What makes a garden regionally appropriate? Fifteen private gardens designed by leading landscape architects answer that question for arid Southern California by directly addressing the climate, landscape, and culture they inhabit. Whether small or large, urban or rural, luxurious or low budget, these resilient outdoor spaces are finely attuned to the Mediterranean climate and the indoor-outdoor lifestyle for which Southern California is known. They make use of local building materials and craftspeople and offer their owners a unique emotional connection to nature. Firmly planted in time and place, the projects, complete with plans, define not so much a style as an experience and thrive with little effort from their owners.

Los Angeles's dramatic setting, Mediterranean climate, and outdoor lifestyle have long attracted creative individuals to its diverse neighborhoods. The residents profiled in City of Angels represent a mix of film producers and directors, artists, photographers, collectors, architects, interior designers, gardeners, artisans, and bohemians living happily in houses designed by renowned architects, interior designers, and garden designers, including Lloyd Wright, Paul Williams, Rudolph Schindler, Richard Neutra, Peter Dunham, David Netto, Waldo Fernandez, Joel Chen, Kulapat Yantrasast, Suzanne Rheinstein, and Michael D. Smith. Jennifer Ash Rudick leads an insider's tour of thirty houses, bungalows, pool houses, artists' studios, and art-filled compounds that feature the best of contemporary architecture and interior design.

You can’t always get what you want—unless, that is, you’re into palms. Lisa Gimmy, ASLA, of Lisa Gimmy Landscape Architecture in Los Angeles, finds palms uniquely suited to small gardens, given small root balls that leave “a very tiny footprint on the ground.” One that Gimmy likes to use is the blue hesper or Mexican blue palm (Brahea armata), native to Baja California, Mexico, with stunning, silvery-blue, fan-shaped fronds and creamy white flower clusters that cascade down from the leaves. Gimmy selects palms for spatial characteristics first, then for texture, leaf color, and the character of the trunk...

Palms are a landscape staple in warm, temperate climates worldwide. But these stunning and statement-making plants are large, expensive, and difficult to install, resulting in unique design challenges. In Designing with Palms, palm expert Jason Dewees details every major aspect of designing and caring for palms. This definitive guide shares essential information on planting, irrigation, nutrition, pruning, and transplanting. A gallery of the most important species showcases the range of options available, and stunning photographs by Caitlin Atkinson spotlight examples of home and public landscapes that make excellent use of palms.

Up until now, many of these gardens have only been enjoyed by family and friends. They spotlight innovative design, native plants, natural scenery, and Guatemala’s rich history and culture.

Stunning photographs show how plants and architectural features come together to create extraordinary indoor and outdoor living spaces.

The book is divided into six regions, each with its own unique topography, climate, and character.

Lisa Gimmy, MLA (Harvard Graduate School of Design), ASLA, LEED AP, has spent nearly 30 years of her professional life as a designer and educator, and over 20 as the principal of the firm that carries her name. After working for SWA, she founded LGLA in 1992 and has earned a reputation for creating beautiful gardens that invite their owners to enjoy outdoor living. Each garden is a detailed response to a specific set of conditions, including the client's program, the architecture and the setting.

As the creator and executive producer of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” David Collins is well versed in Cinderella-inspired makeovers.

And like the men in his popular reality show, which is scheduled to receive a reboot on Netflix this year, his 1926 Spanish bungalow and garden in Atwater Village was in desperate need of a makeover.

Imagine what a difference it would make in your garden to switch out earth-toned pots that blend in with the background with containers that visually pop in shades of blue, red, orange or even purple. Colorful containers can be used in many ways to stand out and grab our attention in outdoor spaces — often where it’s more challenging to add color.

How our latest midcentury modern design obsession reflects our age of environmental anxiety

Leave it to a glowing, crackling fire to kick up the chatty and cozy factor at a backyard party.

Fire pits — which are portable or permanent troughs or bowls that contain the flames — are expected to be the most popular outdoor design element this year, according to a survey from the American Society of Landscape Architects.