Category Archives: design

Bloom Day May 2017 (and assorted garden projects)

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Denise

Photo taken last night, when I still hoped I could squeak this post in under the Bloom Day deadline, the 15th of every month, and be righteously on time, but it was not to be. Flash of red is from … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, climate, creatures, cut flowers, design, MB Maher, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents | Tagged ' Amicia zygomeris, Aloe 'Kujo', Alstroemeria 'The Third Harmonic', Aristida purpurea, Gaillardia 'Mesa Peach', Melianthus 'Purple Haze', Melinus nerviglumis, Passiflora 'Flying V', Pennisetum 'Fairy Tails', Pennisetum 'Karley Rose', Phlomis 'Sunningdale Gold', Salvia uliginosa, Strobilanthes gossypinus, Verbena bonariensis | 11 Comments

a Hollywood Hills garden in three acts

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Denise

(This Sunday, May 7th, you have another opportunity to visit this extraordinary garden. Details here.) The recent APLD watershed garden tour was exemplary in every way that such tours should be; lots of interesting and pertinent design solutions for SoCal … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, design, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Aloe marlothii, APLD 2nd Annual Watershed Approach Garden Tour, dry gardens, Gingko biloba, Hollywood Hills, Johanna Woollcott Wild Gardens LA | 13 Comments

APLD steps up

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Denise

The Association of Professional Landscape Designers 2nd Annual Watershed Approach Garden Tour this past April 9th was a solid, smoothly run success and a great addition to Los Angeles garden culture. I hope they do it again next year. Most … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, design, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged APLD 2nd Annual Watershed Approach Garden Tour, Eugene McCarthy, Johanna Woollcott, terraced gardems, Wild Gardens LA | 14 Comments

catching up with Dustin Gimbel

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Denise

This has really been Dustin’s year, and I think a recap is in order. Dustin Gimbel, Second Nature Garden Design In early 2017 Dustin and Potted launched his Point Pot. Long Beach’s own “communal dining space,” Steelcraft, let us play … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers | Tagged 2017 Southern California Spring Garden Show, ceramics, Dustin Gimbel Second Nature Garden Design, Fermob, Malcom McLean, Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour, shipping containers, Steelcraft, The Point Pot | 19 Comments

Modernism Week, Palm Springs, Calif.

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Denise

Feel like drying out before the next storm blows into town? Well, we’re in luck. It’s Modernism Week in Palm Springs, ongoing since February 16 and ending this Sunday, February 26, 2017. “Mid-Century Makeover” by Lisa Gimmy, Landscape Architecture

Posted in design, garden travel | Tagged California, LA, landscape architecture, Lisa Gimmy, Modernism Week 2017, Palm Springs | 4 Comments

the sun king redux

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Denise

With cabinet selection still underway, previous hiring decisions during the president’s business career can provide some illumination into his selection criteria. And if a 24-year-old kid with no horticultural experience can end up working as Trump’s landscape architect, you might … Continue reading →

Posted in design | Tagged "Where Trump Wants To Be Buried", The New Yorker | 9 Comments

a succulent garden in February

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Denise

On the way to picking up a family member’s weekly box at the CSA Growing Experience in North Long Beach last week, I took the opportunity to drive slowly through the surrounding neighborhood of mostly Spanish-style homes. It was drizzling … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, climate, design, driveby gardens, succulents | Tagged agaves, woody lilies, dry gardens, Echinocactus grusonii, Spanish Revival architecture, tree aloes, woody lilies | 19 Comments

The Point Pot

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Denise

If you’re an Instagram fan of garden designer/ceramicist Dustin Gimbel and/or Potted, LA’s premiere source for stylish plant containers and garden furniture, you’ll know that they’ve been collaborating for some time on the first mass-produced offering of one of Dustin’s … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, pots and containers | Tagged California pottery, ceramics, Dustin Gimbel Second Nature Garden Design, Potted For Outdoor Living, The Point Pot | 6 Comments

Long Beach’s illustrious architect Edward Killingsworth

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Denise

New Year’s Resolution No. 22: Check my hometown newspaper out more often. Included in the Los Angeles Times end-of-year roundup on “The 11 most popular home and garden stories of 2016,” was a piece I had missed that contained some … Continue reading →

Posted in design, driveby gardens | Tagged Case Study Homes, Edward Killingsworth, mid-century modern design | 8 Comments

a holiday visit with Dustin Gimbel

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Denise

Now that garden designer Dustin Gimbel has branched off into ceramics, I can buy a few holiday presents and visit his incredibly inspiring garden. Coming in the little side gate, there’s this silvery vision of Acacia pendula, faced down by … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, design, garden visit, pots and containers | Tagged ceramics, Dustin Gimbel, Frankenia thymifolia | 10 Comments