Celebrate with Sunset {and book giveaway!}

Last week was a whirlwind of fabulous garden-y events! The one that topped the list was a brunch for me and a small gaggle of other garden writers, hosted by the Sunset garden editors, at the Sunset HQ, in Menlo Park. Thank you to Kitty Morgan, Kathy Brenzel, Julie Chai and Johanna Silver for hosting all of us garden dorks and providing us with a lovely tour of the grounds.

Brunch was a mix of Swiss chard and sausage frittata, golden potatoes, strawberry salad and an { amazing } chocolate-zucchini rum cake! This is how I will consume my zucchinis from now on! It was a perfect start to the tour… chatting with other garden bloggers, sipping a lovely herb tea and berry agua fresca and eating yummy food!

Among some of the { many } inspiring things to view at Sunset gardens, is the chicken coop and compost area… the outdoor kitchen garden is beautiful, too. Complete with a huge fire-pit, edible landscaping and gorgeous espalier fig trees! The recycled glass counter top (below) was handsome and expansive, and I could imagine entertaining 100 people or more, with room for all the accoutrements!

 

Blooming tulips peppered the grounds… I was so jealous, seeing each pot perfectly planted, as mine are usually dig up by some critter! (Or I forget to fridge them… or I plant them late… or I store them in a bucket some where and forget about them… or…)

 

The gardens were lovely to stroll, but I really loved seeing all the magazine covers displayed in offices. The front hall way has a beautiful display of the vintage magazine covers as well… enlarged and framed, showing each of their own unique colors and themes for that particular month. This was a real treat to see… some of the images I have never even seen before!

 

Sunset has so much to celebrate this year!

Not only is their new Garden Book published (as well as a gorgeous cook book – Edible Garden Cookbook), but they are releasing a new line of exclusive Sunset Western Garden Collection plants! These plants will be available in May 2012, at your local garden center. I can’t wait to purchase some myself to pepper throughout my garden…

I spent the weekend thumbing through the new book and found that the sections I loved the most were the “Demystifying Plant Names” and “Pronunciation Guide”. How many times have you pronounced a plant name – then was corrected by someone – and felt like a total dork? This will cure your plant-name-dork-disease!

Sunset was generous enough to provide a giveaway to you fine

viewers… the first 5 readers who email me their mailing

addresses will win a brand new Sunset Garden Book!

Good luck and happy reading!

Update:

{ Wow! That was fast! We have the winners: Roya, Janis, Rob, Darlene, Jennifer! }