reviews: Fine Foliage by Karen Chapman and Christina Salwitz, Slow Flowers by Debra Prinzing, Apprentice to a Garden by Evelyn Hadden Continue reading

by Susan Morrison A few weeks ago, fellow LRC member Evelyn Hadden shared her thoughts on three new books that include helpful information on replacing or downsizing lawn. The following review, reprinted from Blue Planet Garden Blog, is a more in-depth review of Lawn Gone!: Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for... Continue reading

Although I gravitate towards subtle shades in most garden designs, while in Mexico I found myself continually captivated by the explosion of color that greeted me almost everywhere I went. Continue reading

A must read for anyone considering reducing or eliminating a lawn, Lawn Gone provides a thoughtful, well-researched mix of step-by-step solutions and troubleshooting tips. Continue reading

Designed by Shawna Coronado, the DeWit Potting Scoop possesses a host of features that small space and container gardeners will particularly appreciate. Continue reading

March at Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco is all about the Magnolias, Rhododendrons and Camellias. Did you know Strybing has the largest collection of Magnolias outside of China? Continue reading

A sophisticated way to combine color is via a split complementary scheme. The result can be a combination that retains the vibrancy of a traditional complementary color scheme, but with more subtlety and sophistication. Continue reading

Garden app: Foolproof Plants for Small Gardens (Sutro Media) available from both iTunes and Google Play for $2.99 with almost 100 plants and 450 photos, this app highlights some of the best options for ornamental plants that stay a manageable size. Continue reading

Fans of Sunset magazine, cocktails and gardening should count themselves lucky in February, because this is the month when they all converge. In celebration of her soon-to-be released new book, The Drunken Botanist, noted author, Gardenranter and cocktail aficionado Amy Stewart shares photos from her new garden filled with botanical ingredients and garnishes—and even a cocktail recipe, la vie en elderflower. Continue reading

The Naples Garden Club is a warm and welcoming group, and none more so than my charming hostess Linda and her equally gracious husband Jerry. I arrived at their home in the late afternoon, and Linda correctly guessed that the first thing I would want to do was tour her garden. Here’s a peak at Linda’s glorious garden: Continue reading

In Why Grow That When You Can Grow This?: 255 Extraordinary Alternatives to Everyday Problem Plants, Andrew Keys shows us that we can enjoy the garden of our dreams, without resorting to extraordinary measures. Reading this book is like swapping plant recommendations with your best gardening friend. Continue reading

Determining what is wrong with an existing garden is often more challenging than creating a new one from scratch. Why not add another diagnostic tool to your gardening toolkit? Not to mention it’s just plain fun to rethink an outdoor space through the lens of the Feng Shui Creative Cycle. Continue reading