This is where it all began. The garden was begun in 1549 and now has been in existence for 500 years. It was owned by the wealthy Medici family and became the example of formal gardens for Europe and the western world. Before this garden there were just farms owned by the rich and military…

I will be visiting Italy from May 4 thru May 25 and will visit some classical villas and gardens along with some newer gardens. The climate of Italy is Mediterranean which is the same as much of California so the plants used are similar. The first tour starts in Florence and goes to Pienza, Cortona,…

Here are some photos taken by Rick Krach of the Crystal Hermitage Tulip Garden or sometimes called The Ananda Tulip Garden which is about an hour north of Dawn Gardens off of Highway 49. https://www.flickr.com/photos/96352750@N05/albums/72177720298510200

Dawn Landscaping maintains the landscape at Crossroads Church at 10050 Wolf Rd., Grass Valley. This Nevada county campus has 17 acres. The buildings are the main sanctuary building, the north building for Jr. High meetings and other buildings rented to Say When Cafe & Deli, Graphics Center, Sutter Health Clinic, Forever Your Florist and other…

The Daffodil season starts in December at Dawn Gardens. All Daffodils are in the Narcissus genus and there are 13,000 varieties but Dawn Gardens has only about 100 of them. We planted about 50,000 daffodils in the past 20 years. Narcissus ‘Paper White’ bloom in December thru January and a few into February. They are…

Lonnie and Karen built a new house in S. Auburn and wanted a front garden with drought tolerant plants and no lawn. Here are views of the front of the house before the landscaping was installed: The weeds were sprayed and then, a week later, all the flat areas were rototilled to loosen up the…

Some plants have thin and sparse flower stems so you can see through them to the garden on the other side. These plants move in the wind and add kinetic interest to the garden. Gaura lindheimeri Verbena bonariensis Gay Feather (Liatris spicata) Molinea ‘Skyracer’ Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ Geum ‘Mrs. J. Bradshaw’ Incarvillea arguta Persicaria amplexicaulis…

On January 9, 2022 I went to visit friends in Walnut Creek California. We went to the Ruth Bancroft Garden where they had an evening light show. The cactus, Agaves, and succulents are striking enough during the day but at night it is like being in another world. The garden was planted in the 60’s…

Buzz and Sue’s front lawn in Auburn was using too much water so they asked me to replace it with perennials, grasses and shrubs. This is a chronology of the job: The lawn had 2 trees which were going to be left but pruned. The lawn was sprayed to kill the Bermuda Grass. The dead…

We don’t get much snow at Dawn Gardens since the elevation is only 1300′. But this year we got a little snow – just enough to bring winter beauty to the garden but not enough to cause damage. Here are a couple of videos taken on golf cart rides through the garden: The Camellia garden…