Showcase Features: This lovely established terraced hillside garden features colorful natives from a variety of plant communities, a living roof, a unique water feature, and original art.

Other Garden Attractions: Four different varieties of dwarf fruit trees espaliered on mirage trellises are under planted with native buckwheat, salvia, penstemon, and douglas iris. A view from the dining room has been improved by building a tall wall near the fence, with a green roof and complex original mosaic murals; one scene blends art with reality, as a pipe in the mosaic waterfall spills into a man-made creek below the mural. On both sides of the creek, softly undulating berms provide the appropriate slope for varieties of monkeyflower, native grasses, coyote mint, penstemon, salvia, buckwheat, woolly blue curls, and hummingbird fuchsia. In the shadier portion of the garden, dwarf conifers share space with hollyleaf cherry, vine maple, snowberry, coral bells, currants, gooseberries, coffeeberry, and other natives. Some plants are set closer together or closer to walls than their mature size would suggest, but the owner plans to espalier some and remove others as the garden matures to prevent crowding. This environmentally friendly, art-filled garden offers many places to sit and enjoy the view.

Gardening for Wildlife: Crows, jays, hummingbirds, juncos, hawks, sparrows, butterflies, spiders and lizards frequent this garden. Food, shelter and water are available with a large variety of plants, stone sink, active constructed creek and wall fountain.

☺ Garden Talk: 12:00 - 2:00 PM: Chef Julian Silvera, executive chef at the Tasting House in Los Gatos, will showcase the rich flavors of California native edible plants with a special tasting experience. He collaborates with Hester Farm, a regenerative organic farm in San Jose, to create innovative dishes using native fruits, edible shrubs, and riparian plants.

Years of CA Native Gardening at this Location: 20

Garden Size: 5,000 sq ft

Designer: Alrie Middlebrook, Middlebrook Gardens
Installer: Middlebrook Gardens

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