Showcase Feature
Inspired by the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour and Doug Tallamy’s talks, Janet and Ed asked Pete Veilleux to remove the non-native ornamentals in their front garden and design and install a low maintenance, water-conserving garden that would provide food, shelter, and nesting areas for birds, bees, butterflies, and other forms of wildlife.
The resulting charming garden has something in flower nearly year-round. Lupines, monkeyflower, blue-eyed grass, coyote mint, and poppies brighten the garden in spring, and coast and rosy buckwheats provide color and interest in the summer and fall. Shady areas of the garden are lush with ferns, ocean spray, coffeeberry, currants, hummingbird sage and coral bells.
A variety of evergreen shrubs provide structure and stability throughout the year. Seven types of manzanitas (Emerald Carpet, Sentinel, Ken Taylor, Morrow Bay, Fort Bragg, Big Berry, and Austin Griffiths) that range from prostrate to large shrubs and everything in between, will be magnificent when mature. The purple-blue blossoms of four kinds of California lilac (Heart’s Desire, Centennial, Valley Violet, and Diamond Heights) delight native bees and passersby alike.
Check out the “Share Shack” (aka Little Neighborhood Library) Ed made from a farmhouse window and other reused materials—note the living roof, with its potpourri of succulents.
Other Garden Attractions
• Janet “Leaves the leaves!” as the caterpillars of many butterflies and moths tuck themselves into leaf litter for protection from predators and cold.
• This garden is grazed by deer.
• Restroom is available.
Gardening for Wildlife
They arrived right away: Bewick’s wrens nested in the garden almost as soon as it had been planted. Hummingbirds, drawn to the penstemon and monkeyflowers, sip nectar from their long, tubular flowers. Towhees search for insects in the soil, and finches glean seeds from the dried flower heads.
The beautiful, iridescent blue-black pipevine swallowtail butterfly lays on eggs on the California pipevine – the only plant these striking caterpillars can eat. Monarchs sense the milkweed and flutter through; bumblebees, other bees, grasshoppers, and damselflies also frequent the garden. In the quiet of the evenings fox frolic about, searching for rodents, insects, and berries.
• Check out the garage window that faces the garden, which has markers on the glass so birds can see it. Did you know that one billion birds in the U.S. die each year by flying into glass—and this often happens at our homes? You can prevent bird / glass collision deaths at your house or workplace by applying these markers to the exteriors of your windows. Janet used Feather Friendly; apply markers to your own windows, and prevent this #2 direct cause of bird mortality.
Garden Talks
11:00 “Planning your home electrification process” by Tom Graly
Keystone species (watch this talk by Doug Tallamy!)
Keystone species—our own, local ecological powerhouse plants— in this garden include currants, California lilac, manzanitas, sages, buckwheats, and penstemon.
Green Home Features
After buying the house in 2015, to conserve energy Janet and Ed hired a crew to seal gaps and insulate the attic and all exterior walls. The dilapidated windows were replaced and they installed a fourteen-panel solar system.
As part of a kitchen remodel in 2017 they purchased an induction range (“It’s so easy to clean, heats up so fast, and we’re happy to know we’re not breathing combustion products while we’re cooking,”) and in 2022 they hired EcoPerformance Builders to remove their inefficient gas heaters and install a Sanco heat pump for heating water and two ducted Fujitsu heat pump systems for heating and cooling—one system is for their house, and the second for the Airbnb unit on their property.
With new usage of electricity, they added 11 more solar panels and in 2025 celebrated removing their gas meter entirely. Not only are Janet and Ed protecting the environment and their own health by getting gas out of their home, but it’s paying off financially—the PG&E bill last year for their home was in the negative numbers—and that included charging the Bolt EUV and the RAV plug-in hybrid.
Come on in! Check out the induction stove, and take a look at the air return and vents for the ducted high-efficiency heat pump system (which both heats and cools the house—the free air conditioning has been wonderful on hot days!) On your way into the house, go to the right side of the porch, look down, and you can see the three heat pumps.) Information on the Sanco water heater will be available.
Ask Janet, Ed, or any of the other electrification volunteers your electrification questions.
At least partially wheelchair accessible? No
Great Recipe!
Easy Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles
Photos
Click to see as a slideshow:
