Under Western Skies: Visionary Gardens from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast

by Jennifer Jewell, Caitlin Atkinson (Photographer)

Overview

“Both poetic and practical and celebrates the diversity of garden design throughout the West.” —Sunset

From windswept deserts to misty seaside hills and verdant valleys, the natural landscapes of the American West offer an astounding variety of climates for gardens. Under Western Skies reveals thirty-six of the most innovative designs—all embracing and celebrating the very soul of the land on which they grow. For the gardeners featured here, nature is the ultimate inspiration rather than something to be dominated, and Under Western Skies shows the strong connection each garden has with its place. Packed with Atkinson’s stunning photographs and illuminated by Jewell’s deep interest in the relationships between people and the spaces they inhabit, Under Western Skies offers page after page of encouraging ingenuity and inventive design for passionate gardeners who call the West home.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604699999
Publisher:	Timber Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/11/2021
Pages:	412
Sales rank:	521,307
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 10.70(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Caitlin Atkinson is a photographer of places, spaces, and all things botanical. She was the photographer for the books Dry Gardens: High Style for Low Water Gardens and Designing with Palms, among others. Her photographs have appeared in Elle Decor, Dwell, Martha Stewart Living, and Architectural Digest. When not photographing gardens, you can find her digging in her own patch of dirt. See more of her work on Instagram @caitlinatkinson_photography or at www.caitlinatkinson.com.
 
Jennifer Jewell is a gardener, garden writer, and gardening educator and advocate. Since 2016, she has written and hosted the national award-winning, weekly public radio program and podcast, Cultivating Place, a coproduction of North State Public Radio in Chico, California. Jennifer’s work has appeared in Gardens Illustrated, House & Garden, Natural Home, Old House Journal, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, and Pacific Horticulture. 
 

Table of Contents

Preface 7

Southwest

Desert Modern 12

Phoenix, Arizona

Michele Shelor

Rancho Arroyo 22

Phoenix, Arizona

Virginia Cave

Desert Botanical Garden 32

Phoenix, Arizona

Tano Point 42

Santa Fe County, New Mexico

Karen Still with Surroundings Studio

Radicle Desert 54

Santa Fe County, New Mexico

Academy for the Love of Learning and Christie Green

The Ripple Effect 68

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Hunter Ten Broeck

Marfa Garden 78

Marfa, Texas

Jim Martinez and Jim Fissel

The Capri 90

Marfa, Texas

Virginia Lebermann with Christy Ten Eyck

Southern California

Peninsular Range Garden 104

Poway

Dennis Mudd

Nature Gardens 116

Los Angeles

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Edendale Garden 126

Echo Park, Los Angeles

David Godshall

Native Gathering Garden and Chumash Indian Museum 138

Santa Monica Mountains

Kat High, Barbara Tejada, and Brianna Rotella

California Scenario 146

Costa Mesa

Isamu Noguchi

Red Hill Garden 154

Echo Park, Los Angeles

Jenny Jones

Taft Gardens and Nature Preserve 162

Ojai

John Taft

Northern California

Carmel Bay Garden 176

Carmel-by-the-Sea

Bernard Trainor

Marwin Gardens 186

Watsonville

Sandi Martin

Silicon Valley Nature Renurtured 198

Los Altos

Ronald Koo and Miwa Hayashi with Leslie Bennett

Lands End Lookout 206

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Surfacedesign

Hog Hill 216

Sebastopol

Mary and Lew Reid

Sebastopol Local Love Story 228

Sebastopol

Phil Van Soelen

Dawn Gardens 236

Grass Valley

Barry Friesen

Intermountain West

Mojo Gardens 252

Woody Creek Canyon, Colorado

Isa Catto Shaw

Great Salt Lake Valley 262

Salt Lake City, Utah

Red Butte Garden and Fritz Kollmann

Boise Valley 274

Boise, Idaho

Idaho Botanical Garden and Mary Ann Newcomer

Palouse Garden 286

Pullman, Washington

Suzanne St. Pierre and Scotty Thompson

Hellstrip Garden 296

Fort Collins, Colorado

Lauren Springer

Thomas the Apostle Center 302

Cody, Wyoming

Connie and Jay Moody

Front Range Garden 310

Boulder County, Colorado

Mary and Larry Scripter with Lauren Springer

Pacific Northwest

Columbia River Gorge Garden 322

Hood River, Oregon

Sheila Ford Richmond with Drew Merritt

Harborton Hill 332

Portland, Oregon

Bob Hyland and Andrew Beckman

Family Heritage Garden 344

Castle Rock, Washington

Evan Bean

Heronswood 352

Kingston, Washington

Joan Garrow with Dan Hinkley and Nathan Lamb

Urban Habitat 364

North Seattle, Washington

Manda Galbraith

Kitsap Peninsula Garden 372

Indianola, Washington

Nancy Heckler

Cougar Annie's Garden at Boat Basin 382

Vancouver Island, Canada

Peter Buckland

Acknowledgments 394

Profiled Firms and Public Gardens 396

Index 398

Editorial Reviews

03/01/2021

“The West and its gardens and gardeners have lessons for us all,” writes Jewell (The Earth in Her Hands), creator of the radio program Cultivating Place, in this vibrant tour of three dozen gardens. Each entry surveys the locale, the plants, and the gardener behind it: Michele Shelor’s “Desert Modern” in Phoenix, Ariz., for example, is filled with only native plants that receive water through drip irrigation. (Water is, not surprisingly, a theme throughout gardens in the American West.) The garden at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles is cared for by Lila Higgins, who believes that understanding a region’s natural beauty may require addressing how much water is enough, while Suzanne St. Pierre, the retired nurserywoman of Palouse Garden in Pullman, Wash., believes humans are “encoded as creatures to respond to beauty.” Along the way, Jewell pays tribute to the Indigenous homelands upon which these gardens grow, such as San Francisco’s Lands End Lookout, which was first lived on by the Ohlone and Miwok people, and the Chumash Indian Museum’s “ethnobotanical garden” in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Rich photographs complement Jewell’s lyrical musings (“The Sonoran Desert bears a strong sense of the ephemeral”). Gardeners are in for a treat. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

How lucky we are to have Atkinson and Jewell as our guides on this world-class garden tour of the North American West. They offer a rich portrait of this varied landscape, the transformative gardens inspired by it, and the pure joy to be found in the natural world.” —Melissa Ozawa, features editor, Martha Stewart Living

“Pitch perfect, Under Western Skies notes the value of ecology and art in gardens both private and public.” —Christin Geall, florist and photographer, author ofCultivated: Elements of Floral Style

“A beautiful homage to the light and majesty of barely tamed wildness and an intimate portrait of people planting their spaces in collaboration with place.” —Lorene Edwards Forkner, speaker, writer, and Seattle Times columnist

“Atkinson and Jewell invite each of us to reimagine one’s connection to the land while cultivating nature close to home. A must-read for anyone searching for inspired solutions for designing or refining a garden.” —Emily Murphy, author of Grow What You Love and founder of Pass the Pistil

“A vibrant tour of three dozen gardens. Each entry surveys the locale, the plants, and the gardener behind it…along the way, Jewell pays tribute to the Indigenous homelands upon which these gardens grow…Rich photographs complement Jewell’s lyrical musings. Gardeners are in for a treat.” —Publishers Weekly

“One of the most inspiring compendiums of exquisitely landscaped gardens we’ve come across in years. Written by Jennifer Jewell and photographed by Caitlin Atkinson, the book is both poetic and practical and celebrates the diversity of garden design throughout the West.” —Sunset

“An extraordinary new book.” —Gardenista

“Under Western Skies will delight any gardener who enjoys seeing how others respond to challenges to create transcendent gardens rooted in place.” —Digging

“How lucky we are to have Atkinson and Jewell as our guides on this world-class garden tour of the North American West. They offer a rich portrait of this varied landscape, the transformative gardens inspired by it, and the pure joy to be found in the natural world.” —Melissa Ozawa, features editor, Martha Stewart Living

“Pitch perfect, Under Western Skies notes the value of ecology and art in gardens both private and public.” —Christin Geall, florist and photographer, author ofCultivated: Elements of Floral Style

“A beautiful homage to the light and majesty of barely tamed wildness and an intimate portrait of people planting their spaces in collaboration with place.” —Lorene Edwards Forkner, speaker, writer, and Seattle Times columnist

“Atkinson and Jewell invite each of us to reimagine one’s connection to the land while cultivating nature close to home. A must-read for anyone searching for inspired solutions for designing or refining a garden.” —Emily Murphy, author of Grow What You Love and founder of Pass the Pistil

“A vibrant tour of three dozen gardens. Each entry surveys the locale, the plants, and the gardener behind it…along the way, Jewell pays tribute to the Indigenous homelands upon which these gardens grow…Rich photographs complement Jewell’s lyrical musings. Gardeners are in for a treat.” —Publishers Weekly

“One of the most inspiring compendiums of exquisitely landscaped gardens we’ve come across in years. Written by Jennifer Jewell and photographed by Caitlin Atkinson, the book is both poetic and practical and celebrates the diversity of garden design throughout the West.” —Sunset

“An extraordinary new book.” —Gardenista

“Under Western Skies will delight any gardener who enjoys seeing how others respond to challenges to create transcendent gardens rooted in place.” —Digging

“This coffee table book is a beautifully photographed, thoughtful examination of gardens, told within a structure of place — both past and present — people and plants.”—The Seattle Times

From the Publisher

01/01/2021

Jewell (host, Cultivating Place podcast) and freelance photographer Atkinson profile 36 gardens in the five regions of the American West: Southwest, Southern California, Northern California, Intermountain West, and Pacific Northwest. Each profile describes the garden's locale, including climate, geography, and an Indigenous land acknowledgment, then introduces the designer and/or owner and their intent and approach. The remainder of each profile focuses on the plants. Profiles are accompanied by numerous photos showing both overall layout and up-close views. The work includes public and private gardens, most large but a few that utilize small spaces. All profiled gardens are connected to and in harmony with their local surroundings, with a focus on climate, soil, and—especially—water use. Many featured plants are native species or their cultivars; some will be unfamiliar to casual gardeners and unlikely to be found in big box garden centers. Botanical names are provided for most species, but some captions use botanical and common names inconsistently or omit well-known common names that would help readers recognize familiar plants. VERDICT This book will provide readers with a deeper appreciation of the diversity of the Western landscape and inspiration for creating and cultivating gardens adapted to challenging and sometimes unforgiving sites.—Janet Crum, Northern Arizona Univ. Lib., Flagstaff

Library Journal