While this garden is open all year round, visiting it during the tour day provides an opportunity to ask the docents about any particularly interesting plants or features.

Address: 221 Bryant Ave, Mountain View (click the address to show it on a map).

Directions: From El Camino Real, turn onto Grant Rd and continue for about 1.5 miles, then turn left onto Bryant Ave. The destination will be the fourth building on the right. Use the church parking lot.

Showcase Features: Should churches set an example with their gardens? The Church Welcome Garden answers this question, and hopes to inspire other churches to go native. While the back includes some edible and some traditional exotics, California natives predominate in the Welcome garden in the front. Attractively designed with small walkways, the garden includes ceanothus and penstemon, with beautiful blue blossoms in spring, monardella, artemesia, and other drought tolerant natives. For the children, the designer added the non-native lambs ear for touch and some wooly thyme for fragrance. In the shade, hummingbird sage and oregon grape are easy to care for and beautiful year round. Since last year, the native section of the garden has grown to include an area on the other side of the driveway. Originally, this area included junipers; now it is a lovely mix of spice bush, carpenteria, hummingbird sage, ceanothus, evergreen currant, pink flowering currant, and more. The mix of shade and sun in this area has provided a great opportunity to allow more understory plants to really shine

Other Garden Attractions: A large bubbling and splashing fountain attracts many birds, and nearby benches and sitting rocks are perfect spots for viewing them. The long bloom season of the natives that were chosen for this garden is enjoyed by neighbors, passersby, and church attendees. The Santa Clara Valley Water District lawn replacement rebate program was used to help fund the new landscaping.

Gardening for Wildlife: For the birds, nearby trees offer shelter and nesting spaces, the fountain offers water. Lizards enjoy the rocks, and native bees, honey bees, and other pollinators are found among the flowers.

Years of CA Native Gardening at this Location: 5

Garden Size: 2350 sq ft

Designer: Stephanie Morris
Installer: Vidal Landscaping

Click here to display the plant list in a printer-friendly format (from year 2014).