See how some creative front lawn landscaping ideas resulted in dashing new looks for two yards.

The small front yard of Stephanie Poole and her husband Bruce Hinckey claimed the honor by beating out 1,800 other submission from around the country.

Volunteers from the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation completed this demonstration rain garden just in time for the 2012 Showcase It's featured in a new DWP Public Service Announcement: Pretend Come see how it's grown! All the plants are CA natives. The garden is full of sedges, rushes, grasses with interspersed colors and scents of California Rose and Yerba Mensa, Canyon Sunflower, Monkeyflower, Sages, Yarrow, Mugwort. Milkweed is planted for Monarch butterflies. The garden attracts many butterflies, bees, birds & insects. All the rainwater, which is captured by house and garage downspouts, flows into the garden. It is dispersed by the plants and by underground gravel pits. Watering is done by hand once every 2 - 3 weeks in the dry season. Mulch and compost tea are added for maintenance. Last year, the garden owners installed a plank bridge along path to the house. What qualifies it as a rain garden? A rain garden is a garden of native perennials, shrubs and small trees planted in a small depression designed to temporarily hold and soak in rainwater runoff that flows from impervious surfaces such as roofs, driveways, walkways and compacted lawn areas. Basically a rain garden receives rainwater channeled via gutters and connected pipes, allowing the rainwater to soak into the ground, as opposed to flowing into storm drains. Compared to conventional lawns, rain gardens allow for 30% more water to soak into the ground. Most rain gardens are built to hold a 1" rain event. Every time it rains, the water runoff from impervious surfaces collects pollutants such as particles of dirt, fertilizers, chemicals, oils, garbage and bacteria along the way. The pollutant-laden rainwater enters the storm drain untreated. Storm water runoff accounts for 70% of all the water pollution nationwide. Rain gardens collect rainwater runoff allowing water to be filtered by vegetation. A rain garden retains water just long enough to percolate into the soil where the plants and soil microorganisms breakdown and remove the pollutants. By keeping the water onsite and preventing it from flowing onto impervious surfaces, a rain garden lessens the amount of contaminated water entering storm drains. Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they have adapted to Southern California's dry conditions. Native plants attract birds, bees, wildlife and beneficial insects that have evolved alongside these plants. In keeping with the idea of improving water quality, they do not require fertilizers. A rain garden using selected plants native to the region requires little watering once it's established. The plants are selected with large root structures to allow runoff to soak into the ground. Water that makes it past the roots moves through filtering soil layers before entering the groundwater system. Rocks may be strategically placed so that storm water runoff is slowed, allowing for better absorption and preventing erosion. In summary, a rain garden: Attracts a diversity birds, bees, and beneficial insects. Protects oceans land-based runoff pollution. Provides an attractive alternative to a traditional lawn. Doesn't need mowing or fertilizer as with traditional lawn. Requires little watering after plants are established; 60% to 70% of drinking water is used for conventional landscaping. Saves money that would be spent on irrigation.

La guerra: los mitos, el heroísmo, la barbarie, los muertos. Una profunda reflexión antibelicista. «Anoche mientras dormía los franceses atacaron Siria.» A la mañana siguiente, el autor lee la noticia en el periódico. Aviones franceses han atacado objetivos militares en los que supuestamente se almacenaban armas químicas. El hecho le impacta porque en ese momento está viviendo en Francia, concretamente en Saint-Nazaire. Y, a partir de él, inicia una meditación que se va ramificando en una retahíla de relatos íntimos o históricos, unidos por la «Wërra», la antigua palabra alemana de la que deriva «guerra» en español, «guerre» en francés o «war» en inglés. Federico Jeanmaire reconstruye minuciosamente la operación Chariot: el ataque al puerto francés de Saint-Nazaire, que habían ocupado los alemanes, llevado a cabo durante la madrugada del 28 de marzo de 1942 por comandos británicos con el objetivo de destruir su dique seco. Y, tirando de ese hilo bélico, evoca al abuelo que fabricaba soldaditos; al padre con el que, en Argentina, siendo él un niño, veía en la televisión la serie americana Combate, cuyo protagonista, Vic Morrow, murió muchos años después en un accidente rodando una escena bélica; la guerra que vivió Argentina en 1982, la de las Malvinas… Guerras que se suceden en el tiempo y que se entrecruzan en estas páginas con aquella operación de 1942 que el autor va reconstruyendo con empecinamiento: los niños que vivieron la batalla, los judíos a los que la Gestapo se llevó poco después, el anciano uniformado que acude a una conmemoración y, sobre todo, los muertos. Los 169 comandos británicos y los 18 civiles franceses cuya ausencia es omnipresente en el libro: sus nombres dan nombre a los sucesivos capítulos, a modo de réquiem. Jeanmaire explora y desborda los límites de la novela en este libro singularísimo, absorbente y deslumbrante que desmantela el mito del heroísmo y del coraje, y que es también un profundo ensayo literario sobre la guerra. Un texto muy personal, que se escribe contra el olvido. Un libro imprescindible para estos tiempos. «La sorpresa es algo que acompaña a todos los títulos de este novelista» (Marta Rózpide, El Imparcial). «Una literatura a veces secreta, a veces pública: siempre obligatoria para pensar la nueva narrativa argentina» (Fernando Krapp, Página/12). Desde principios de los años 90, Federico Jeanmaire ha ido construyendo una de las obras más sólidas y propositivas de la literatura latinoamericana» (Rafael Toriz, Perfi l).