Sonoma, CA: garden gallery

Sunset, Nov, 2004 by Kathleen N. Brenzel

When is a garden a work of art? "When it challenges our precepts of what a garden is and can be," says Chris Hougie, the force behind Cornerstone Festival of Gardens, a new 9-acre gallery of landscapes in the Sonoma Valley. The first of their kind in the United States, the gardens are a changing series of year-round displays ranging from abstract to whimsical. The maze of red-painted bamboo poles at right, entitled The Knowledge of Man as the Waters, was created by landscape architecture students from the University of California, Davis. It leads to a reflecting pool symbolizing knowledge gained. Nearby, Blue Tree, a pine tree decked with sky blue balls, stands out on a cloudy day but fades into the blue of a clear sky. Open daily; $9. 23570 State 121, Sonoma; www.cornerstonegardens.com or 707/933-3010.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS J. STORY