Wild Vision, Wild Tour

Sierra columbine grace the pond in the Tujunga garden of Ken and Rhonda Gilliland.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

A hummingbird feeds on Ken and Rhonda Gilliland’s porch in Tujunga. Many of the gardens on the Theodore Payne Foundation’s annual tour have been designed to attract wildlife, including birds and butterflies.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Carmel Valley bush mallow is among the California native plants in bloom in the Tujunga garden of Ken and Rhonda Gilliland.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

A lady bug traverses a cobweb thistle.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Cheerful yellow tidy tips are California native plants that belong to the sunflower family.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Orange California poppies bloom near the house-shaped garden sculptures in the garden of artists Andreas Hessing and Karen Bonfigli. Their Altadena home is one of 30 stops on the Theodore Payne Foundation’s annual garden tour.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

California poppy, perhaps the state’s best-known native plant.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Wild heliotrope blooms in the Altadena garden of Andreas Hessing and Karen Bonfigli.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Verbena Lilacina, or lilac verbena, adds a soft shade of lavender to Andreas Hessing and Karen Bonfigli’s garden.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Laurel sumac sprouts scarlet leaves in the La Canada Flintridge garden of Eric Callow. His home is among the stops on the Theodore Payne Foundation’s annual garden tour.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

A succulent adds a natural sculptural element in the Altadena garden of artists Karen Bonfigli and Andreas Hessing.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Delicate manzanita blossoms show the softer side of native plants in Eric Callow’s La Canada Flintridge garden.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Artistry is at work in the Altadena garden of sculptors Andreas Hessing and Karen Bonfigli. Native wildflowers pop up amid several installations, including a sculpture of granite polishing wheels and a mass of concrete blocks shaped like houses.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

A close-up of mallow, a California native plant blooming in Tujunga.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

California native plants are often chosen for their foliage and texture, not their color. Here, the native grass Aristida Pupurea sways in the breeze near Eric Callow’s swimming pool in La Canada Flintridge.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Hummingbird sage lives up to its name, with pagoda-like stalks of exotic flowers that draw hungry visitors. The plant does well in dry shade.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Deer grass, festuca ‘Elijah Blue,’ meadow sedge and maidenhair fern grow in the front garden of Eric Callow’s home, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Bird’s eye gilia, a native plant in bloom in Ken and Rhonda Gilliland’s garden.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Eric Callow’s garden, like many native plant gardens in California, is meant to capture the spirit of the state’s wild landscapes. Some gardeners say native plants are not only more appropriate for California’s climate but also more beautiful. Gardens, they say, should look more natural and less manicured.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

Monkeyflower blooms in Eric Callow’s La Canada Flintridge garden. The flower comes in a dizzying array of varieties appropriate for Southern California’s climate.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)