Garden Touring

For my mother-in-law's birthday yesterday, Steve and I visited for an interesting activity: the Fifth Annual "Gardens Gone Native" tour sponsored by the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.

We drove around the Eastern side of Sacramento County, visiting houses to see their native and low-water-use plantings. Most of the gardens were modest and not all that striking. Two stops were actually fairly impressive, though.

Our first stop wasn't far from Steve's parents' house. We turned the corner in the nice, suburban neighborhood, graceful sloping (and water-hogging) lawns in front of most of the houses, and found a home whose front lawn had been completely removed and was now a gorgeous carpet of wildflowers.

Me and the in-laws:

Flowers!

A couple we encountered at that first stop gave us an address that was not on the natives tour, but they insisted that we must see the garden tour there. After an unimpressive stop, we wandered over to the given address and found an amazing network of backyard trails and beautiful shade gardening.

Steve and me on one of the trails:

Mother-in-law and I admire the azaleas:

Turned out to be a enjoyable day, capped off with a nice dinner out with Steve's eldest brother and said brother's wife.

Steve's and my garden looks a bit shabby by comparison, but rather than being discouraged, I feel inspired to continue our efforts.