About the Owner

Carolyn Singer is the owner of Foothill Cottage Gardens, a perennial nursery she established in 1980 (closed in 2004). She has taught garden design & home orchard management for Sierra College and a variety of garden classes at the nursery since 1981. Published in Fine Gardening, Garden Gate, Sierra Heritage, and the May 1998 Better Homes & Gardens Flower Gardening, Carolyn has also been a consultant to Time-Life Books and Sunset Magazine.

Carolyn currently writes a garden column for The Union newspaper in Grass Valley.

"Deer in My Garden, Vol. 1: Perennials & Subshrubs" by Carolyn Singer published in September 2006. "Vol. 2, Groundcovers & Edgers" is now available.

Designing gardens and landscapes for foothill and valley residents and speaking to numerous organizations about gardening allows her precious little time for her own huge flower garden, which she shares with visitors to the nursery.

Carolyn is the past manager of the Nevada County Certified Growers’ Market, and a past director for the Nevada County Resource Conservation District. Current affiliations include the Perennial Plant Association, the Native Plant Society, American Rock Garden Society, and Garden Writers of America. She is also a Lifetime Master Gardener with U.C. Extension.

About the Gardens

Carolyn Singer started her first garden on Sonntag Hill in June of 1977. Within a few years, a healthy organic vegetable garden expanded to include grapes, berries, a small fruit orchard, and a huge flower garden.

The gardens are located on the eastern side of Sonntag Hill, on a beautiful knoll once homesteaded by the Sonntags in the late 1800's (map). The elevation is 2750 feet, in the Sierra foothills (Nevada County CA), where summers are hot and dry and winters most often cold and wet. A few snows each year do little to protect plants which are all accustomed to temperatures of 10 degrees (F).

Garden classes have been held on site since 1980 in spring and fall. A special propagation class is offered during the summer, giving students an opportunity to take home cuttings from the huge collection of perennials and shrubs in the garden.

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