Category Archives: garden visit

revisiting Rancho Los Alamitos; a repost from January 2014

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Denise

(In the final countdown to the end of 2014, I’m reposting my visit to Rancho Los Alamitos in January 2014 entitled “back at the ranch“) All day long this past work- and appointment-filled Wednesday I clung to the idea of … Continue reading →

Posted in garden visit | Tagged Rancho Los Alamitos | 4 Comments

Natural Discourse at Los Angeles Co. Arboretum 10/18/14

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Denise

The drive will be considerably shorter for me to this year’s Natural Discourse, which will be held close to home at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden: “A symposium presented by the Garden Conservancy and the Arboretum that … Continue reading →

completion of the High Line September 21, 2014

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Denise

“Before it was constructed, the New York Central Railroad had operated a rail freight line at grade, or street level, along Tenth Avenue, and men on horseback (“West Side cowboys”) had ridden ahead of the train with red flags or … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden travel, garden visit, photography | Tagged air rights, Friends of the High Line, Joel Sternfeld, Joshua David, landscape architecture, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New York City, Piet Oudolf, Robert Hammond, The High Line Park, Transferable Development Right, urban planning | 12 Comments

beam me here

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Denise

Actor Zachary Quinto, probably best known for playing the young Spock in the JJ Abrams’ Star Trek movies, on the evidence of his garden, seems to be a well-grounded young man. It’s not very often that a house for sale … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden visit | Tagged concrete retaining walls, Los Angeles real estate, The Los Angeles Times, Zachary Quinto's Los Angeles house for sale | 7 Comments

a garden wedding

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Denise

When someone who works in landscape design gets married, even the agaves are dressed for the occasion. Congratulations to Mary True and Cheryl Fippen on their recent wedding in Berkeley, California. Thank you both for your kind permission to use … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, cut flowers, design, garden ornament, garden visit, MB Maher, photography | Tagged Agave vilmoriniana, garden wedding, wedding photography | 8 Comments

supergraphic Deborah Sussman

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Denise

When I visited Los Angeles’ Grand Park for the first time, I didn’t know that environmental designer Deborah Sussman, who passed away last week at age 83, was the force behind those shocking pink chairs and benches, a color Ms. … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, garden visit | Tagged 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, California, Charles & Ray Eames, Deborah Sussman, Design Boom, environmental design, Frances Anderton, Grand Park, KCRW's Design & Architecture, Los Angeles, Pacific Standard Time at LACMA, photographer Jim Simmons, Sussman/Prejza & Co, World Landscape Architecture, WUHO Gallery | 5 Comments

meeting plants in person for the first time

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Denise

By now you’re probably wondering will this blog ever stop dining out on the Portland garden bloggers meetup. Just one more for now on the plants that really had my number. Which is undeniably an odd number, but the heart … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, garden visit, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits | Tagged Acacia covenyi, Acanthus sennii, Achnatherum calamagrostis 'Silver Spike'', Aechmea recurvata, Aeonium 'Zwartkop', Asphodeline lutea, Berkheya purpurea, Bupleurum spinosum, Cirsium occidentale, Cistus Nursery, Crambe maritima, Dancing Oaks Nursery, Eryngium maritimum, Garden Bloggers Fling 2014 Portland, hardy scheffleras, McMenamins Kennedy School, Potentilla calabra, Potentilla gelida, Potentilla hippiana | 23 Comments

got flowers?

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Denise

Some photos of Portland, Oregon gardens visited mid July that welcome flowers to varying degrees. Procreation is messy (to paraphrase a former secretary of defense), and zero emphasis on flowers and their disheveled aftermath is the answer for some gardens. … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden travel, garden visit | Tagged 2014 Portland Garden Bloggers Fling, Blue Grama Grass, Bouteloua gracilis, flower gardens, July garden, Pomarius Nursery, Rhone Street Gardens | 9 Comments

contain your enthusiasm

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Denise

Creating a small, plant-rich garden in zone 8 can be a brutal business. Faced with so many tempting choices in such an agreeable climate, a small garden runs the danger of sinking into visual chaos. Wielding the power of refusal, … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, garden ornament, garden travel, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Danger Garden, JJ Sousa Digs Inside and Out, Loree Bohl | 16 Comments

garden chairs

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Denise

“A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier. That is why Chippendale is famous.” – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Continuing my monomaniacal, object-specific tour of Portland gardens, which brings us around to chairs. Because I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden ornament, garden travel, garden visit | Tagged 2014 Portland Garden Bloggers Fling, Bella Madrona, garden chairs, JJ Sousa Digs Inside and Out, Oregon, Pomarius Nursery, Portland, sarracenia, Stipa gigantea, Westwind Farm Studio | 12 Comments