If summer turns your thoughts toward planting a garden, Sonoma's Russian River Rose Company specializes in roses that do well in Northern California, and they offer many roses that can tolerate sites with less than full sun.

But they don't stop there. Take one of their unique Perfume Rose Oil Harvest Tours and you will gather fragrant rose petals, then watch as they are transformed into rose water and rose oil.

Tours run mid-April through May, with many special events, and their nursery and display garden will also be open.