© Saxon Holt Photography
Anni Jensen and Carol Manahan's garden
Richmond
Garden Lot size: 5,000 square feet
Years gardened at this location (Gardening Experience): 11 years (29 years)
Showcase feature: This eclectic mixture of California natives, ornamentals, fruits, and vegetables is a riot of spring color. Designed and installed by the gardeners, this diverse garden contains 130 species of native plants and hundreds more species of ornamentals and edibles. The parking strips, front and side gardens receive no summer water (except for first-year plants and a young redbud). The coastal prairie plants were selected because they might have grown on this site when the Huchiun Indians lived in their nearby village along Wildcat Creek.
© Saxon Holt Photography
Other garden attractions:
- Browse the lists of the "Top 20 Butterfly, Hummingbird and Bee Plants in Our Garden," and read Anni's essay "The Garden Before Us" which describes the history of the garden site since 1750.
- See Carol's native bee and butterfly photos taken in the garden, many while the insects sipped nectar or gathered pollen from native plants
- Study the gallery of native plant identification photos; don't miss the display boards with the '‘before“and "garden through the seasons" photos.
- This spectacular garden has been featured in Sunset Magazine, Gardening How-To Magazine, and the S.F. Chronicle.
© Saxon Holt Photography
Gardening for Wildlife: Seeds, bramble thickets, and a birdbath and mister make this garden as attractive to wildlife as it is to people. Hummers love the “hummingbird buffet”, and spend their days flitting back and forth between the buffet and the native grassland. Sixteen species of butterflies have been seen in the garden, which contains numerous butterfly larval plants and more than twenty species of nectar plants. The gardeners pride themselves on having created a "bug paradise."
Native plant-related items sold/given away: The California Natives Plant Society will sell native plant reference books and memberships. Join CNPS today and be entered in a drawing to receive a free landscape consultation!