Organized by season, this lyrical yet practical guide to backyard restoration gardening celebrates the beauty, the challenges, and the rewards of growing California native plants at home. Judith Larner Lowry, winner of the prestigious John Burroughs award, here builds on themes from her best-selling Gardening with a Wild Heart, which introduced restoration gardening as a new way of thinking about land and people. Drawing on her experiences in her own garden, Lowry offers guidance on how to plan a garden with birds, plants, and insects in mind; how to shape it with trees and shrubs, paths and trails, ponds, and other features; and how to cultivate, maintain, and harvest seeds and food from a diverse array of native annuals and perennials. Working in passionate collaboration with the scrub jays, quail, ants, and deer who visit her garden, and inspired by other gardeners, including some of the women pioneers of native plant horticulture, Lowry shares the delights of creating site-specific, ever-changing gardens that can help us better understand our place in the natural world. “I recommend this book to anyone . . . contemplating a restoration project . . . as Mrs. Lowry’s knowledge of native plants will inspire you.” ― Botanical Rsrch Inst Of Tx, Jbrit Published On: 2010-11-09 “There is much wisdom here.” ― Ibis Published On: 2007-12-01 "Willful, eloquent, and humorous, Judith Lowry broadens and deepens the themes found in her popular first book, Gardening with a Wild Heart. Grizzly bear and scrub jay join native people and a company of colorful personalities in a celebration of our home ground, a place called California." David Fross, coauthor of Ceanothus and California Native Plants for the Garden "In humorous, accessible, and inspirational prose, Judith Larner Lowry reminds us that California truly does have real seasons. All we have to do is listen to the native animals and plants around us." Jerry Emory, author of The Monterey Bay Shoreline Guide "With much beauty and elegance, Judith Lowry underscores the importance of restoration gardening as a way to honor Native American traditions, protect biodiversity, and restore our relationship with the earth. A must read for those interested in how we might become truly native to the places where we live." M. Kat Anderson, author of Tending the Wild "Within the pulse of California's five seasons, this finely calibrated treatise is a beguiling and eminently accessible model of a restoration gardener's physical and mental engagement with the vegetable world. From the horticultural accomplishments of formidable women in her field to the age-old interactions between animals and plants, Lowry gives us an attentive, lyrical guide to full inhabitation of our landscape." Lillian Vallee, poet, translator and columnist for Stanislaus Connections "Judith Larner Lowry combines a spiritual love of nature with practical suggestions and stories for renewal of the beauty and restorative power of gardens. She leads you through the 'five' seasons of California gardening and lays a plan to recreate, renew and revive California's natural native beauty and in the process your soul." Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club "Willful, eloquent, and humorous, Judith Lowry broadens and deepens the themes found in her popular first book, Gardening with a Wild Heart. Grizzly bear and scrub jay join native people and a company of colorful personalities in a celebration of our home ground, a place called California."―David Fross, coauthor of Ceanothus and California Native Plants for the Garden "In humorous, accessible, and inspirational prose, Judith Larner Lowry reminds us that California truly does have real seasons. All we have to do is listen to the native animals and plants around us."―Jerry Emory, author of The Monterey Bay Shoreline Guide "With much beauty and elegance, Judith Lowry underscores the importance of restoration gardening as a way to honor Native American traditions, protect biodiversity, and restore our relationship with the earth. A must read for those interested in how we might become truly native to the places where we live."―M. Kat Anderson, author of Tending the Wild "Within the pulse of California's five seasons, this finely calibrated treatise is a beguiling and eminently accessible model of a restoration gardener's physical and mental engagement with the vegetable world. From the horticultural accomplishments of formidable women in her field to the age-old interactions between animals and plants, Lowry gives us an attentive, lyrical guide to full inhabitation of our landscape."―Lillian Vallee, poet, translator and columnist for Stanislaus Connections "Judith Larner Lowry combines a spiritual love of nature with practical suggestions and stories for renewal of the beauty and restorative power of gardens. She leads you through the 'five' seasons of California gardening and lays a plan to recreate, renew and revive Californ