Over 2,000 full-color photos.

The latest edition of The New Sunset Western Garden Book ($34.95) offers gardeners more than just pretty pictures. Although, with over 2,000 full-color photos, it’s hard not to flip through the book and admire all the beautiful landscape and planting ideas from water-wise gardens, to edible gardens, to do-it-yourself projects. For 80 years now, Sunset garden experts have provided Western gardeners with information about the latest design trends, smart planting choices for your climate, and practical gardening advice from start to finish.

I could list all the new features of the book, but wouldn’t you rather see them for yourself? Watch and listen as Sunset Garden Editor Kathy Brenzel highlights the new and improved sections of The New Sunset Western Garden Book.

Be sure to check out Kathy’s plant picks and tips below the video, then enter to win 1 of 5 Sunset Western Garden Books!

Plant Picks and Tips from Sunset Garden Editor Kathy Brenzel

(1) What tips can you offer homeowners for keeping their flowering perennials and annuals blooming all summer long? What varieties offer the longest bloom times with the lowest amount of maintenance?

Deadhead your perennials for summer-long blooms. (Source: Sunset.com)

Deadhead regularly. Clipping off spent blooms is the best way to keep flowers coming on all kinds of plants—from roses to coreopsis.

Good long season bloomers that don’t take lots of fussing include agastache, aster, catmint, penstemon, purple coneflower, salvias (many), and yarrow.

(2) Many communities throughout the country are experiencing longer drought conditions during hot summer months. In your opinion, what are the keys to achieving a beautiful, low-water landscape?

Choosing the right plants for your region is the best way to start. Select plants that tolerate drought once established.

Grow native. Native plants are good choices because they’re already adapted to natural conditions in your area. These include sword ferns in the Northwest, ceanothus in California, and some penstemons in southwest deserts and mountain areas.

Opt for unthirsty perennials such as echinacea, gloriosa daisy, Shasta daisy, yarrow. Water them well through the first couple of years to get them established.

Mulch. For established garden plants, save water by applying a 2 to 3- inch- thick layer of mulch (such as fine fir bark) around plants to conserve
water.

Use permeable paving. Gravel and decomposed granite allow water through it to plant roots.

Conserve water whenever possible. Buy a rain barrel and hook it up to your home’s downspouts to capture rainfall. You can use that water to irrigate container plants, or refresh plants that need it.

(3) If you could pick just three knock-out specimen plants to showcase in your front yard, what would they be and why?

I wouldn’t necessarily mix these in the same garden, since thei’re all striking on their own. But all three make fine front yard specimens.

Arbutus ‘Marina’. For its beautiful cinnamon-colored bark on trunk and branches, its shapely canopy, and the tiny pink flowers in fall. One of the prettiest plantings I’ve seen: A pair of these striking trees flanking a front entry walk.

Japanese maple. Tough but elegant, with delicate foliage. I especially love the low growers whose foliage turns vibrant hues in fall, such as ‘Orangeola’ (fiery orange fall leaves) and ‘Shaina’ (red fall leaves). Every garden could use a little glow in autumn.

Weeping atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca pendula’). A stunning sculptural tree with silvery blue needles and hanging branches. It’s drought tolerant once established, and even looks great in a large container.

(4) Summer may almost be over, but now is the time to start thinking about a fall garden. What are the five most versatile edibles for small space gardens, and what new varieties should we be looking for at our local nurseries?

Add color to your garden beds with Swiss chard. (Source: Sunset.com)

Arugula. I love the nutty zing these tender young leaves add to salads and sandwiches. Arugula is easy to grow from seed, even in a low bowl (about 12 inches diameter) filled with potting mix.

Bok choy (also called pak choi), this Asian green grows in tidy smallish rosettes that are as pretty in the garden as they are versatile in the kitchen. Use them as edgings, or in the veggie bed, or cluster several in a container. In the kitchen, its great in stir fries and soups.

Garlic. A kitchen essential, and it tastes better when you grow your own fresher and juicier than store-bought garlic. ‘Spanish Roja’ , a hardneck type, has purple blushed skin and large cloves that peel easily; Lettuce (Butterhead types). We love alternating bands of various- colored lettuces in a winter veggie bed. Among my current favorites: ‘Marveille des Quatre Saisons’, a French variety of red butterhead with loosely- cupped green leaves are tinged with shades of ruby rose pink and bronze; ‘Little Gem’, a smaller, fatter variety of romaine, with textured leaves–perfect for braising; ‘Speckles’, with green leaves spattered red; and ‘Red Sails’ with glossy, reddish-brown leaves.

Swiss chard. It’s pretty in containers and in garden beds. ‘Bright Lights’ is a stunner, with leaves ranging from green to burgundy, and stalks in yellow, orange, pink, purple and red.

(5) Frosty grass plumes and snow-topped seed heads are often the forgotten beauties of winter landscapes. What are your favorite perennial combos to plant and enjoy now, but will provide dramatic winter interest later?

Phormiums look fabulous in containers. (Source: Sunset.com)

Yes, leave those seedheads on your plantings of tall Eulalia grass (Miscanthus sinensis), Pennisetum orientale, and other ornamental grasses through winter to shimmer in daylight. Tuck some bronze New Zelaland flax between them to carry the show. A few flat-topped Sedums ‘Autumn Joy’ in foreground can complete the show.

Another great way to add winter interest to borders, which I spotted in gardens in Alaska: Weave low mounding conifers such as mugho pine throughout your perennial border. They’re beautiful when dusted with snow, and suggest a border’s shape even after their perennial companions have gone dormant and disappeared.

Enter the Sunset Giveaway!

Here’s your chance to win 1 of 5 copies of The New Sunset Western Book* and the timing couldn’t be better. The holidays are coming up and the cooler temperatures of fall make it a great time to install last-minute hardscaping, like paths and patios, and to plant cool-season crops, perennials, and trees.

Entering is simple. I’m even offering two ways to submit your name.

1. Answer the following question in the comments section below. {good for 1 entry}
2. Click on over to the Nest In Style Facebook page and share this blog post. {good for 1 entry}

GIVEAWAY QUESTION: What is the one area of gardening you wish you were better at (e.g., design, watering, not killing plants, etc)? If you’ve never gardened before, what’s stopping you?

That’s it! Giveaway ends midnight on Wednesday, August 22. Winners will be announced on Twitter and Facebook the following day. Good luck!

*Books will only be shipped to US addresses.

<em>Disclosure: I was not paid to write this post. I received five free copies of the book to giveaway to my readers courtesy of Sunset Magazine. My words and opinions are my own.</em>