Rather than a tropical themed garden, I'd suggest you consider a waterwise garden. Most areas of SoCal are experiencing an extended drought (yeah, I know -- hard to imagine after this winter's rains!) and local municipalities and garden centers are encouraging homeowners to develop and install waterwise gardens, often offering rebates on plants to do so. A waterwise garden can be just as lush and colorful as one that is more tropical in feel - it is just a matter of careful plant selection. If you are unfamiliar with the plants or gardening in general, a landscape designer or consultant may be a very smart investment. Fortunately, these are not at all hard to come by in CA! Have you asked for any referrals from your local garden center? Often they can provide names of local designers they are familiar with or they might even provide design services themselves. The Sunset Western Garden Book is one of the best all around basic references for anywhere on the west coast. Every book store, garden center and Costco carries it.

There are so many wonderful books out there, it is hard to choose. Here are the first few that come to mind: Shady Retreats: 20 Plans for Colorful, Private Spaces in Your Backyard by Barbara W. Ellis, et al. I keep buying copies of this book, I loan it out not expecting it back! Deckscaping: Gardening and Landscaping on and around Your Deck by Barbara W. Ellis Another winner from Barbara Ellis, this has many clever ideas, and good info on suggested plants. The Gardener's Palette by Sydney Eddison Pure eye candy, wonderful inspiration for color schemes. This is often available remaindered. Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass by Liz Primeau This book will help give you the courage to rip out that boring expanse of Poa pratensis. The examples are mostly Canadian, so this is good for Northern US gardeners. Taunton's Front Yard Idea Book by Jeni Webber This book is a collection of ideas, in the tradition of the Taunton Press reprint books. It does not have the personality of the Primeau book, but it is a good resource. Ann Lovejoy's Organic Garden Design School This has the most on actual garden design, and much inspiration on using low-care, organic methods. Gardening with Prairie Plants: How to Create Beautiful Native Landscapes by Sally Wasowski et al. This is very appropriate for my upper midwest US location, and has much detailed info on plants. I am more well read on plants than on hardscape, so my list is horticulture heavy. I'd love to see other recommendations on the landscape architecture side. -VW

Ok, BP IÂll take you at your word. In the book department, many good ones are mentioned on this forum with regularity. Most of the landscape design books that I read/purchase were briefly mentioned in passing on this forum in some unrelated thread. After reading those books, I often give a little book review on this forum. Is there a central clearing house for this information? No. To date, I have only found that life is most bountiful to those who pay attention. The most recent book that I personally found rewarding was Gardens of Illusion by Sara Maitland and Peter Matthews. If you will recall, I quoted this book rather extensively on InkÂs thread from about a month ago, "Which came first". However, it was Cady who first, very briefly, recommended this book back in early September in the thread, "Can a landscape be art?". This book would not fall squarely into your requested category of theory. However, it has been most helpful to me establishing a greater historical understanding. Thankfully, it has also given me some fresh insight into the world of design application. The only minor shortcoming I can find with this book is that it uses many references to sites in the United Kingdom that I can not relate to  which is really more my fault than the bookÂs fault. On the other hand, someone like Ink with his British background, or others who have traveled there, could probably relate to some of the referred sites instantly. All in all, Gardens of Illusion has been a good investment which approaches design from a paradigm rarely discussed. IronBelly

Wow. Interesting thread. Since this book thread has morphed into a general conversation on garden design I just wanted to share my recent experience with hiring a garden design professional. My husband, family, & friends thought I was nuts because I have been a professional floral designer most of my life, & have all that good stuff going for me: sense of proportion, balance, texture, color, etc. However, I have been gardening in containers all my life & have been able to rearrange things as they matured or changed to create pleasing compositions. When I bought my first house & it came time to plant things in the ground, I was seized with fear. All of a sudden I realized that ultimate landscape size, and the happiness of a plant in it's permanent position was critically important. The person I hired was excellent. He liked a lot of what I had done & worked from that. He suggested shapes more than specific plants, although he had a few plant suggestions. And some of his ideas surprised me. Things I wouldn't have thought of. A lot of it was based on classic English garden design even though my yard is tiny. It was such a pleasure to plant the first tree, and wake in the morning and realize not only did I see it out the living room window but I could see it from out my bedroom's french doors. He had thought of that! And having a design plan that said "deciduous tree here up to 25' high, or tall narrow conifer here up to 12' high" left my brain free to focus on the plant that would ultimately fulfill the design goal, and thrive in it's location. When I was a floral designer I had friends who were too snobby to do funeral work. As if this momentous occasion were above them. Well good design is good design, as I think several of you have pointed out, even it's resting atop a casket. So I guess what I'm saying is good design is important but also hard. Even for those of us trained in it. And the plants do matter. Without the right plant in the right spot the design doesn't come together. And even if you think you know what you're doing it's always great to have another set of eyes.