Breakfast Patio

Sunrise is a promising time of day in the garden. Birds are singing, plants are speckled with dew, the air is fresh and fragrant. There’s no better place to enjoy it all than on a breakfast patio, such as Nancy Knupfer's intimate pocket garden in her Los Angeles backyard. “It’s the first space the sun hits in the morning, so I love to have breakfast out here,” she says. A colorful tile table and two chairs are nearly surrounded by ferns and other plants in a palette of greens and white. Nearby, a burbling fountain adds to the feeling of serenity. “I like sitting here and watching the sun come up,” Knupfer says.