Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson's Ojai, California Garden

Mary Steenburgen's love of lush Southern gardens is reinterpreted in her semiarid landscape in Ojai. Landscape architect Pamela Burton and Jessica Thompson and Kimberly Ainsworth of Green Goddess Gardens infused the more than 10-acre property with succulents, Mediterranean-climate plants and California natives, giving their style-savvy client a romantic scene that fits beautifully into the rugged California setting.

Landscape architect Pamela Burton and Jessica Thompson and Kimberly Ainsworth of Green Goddess Gardens infused the more than 10-acre property with succulents, Mediterranean-climate plants and California natives, giving their style-savvy client a romantic scene that fits beautifully into the rugged California setting.

Seen billowing in the foreground, Gaura (Gaura lindheimeri) produces long stems spiked with delicate pink-white flowers. This is a long-blooming, drought-tolerant perennial native to Texas and Louisiana but suitable for semiarid locations like Ojai. Rosemary, Euphorbia wulfenii and Cleveland sage edge the decomposed granite border the circumambulates through Mary and Ted's lower garden.

Cottage garden-inspired and heat-tolerant, a border of irises, carpet roses and California meadow sedge (Carex pansa) rings the perimeter of Mary and Ted's oval lawn. The meadow sedge is a low-growing California native grass sometimes used as a lawn alternative.

Nepeta, Santa Barbara daisy and 'Indigo Spires' sage grace the edges of the upper path, which leads from Mary and Ted's ranch house, through a hedge and on to the guest cottage.

The plant palette satisfies Mary's desire for a 'lush and soft' appearance while ensuring that the garden can endure the seasonal weather extremes of Ojai. It's no coincidence that the nearby mountains are reflected in the garden's romantic tapestry of purple-blue flowers and feathery or bold textures of silver, burgundy and lime-colored foliage.

In the foreground, a pleasing lime-green mound of Euphorbia (Euphorbia characias wulfenii) appears. This drought-tolerant Mediterranean native produces soft-looking chartreuse flowers on blue-green foliage. Mary and Ted's new guest cottage appears in the distance, framed by the garden.

Designed by Mary's friend Chantal Dussouchaud, a French-born architectural designer now living in Ojai, the board-and-batten guest cottage has a lovely, private terrace facing Ojai's mountain views.

Landscape architect Pamela Burton created a site plan to blend the architecture with several disconnected garden features, including a swimming pool and a long border that divided the yard from the citrus grove to the west.

Burton suggested lowering a dense hedge of Escallonia, removing massed plantings of Pride of Madeira, and lightly pruning a row of California pepper trees, all of which obscured views to the Topa Topa Mountains and Nordhoff Ridge. "The solution created a series of textured layers that reveal the mountains," Burton says. "The openings in the trees frame the view and extend the size of the property. Now Mary and Ted can stand at the terrace and see the rest of Ojai."

Raised beds of local Ojai stone grow organic vegetables, herbs and berries. Ted and Mary inherited the vegetable garden from the property's prior owner, a chef. They have since added a 15-foot-square pea patch to grow more edibles.

Mary and Ted's white board-and-batten-style ranch house has a cherry-red front door and generously-proportioned terraces built from local Ojai stone. "We've never named the property, but I said to Ted that if we were to, I would call it 'Five Oaks,'" Mary explains.

Flowers for cutting, including this sweet pink dahlia, are incorporated into the potager. The property has dozens of roses, which also make their way into garden bouquets.

Here, miscanthus, phormium, Artemisia, hemerocallis and salvia compose a dreamy botanical experience for anyone strolling from Mary and Ted's house to the guest cottage.

Mary selected an antique weathered-stone fountain, originally from Provence, as the focal point of the home's entry courtyard, lending it old-world ambience. Water spills from four burnished spigots into the lower basin. Several other fountains in the garden have been placed close to outdoor seating areas so their splashing sounds can be enjoyed, even through open windows.

Mary calls her garden "tumbly," an apt description for the abundant borders that spill onto pathways. Here, a vignette of Salvia, Phormium, Centaurea, Miscanthus and Hemerocallis.

Mary uses the objects — whether precious or humble — to put her own stamp on favorite garden spots. "To me, you just have to make it your own, and that's what we set about to do," she says. She has furnished the wraparound porch with eclectic groupings — a mix of cushioned armchairs, wicker side tables and vintage flea market finds — from Rooms and Gardens, a Santa Monica design and antique store that Mary owns with partners Eric and Jami Voulgaris.

Weave a personal narrative with whimsical, handcrafted accents: "I never understand how anyone can live in a house that doesn't tell you who they are," Mary says. "I love humor in design." The Chinese "lucky ball," antique red footstool and needlepoint bolster add lighthearted touches to the west-facing stone patio just beyond Ted and Mary's bedroom.

Beneath an oak that shades the dining patio, a weathered farm table found on a trip to Texas displays succulent-filled troughs. "It's a favorite place to have lunches and late-afternoon glasses of wine." Mary confides.

Mary Steenburgen in her garden.

Mary came upon a beautiful but uncommon section of filigreed iron and asked her builder, Floyd Striegel, to install it as the garden's entry gate. Ornamental as well as functional, she uses this and other gates to invite entry and exploration from one section of the garden to the next.

For an interior-style vignette, here a simple flagstone slab rests on top of a quartet of stone pedestals to create a gracious display table on Mary's belvedere. She topped the table with a trough of succulents and a pair of footed glass hurricanes. This grouping would be equally eye-catching indoors or out.

The stone patio on the west side of the house accommodates Mary's vintage iron garden furniture that she had reupholstered in soft blue-green.

Heighten the enjoyment of garden views and vistas by strategically placing comfortable seating. To breathe new life into classic, vintage and retro-style outdoor furniture, it can be repainted and given new cushions. While her furniture dates from different decades, it works together because Mary has chosen a coordinated palette of blue-green and white.

The feathery foliage of California pepper trees frames this view of the guest cottage. A stepping stone path connects this serene destination to a partially-hidden firepit.

Sitting stones surround the sunken firepit. This is where friends gather to admire the Ojai scenery. "Some people might be bored with this," Mary says. "But to me, there aren't enough hours in the day here. I came to Ojai to find something real and I did. It has never stopped knocking at my soul."

"I'm Southern, so I love green, verdant, mossy gardens," says the Arkansas native in her soft, lilting drawl. "I love all different shades of green — it's my favorite color. But at the same time, we also wanted to respect the fact that this is California and it feels inappropriate to plant an English garden here right now."

Situated adjacent to the stone patio beneath an ancient oak tree, the outdoor grill encourages al fresco dining. What is Mary's favorite part of her garden? "We have too many choices about where we want to look and walk," she says. "Ted and I like to get up in the morning and change where we sit outdoors and have breakfast."