Choosing great-looking plants that are well-adapted to a garden’s unique light and soil conditions will always be a challenge, and the variables presented by San Francisco’s diverse microclimates and topography make the task even trickier. However, the Bay Area gardens designed by Dani Coulter of Friday Gardens exude a casual elegance that belies the diligent research and effort that have gone into finding the perfect plants for each site. The stylish outdoor rooms that she designs blur the line between home and garden.
Learn more about the three gardens that were featured in the cover story of Fine Gardening’s summer 2025 issue here.
1. ‘Silver Sheen’ pittosporum (Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Silver Sheen’, Zones 8–11)
2. Horsetail restio (Elegia capensis, Zones 9–11)
3. ‘After Dark’ peppermint willow (Agonis flexuosa ‘After Dark’, Zones 9–11 )
4. ‘Concha’ California lilac (Ceanothus ‘Concha’, Zones 7–10)
5. Platinum Beauty® lomandra (Lomandra longifolia ‘Roma13’, Zones 8–10)
6. ‘Yankee Point’ California lilac (Ceanothus griseus horizontalis ‘Yankee Point’, Zones 8–11)
7. No-mow mix of California native fescues (Festuca idahoensis, rubra, and F. occidentalis, Zones 4–10).
8. Coral aloe (Aloe striata, Zones 9–11)
9. ‘Moonshine’ yarrow (Achillea ‘Moonshine’, Zones 3–8)
1. African fern pine (Afrocarpus gracilio Podocarpus glacilior, Zones 9–11)
2. Cousin Itt acacia (Acacia cognata ‘ACCOG01’, Zones 9–11)
3. ‘Safari Sunset’ cone bush (Leucadendron ‘Safari Sunset’, Zones 9–11)
4. Platinum Beauty® lomandra (Lomandra longifolia ‘Roma13’, Zones 8–10)
5. Billy Buttons (Craspedia globosa, Zones 8–11)
6. Manzanita (Arctostaphylos, Zones 8–10)
7. Meyer lemon (Citrus x meyeri, Zones 9–11)
1. Blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens, Zones 4–8)
2. Foxtail agave (Agave attenuata, Zones 10–11)
3. Buttercup the rabbit🐰 (Oryctolagus cuniculus ‘Buttercup’)
4. Platinum Beauty® lomandra (Lomandra longifolia ‘Roma13’, Zones 8–10)
5. Platinum Beauty® lomandra (Lomandra longifolia ‘Roma13’, Zones 8–10)
6. Tree germander (Teucrium fruticans, Zones 8–10)
1. Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis, Zones 9–11)
2. Kohuhu (Pittosporum tenuifolium, Zones 8–11)
3. Horsetail (Equisetum hyemale, Zones 4–9)
4. Smoketree (Cotinus coggygria, Zones 4–9)
5. Pittosporum (Pittosporum tenuifolium , Zones 8–11)
6. Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus, Zones 7–10)
7. Blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens, Zones 4–8)
8. White licorice (Helichrysum petiolare, Zones 9–10)
9. Platinum Beauty® lomandra (Lomandra longifolia ‘Roma13’, Zones 8–10)
10. Tree germander (Teucrium fruticans, Zones 8–10)
1. Wooly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus, Zones 5–8)
2. Blue fescue (Festuca glauca, Zones 4–9)
3. ‘Silver Falls’ silver ponysfoot (Dichondra argentia ‘Silver Falls’, Zones 10–12)
4. California blue sage (Salvia clevelandii, Zones 8–10)
5. Spiny-headed mat rush (Lomandra longifolia, Zones 8–10)
6. California blue sage (Salvia clevelandii, Zones 8–10)
7. Breeze mat rush (Lomandra longifolia ‘LM300’, Zones 8–11)
8. Spiny-headed mat rush (Lomandra longifolia, Zones 8–10)
9. Cone bush (Leucadendron Zones 9–11)
10. Bell reed (Cannomois grandis, Zones 9–11)
11. Queen’s crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia speciosa, Zones 10–12)
Read more about this garden in 3 Takes on a Contemporary Backyard by Dani Coulter
Carol Collins is the editor of Fine Gardening magazine.
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Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
This revised and updated edition of Jessica Walliser’s award-winning Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden offers a valuable and science-backed plan for bringing balance back to the garden. With this indispensable gardening reference—now updated with new research, insights, and voices—learn how to create a healthy, balanced, and diverse garden capable of supporting a hard-working crew of beneficial pest-eating insects and eliminate the need for synthetic chemical pesticides.
Gardener’s Log Book from NYBG
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This weatherproof five-year log book includes the following features:
· Sturdy waterproof cover to protect pages from rain and muddy soil
· Lined pages and gridded paper for plotting beds
· Five years of 12-month bloom and harvest grids for recording what you planted and when
· Authoritative appendices on composting, pruning, pest and disease control, and container gardening
· Useful reminders by season on fertilizing, mulching, and transplanting
· Space for listing your favorite sources and suppliers.
Buffalo-Style Gardens: Create a Quirky, One-of-a-Kind Private Garden with Eye-Catching Designs
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Buffalo-Style Gardens is a one-of-a-kind, offbeat garden design book that showcases the wildly inventive gardens and gardeners of Buffalo – and offers readers “the best of the best” ideas to use in their own small-space gardens.
