Steve, it would be easier to refer you to the photos of this same garden showing the entire area, to illustrate how a vignette relates to the larger garden. I was trying to use the analogy of the human body as a metaphor for how the similarities of the plants as a repeating element link the entire garden together when one steps back to see it as a whole. From a greater distance, it will be the massed repeating forms and color more so than the textural contrasts that unify the garden, which I think of as the "skin" that ties it all together. I also find it a natural linkage between plants when they are similar in their needs; in this case, all had to be both shade and root competition tolerant because they were being underplanted below existing mature Coast Live Oaks, and also tolerant of drier soils between irrigation cycles, as our native oaks are intolerant of continually wet soils in summer. I also switched out the irrigation system on this front slope from uniform spray to targeted drip so that I could keep the immediate areas adjacent the oak trunks completely dry. This wider view of the front garden is not really at a point where I would use it as a portfolio photo, as the limited irrigation for the oak's health has meant that the plantings have yet to really fill in. Typically, after a year's growth, almost any of my recent garden installations would be completely filled in; this section of the garden has been a tougher one for the new plants. I think you will be able to see that the vignettes of those two plant photos are just a subset of the entire garden, but repetition of plant forms, foliage colors, plant types(multiple layers of different succulents in this case), and repeating the monochromatic house colors with the choice of rock for retaining the slope by the sidewalk all reinforce a common experience. While the individual plants selected have nothing whatsoever to do with a native California Oak Woodland understory plant community, they are all quite well adapted to the conditions, and look "woodsy and shade tolerant" without screaming "exotic" in my opinion. Does the additional photo explain what I mean more so than the text? Browse the other photos in the various Drager Garden sets on my Flickr account if you want to see how much the garden really varies from area to area. The east side of the house with the most sun is the most radically colorful portion of the landscape,(lots of orange against the copper house siding), and the rear garden slope at the back of the house/patio is also less monochromatic in use of plant colors, but still uses a lot of the same plants as here in the front garden. Fire safety issues and deer browsing tolerance as well as gopher tolerance were also prime selection criteria for plantings in this garden. Here is a link that might be useful: Wider view of Drager Front Garden

"He further writes "If you would like to experiment, spray a few plants with a 1:10,000 solution (3 aspirins disolved in 4 gal. of water), leaving other plants of the same species unsprayed. Tests with numerous plants have shown that the SAR activation lasts for weeks to months." The above is from an earlier thread on this subject, see link below. Here is a link that might be useful: link for above

HA - Donna, my husband would love you forever, given that he turns 54 in March (I'm a 2nd wife and younger :) Jon, not sure what unit he used, but the low-energy fluor. bulbs installed are working perfectly, and the sensor is picking up exactly as desired. I'm thrilled that something so simple and inexpensive can be so effective!

I think the downplay could have been taken a step further. There is a disjoint in the teal-ish cross beam next to the cream/yellow ceiling color that actually draws the eye more into the fireplace area. If the beam and ceiling were the same teal-ish on that back wall section it would to me better accomplish a downplay.