Not so long ago, a book about dry gardens in the U.S. would have featured cactus and rocks. Dry stuff indeed, except for the cactus aficionado. Over the past couple of decades, as drought and water shortages have led to a growing acceptance that thirsty lawns and traditional landscaping — i.e., plants better suited to the more temperate eastern half of the country — aren’t compatible with low-rainfall climates, gardeners have insisted on a greater variety of plants and design styles for their dry gardens.

Nowadays even high-end homes with budgets that once shielded their owners from considerations of wasted water have embraced the waterwise movement. High style has come to the dry garden, and designers around the country are doing very fine work using native and adapted plants, incorporating water recapture into their landscapes, and inspiring with beautiful contemporary designs.

Design by Mark Word, Austin, TX. Photograph by Caitlin Atkinson, courtesy of Rizzoli

A collection of such gardens appears in Dry Gardens: High Style for Low Water Gardens, a new book by San Francisco designer Daniel Nolan, with photographs by Caitlin Atkinson. Nolan, who worked for Flora Grubb Gardens before striking out on his own, aims to celebrate the contemporary dry garden with stunning photos of 24 high-end residential and commercial gardens mostly in California, plus 3 in Texas, 2 in Arizona , and 1 each in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. A few container gardens and interior gardens are also included.

Design by Jim Smeal + Alejandro Gonzalez, Charleston, SC. Photograph by Caitlin Atkinson, courtesy of Rizzoli

The gardens are gorgeous and aspirational. Nolan seeks not to educate or proselytize about low-water gardening. With minimal text that sets the scene, he lets the photos do the talking. If you want to learn how the gardens save water through plant choice, grading, or other practicalities, this is not the book for you. It’s garden porn, pure and simple. Fans of modern design will especially love it.

Design by Terremoto, Los Angeles. Photograph by Caitlin Atkinson, courtesy of Rizzoli

I would have preferred meatier text about each garden’s design, and a proofreader should have caught the many typos. But these quibbles aside, the book provides a fashion show of glamorous, surprisingly lush gardens and illustrates that water-saving design can be as drool-worthy as gardens that are heedless of water usage.

Design by Lake Flato, San Antonio, TX. Photograph by Caitlin Atkinson, courtesy of Rizzoli

And if you’re a fan, as I am, of Nolan’s mentor, Flora Grubb, who penned the foreword, you’ll enjoy her musings about coming of age as a gardener in drought-prone Austin and particularly at Zilker Botanical Garden. “Those of us who think deeply about gardens and care deeply about the environment must champion the creation of gardens that suit every taste yet inspire the gardening public to conserve water,” she says. I couldn’t agree more.

Disclosure: Rizzoli sent me a copy of Dry Gardens for review. I reviewed it at my own discretion and without any compensation. This post, as with everything at Digging, is my own personal opinion.

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