Regions / Western States
Western States - Inspiring Garden Ideas For All Gardeners
A plant's performance is not only governed by its hardiness or heat tolerance but also by many other factors such as the length of growing season, timing and amount of rainfall, winter lows, summer highs, wind, and humidity. Sunset Magazine has developed a Climate Zones map, which takes all these factors into account and has long been the standard among gardeners who live in the 13 western states. Unlike the U.S.D.A. map which tells you only where a plant may survive the winter, the Climate Zones map shows where that plant will thrive year-round.
If you know your climate zone, find the best plants or exciting garden ideas for your geographic area.
A Lovely Backyard Retreat with Achillea, Festuca and Grasses
A plant combination which is long-lasting, drought tolerant and low care. Enjoy weeks of color while doing virtually nothing!
A Californian Retreat
Isn't this spectacular plant combination a real masterpiece with its staggering reddish rosettes of Paddle Plants (Kalanchoe Luciae) providing a strong architectural and exotic presence in this border?
A Casual Border with Poppies, Tickseed and Mullein
This prairie-style planting combines easy-to-grow annuals and perennials in an exuberant mix of forms and colors. All plants are deer resistant, drought tolerant and low maintenance. Most make lovely fresh bouquets to be enjoyed at home.
Flowers and Herbs for a Rock Garden
This charming rock garden combines easy-to-grow annuals, perennials, and herbs in a pretty mix of forms and colors. All plants are deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, and low maintenance. Some make lovely fresh bouquets to be enjoyed at home and others will give a magnificent taste to your cuisine.
A Casual and Impressionistic Planting Combination
A scenery that reminds of Monet's Poppy Field in Argenteuil, where colorful blobs of paint start from a sprinkling of poppies. This casual and impressionistic planting combination is fairly easy to re-create and requires little maintenance.
A Beautiful Duo with Agave 'Blue Flame' and 'Blue Glow'
Simple but stunning, this Mediterranean duo includes two spectacular Agave hybrids. Imagine how gorgeous this duo becomes when backlit by the sun in early morning or late afternoon!
A Spectacular Spring Border Idea with Tulip 'Heart's Delight' & Crocus 'Remembrance'
A fabulous flower carpet in early spring! Prior to the blooming of the majority of the perennials, the crocuses will be happily and busily cheering up the garden
A Four-Season Border with Evergreen Conifers and Japanese Maples
While a single Japanese maple can provide a striking focal point, when combined with other maples of different graceful habits, elegantly cut leaves and extraordinarily colorful foliage, the effect is spectacular. If you add a few evergreen shrubs, trees or herbaceous plants, your garden becomes a place of outstanding beauty all year long.
A Glowing Winter Border with Dogwood, Heath and Grasses
This incredibly pretty planting includes plants of great winter interest that will lift your spirits during the dull days of winter.
A Cheerful Winter Border Idea with Hellebores and Cyclamens
Low care, Hellebores and Cyclamen are invaluable additions to the shade garden and provide gardeners with some of the greatest pleasures in winter.
A Traffic-Stopping Spring Border Idea with Bold Tulips and Muscari
Get creative and cheer up your mid-late spring garden! Cobalt blue muscari and glowing golden yellow tulips adorned with fiery scarlet edges, make a bold impression together. Fairly easy to replicate, even for the beginner gardener!
An Eye-Catching Winter Border Idea with Colorful Twigs and Cyclamens
Low maintenance and fairly easy to replicate, this planting includes top-performing plants which have been awarded prestigious awards. Enjoy a glorious and colorful spectacle from winter to even spring!
A Fragrant Spring Border with Tulip 'Heart's Delight', Muscari Latifolium, Hyacinths 'Woodstock' & 'Splendid Cornelia'
A fabulous flower carpet in early - mid spring!
A Sparkling Spring Border Idea with Heaths and Wood Anemones
Get your winter landscape to burst into vivid life!
An Eye-Catching Border Idea with colorful Allium and Euphorbia
Create long-lasting, pleasing contrasts in your garden. Combine the showy, bright greenish-yellow flowers of Euphorbia palustris (Marsh Spurge) with the attractive, burnt orange flowers and red-tinged leaves of Euphorbia griffithii 'Fern Cottage' (Spurge). Fairly easy to re-create, deer and rabbit resistant, and low maintenance!
