Category Archives: design
wednesday vignette 3/21/18
When I last visited the Huntington a couple weeks ago, I mentioned to my friend that I had yet to visit the new Chinese Garden. (I should say “newish,” because the first phase was completed ten years ago!) That’s some … Continue reading
outdoor bias
I admit to a strong design bias towards how a dwelling interacts with the outdoors. An exterior focus, if you will. Don’t ask me why. I’ll whip through on-line home tours, acknowledge a nice chair or rug or staircase, and … Continue reading
Posted in artists, design, inspire me, pots and containers
Tagged Dwell, Nivaldo Tonon, Une Arquitetura
3 Comments
Kate Ballis’ Infra Realism; Palm Springs as you’ve never seen it before
In a sharp rebuke to my last post about how balmy the weather has been, this unexpected February cold front afflicting the West Coast has me and the cat cooped up in the garden hut/office as close to the space … Continue reading
Posted in artists, clippings, design, photography
Tagged Joshua Tree National Park, Kate Ballis, Palm Springs, Palms Springs Modernism Week 2018
2 Comments
friday clippings 2/16/18
dark background is the creeping fig wall (Ficus pumila covering 6-foot high CMU wall, extending 2 feet up from the top, for a privacy-enhancing 8-foot wall) It’s been an incredibly balmy week in Los Angeles, notwithstanding a teasingly insufficient bit … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, clippings, design, garden travel, journal, MB Maher, pots and containers
Tagged California, Jay Griffith, Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty', Venice
8 Comments
Australian garden design
Australia. Big continent. Vast, you might say. My familiarity with Australian garden design, however, is the opposite of vast. Southwestern Australia is one of the five true mediterranean climate zones, like where I live here in Los Angeles — dry … Continue reading
Natural Discourse 2018 update
photo by MB Maher Natural Discourse, the series of lectures and accompanying exhibits that started back in 2012, focusing on collaborative efforts among scientists, naturalists, and artists to illuminate our increasingly fraught relationship with the natural world, is ongoing through … Continue reading
Posted in artists, design, garden travel, inspire me, MB Maher, science
Tagged "Natural Discourse", deimatic behavior, Gail Wight, Jenny Kendler, MB Maher, Shirley Watts, Space 151
2 Comments
plants on walls
Plants on walls…need some convincing? I do too. Last time I checked out botanical wallpaper, it was still under the thrall of William Morris, with dense geometric patterns wound so tight that having them on my walls would make me … Continue reading
French chateau succulent garden
There I was, biking through French chateau country, rounding a bend in the zig-zag roads stitched with Lombardy poplars. And just as I was brushing the wind-blown hair out of my face, doing my best impersonation of Jeanne Moreau in … Continue reading
Potted’s Eternal Gratitude Sale – last weekend
There it is, behind that gauzy curtain of Acacia iteaphylla. Potted’s City Planter, pretty much untouched since first planted. I really should trim back those lanky succulents, but overall I’m amazed at how unblemished and pristine the City Planter remains … Continue reading
golden gardens
Doing some blog research for fall planting, I was surprised to find what a luminous phase the garden entered briefly around 2014. I’ve always been drawn to bright-colored leaves, but in this period the garden glowed as if irradiated. Chief … Continue reading