Last Sunday – OK, last Sunday in the Bay Area – maybe only the south Bay Area – was Native Plant Day. Every year, the Native Plant Society  hosts a series of open houses for gardens that are planted with Native Plants. Actually, because there are so many tempting plants that grow here if they only had year around water, usually these gardens have more than Native Plants.

The gardens seem to fall into three categories: true natives only which are very rare, natives with other plants that don't take much water, and, the most common of all, regular gardens or old gardens with some natives added.Either way, I always enjoy going to gardens where people are interested in plants. As an added bonus, these kind of gardens are often owned by plant people who are more than a little crazy anyway.

When I see a front yard like this, with a nice dry creek, I get very inspired to rip out our whole backyard.

And I am probably not the only one. Talking to fellow enthusiasts are what makes garden tours fun. Oh! and looking at nice natives like Iris douglasiana

 or these very colorful mesembryanthemums from South Africa.