high line = elevated linear park see link Here is a link that might be useful: high line

I would love to grow that Maple but alas, no room. :o( The ground cover amongst your Violets is Wandering Jew...a weed. Can cause skin allergies on dogs. It is hard to get rid of because anything left will grow back. Vigilance is needed. The garage wall has Ficus pumila, creeping fig. It is pretty and useful but if not kept under strict control, can turn into a monster....you might want to Google information about it before the trouble begins. The small plant with the shiny leaves is Coprosma. Considered a weed in Melbourne. An untidy bush that is hard to keep to a decent shape and reseeds everywhere. I would pull it out now while it's small. Sorry to be so negative, just being honest. Dee.

No, It isn't a Fremontodendron, and its not actually native to California, either. Your photo displays the blooming Mexican Palo Verde, Parkinsonia aculeata. It has attractive smooth green trunks, thorny branches, and loves heat and is very drought tolerant, but a rather messy tree to garden under as it is constantly dropping the spent leaves, so perhaps is best used over planting areas and not as a patio tree. Similar trees with even greener trunks and the same bright yellow blooms would include the Palo Verde trees if the Sonoran Desert, various Cercidium species, but these aren't as commonly seen in more coastal California gardens.

It's early blight. Remove those leaves, bag them up and dispose away from your garden. I take a plastic grocery bag and make a daily tour around my tomato plants doing just that. Wash you cutting device in a bit of bleach when your done (if you don't pinch off with your fingers). Removing the leaves will slow down the contamination - you should still get a harvest of fruit. (I don't use any chemicals on my plants so I can't advise you on what to spray them with).