The Ojai Garden

The Demo Garden's Matilija Poppies have just begun to bloom. These local beauties are certainly worth waiting for! Photo by Les Dublin

Posted by Ojai Community Demonstration Garden at 06:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | author bio

The Ojai Community Demonstration Garden boasts several varieties of Rock Roses. They are beautiful, drought-tolerant shrubs that create quite a show in the spring. The masses of flowers are appreciated for their good looks, as well as their pollen! Photos by Les Dublin

Posted by Ojai Community Demonstration Garden at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | author bio

The demo garden’s many varieties of irises prolong the blooming season of these ephemeral beauties. Photos by Les Dublin

Posted by Ojai Community Demonstration Garden at 09:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | author bio

As part of the 80th Anniversary Celebration of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, they are hosting the Great Garden Shoot Out Amateur Photo Contest, culminating on Sunday, May 28. $10 gets you an entry, and winners get photos into the Independent.

As far as I'm concerned, our own Les Dublin is a shoo-in. Did you see that dragonfly pic below? Wow... Thanks to Sasha for the tip.

Posted by Tyler Suchman at 09:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | author bio

The Demo Garden's two ponds provide a home for Darner Dragonflies. Because darners eat large quantities of mosquitoes and other flying insects, like flies and midges, they play an important role in an organic garden. Seen up close, they also rival some of the garden's showiest blossoms! Photo by Les Dublin

Posted by Ojai Community Demonstration Garden at 05:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | author bio

Monet himself would be inspired by the beauty of the water lilies blooming in this pond in the Ojai Community Demonstration Garden. Photo by Les Dublin

Posted by Ojai Community Demonstration Garden at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | author bio

Many gardening enthusiasts enjoyed visiting the Demo Garden today. The garden's masses of May flowers looked even brighter against the gray sky that stuck around for most of the Garden Tour. Volunteers and City of Ojai employees were on hand to chat with visitors and answer their questions about plants, natural pest control and composting. Photo by Les Dublin

Posted by Ojai Community Demonstration Garden at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | author bio

Hello to new readers of The Ojai Garden. We hope you enjoyed the Ojai Garden Tour today, and had the opportunity to check out some beautiful local gardens. This website is a community blog - if you take a look at the right-hand column, you'll see the Ojai Destinations and Ojai Garden Authors who participate by blogging (aka journaling) about their outdoor experiences here in Ojai. If you are interested in being an author yourself, email tyler -(at)- ojaigarden dot com.

Click the "Continue Reading..." link below to see photos from all of the stops on today's Ojai Garden Tour!

Click the photos below to pop-up larger images. You will see all of the participating gardens, with the exception of the Ojai Community Demonstration Garden, because I know that Les Dublin is snapping photos, and he has a much better camera than I - keep an eye out for his posts!

Alisa & Steve Varney Garden on South La Luna - 8.5 acres, meandering gardens, many rose and lavender varieties and warm hospitality.

Casa Geronimo - Anctil Gardens on Rice Road - Water ponds, secret gardens, beautiful hand-carved woodwork and more made this a special stop on the Tour.

Mountain Meadows Nursery on Baldwin Rd - Ellen Sherwood of La Piu Bella Tavola was on hand to demonstrate how to integrate herbs into food - we noshed on herbed butter on crostini, thinly sliced pear topped with blended marscapone and walnuts and a classic bruscetta with goat cheese. Molto Bene!

Colby Garden and The Fickeworth Garden on Linda Flora - side-by-side homes featured beautiful manicured gardens, large lawns and flowers in full bloom.

The Kalnins Garden on Puesta Del Sol - a beautiful little backyard garden filled with Australian, Mediterranean and Southwestern plants opens onto a stunning view of the Ventura River Valley with a slice of Lake Casitas in the distance.

Posted by Tyler Suchman at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | author bio

Saturday morning, a little gloomy, hopefully the sun will peek out as garden enthusiasts make their way from garden to garden on the 2006 Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce Garden Tour. OjaiGarden.com is sponsoring the event, so you'll see a sign at each of the locations. And maybe me too. Enjoy one of the things that makes Ojai truly special and unique.

Fun photo after the jump...

This not so little guy was flying around our backyard. He paused on a bike tire long enough for a decent photo. He was a very welcome visitor.

Posted by Tyler Suchman at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | author bio

Pride of Madera creates some drama on a foggy day in the Demo Garden. Photo by Les Dublin

Posted by Ojai Community Demonstration Garden at 09:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | author bio