Category Archives: design

Laurel Stutsman Design

Posted on April 30, 2021 by Denise

I found this photo in a 2015 folder on my old photobucket account. The photo was tagged “wildlife-road-malibu2” with no accompanying description. I don’t normally keep unidentified garden photos, but something about it obviously grabbed me in 2015, and it … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, driveby gardens, garden visit, inspire me | 5 Comments

absolute flower shop in Shanghai

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Denise

It looks like California’s stay-at-home orders might soon be eased a bit, not that I’ll be venturing too far afield just yet. So just when I really need to step into the exotic, the unfamiliar for half a minute, a … Continue reading →

Posted in cut flowers, design, inspire me | 6 Comments

swept away

Posted on January 22, 2021 by Denise

Busy week, weather-wise, democracy-wise. There was a sweet piney scent to the air the morning of the 19th, which meant the wind had shifted and was coming from the east. I smelled it before checking the weather vane, which confirmed … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, climate, design, journal, Occasional Daily Weather Report, succulents | 5 Comments

Fearless Gardening by Loree Bohl; a review/giveaway

Posted on January 9, 2021 by Denise

I’ve been following Pacific Northwest gardens and nurseries for decades and often fantasize about having a garden in a modified-mediterranean, 40 inches-of-rain-a-year zone 8. There’s lots of plants I’d be able to grow for the first time, but there’d have … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, books, climate, design, inspire me, pots and containers | Tagged | 12 Comments

it’s summer down under

Posted on November 30, 2020 by Denise

Such a cheery thought, right? Desire to Inspire recently profiled Melbourne landscape design firm King’s Landscaping in a post on KL’s Point Lonsdale “Tree House” which prompted a deeper dive into KL’s website. The Tree House in question is nestled … Continue reading →

Posted in design | 10 Comments

Pow! Wow! mural by Gail Werner

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Denise

This is my favorite mural in my hometown of Long Beach, Calif. To me, it’s a bird perched on an agave bloom (obviously!), painted in a very graphic style reminiscent of a woodcut. I often suspect many people of being … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, design | 5 Comments

making the most of it

Posted on August 13, 2020 by Denise

Emotionally, this summer feels like summers when I was 12 or 13 — when I stuck close to home because I wasn’t allowed yet to get in trouble with friends with cars. I’m regressing to the point that I’ve even … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, cut flowers, design, journal, plant crushes, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents | 5 Comments

visit to Sculptura Botanica part 1

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Denise

what: in-situ installation showcasing botanical-themed ceramic work of Dustin Gimbel where: Sherman Library & Gardens when: May 15 through September 15, 2020 lunch and lecture: June 26, 2020, 11:30 a.m. and tour of the exhibit by Dustin Gimbel other venues: … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, garden visit | 5 Comments

the dappled life

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Denise

So you’re planting and planting your little garden and having the best time, but because your undisciplined and eclectic taste runs to every kind and type of green life, from ground hugging to tree size, inevitably you wake up one … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, journal, pots and containers | 4 Comments

the Glatstein garden by Dustin Gimbel

Posted on April 18, 2020 by Denise

I knew for the past year or so that the Los Angeles Times would eventually publish an article on the Glatstein family’s Long Beach garden designed by ceramicist Dustin Gimbel a few years back. Even so, the March 31, 2020 … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers, succulents | 9 Comments