Maple leaves
Sage against autumn leaves
Colorful leaves
For more about my designs, please take a look at my website
Archives for November 2011
What’s Happening in souther California – Garden Edition December 2011
As always, I want to remind you to shop local, and get the freshest produce around by heading out to the local Farmer’s Markets in Santa Clarita:
Sundays 8:00am – noon
College of The Canyons Parking Lot
Don’t forget to visit my friend Sarah from Worldwide Exotics
There is also another great Farmer’s Market:
Thursdays in Old Town Newhall from 3-7pm.
On to Garden Fun!
Sat/Sun December 3 & 4 , 2011
Placerita Canyon Nature Center Annual Craft Faire
10am – 4 pm
Make your own quality wreaths or Yule logs. A multitude of crafts are available for the kids to make. All materials are supplied. All items are reasonably priced from $2 to $16. The Gift Shop will be open and a food truck will be on site. This is the only fund-raiser of the year, and the funds help the center to care for their animals and run public programs. No credit cards please; checks and cash only. For more information, call 661.259.7721
Sunday December 11, 2011
Planting Natives at the Community Garden of Santa Clarita – Central Park Site
Please stop in 9am – ??? to help us!
Saturday December 17, 2011
Holiday Birds – Bird Walk
8-10 am
Ed Davis Park in Towsley Canyon
24255 The Old Road
Santa Clarita, California 91321
The year-end has a long tradition of bird watching and counting. Let’s celebrate our local birds on this easy hike. Beginning birders are welcome. Binoculars optional. 2 hours. Meet at Towsley Canyon’s front parking lot. Free programs, parking $7 inside park. Contact (310) 858-7272 x131 or Park link: http://lamountains.com/parks.asp?parkid=10
Friday December 23, 2011
Get The Kids Out of the House Nature Walk
8 am – 10 am
Pico Canyon’s Front Entry – opposite historic Mentryville
We have just the right plan to get the kids and visiting family out of the house so you can wrap presents. Send them to the park for a couple of hours of fresh air and cool nature stuff. 2 hours. The program is free, parking $7 inside park. Contact (310) 858-7272 x131 or try the Park link Sponsored by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and presented by the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority.
Monday December 26, 2011
Green Thumb Christmas Clearance Sale
Pick up some amazing deals on the beautiful ornaments and décor that might not have been swooped up during the holidays.
Descanso Gardens:
I had a wonderful time this week at Descanso visiting with friends and taking in the sites. There were still some chrysanthemums, the fall colors were amazing and the camellias are starting to bloom! They also have a few holiday events, that you might want to take in.
Saturday & Sunday December 10 & 11 is a big day:
Breakfast with Santa at the Gardens 9:30 – 11
Holiday Boutique 10am – 4 pm
And on Saturday the 10th – there is also wreath making at 10 am and 2 pm
Here is the link to their calendar
Oh, and YES! I did get to see the vertical garden – check out one of my photos.
The gardens are ablaze with fall color, and there are still a few programs to take advantage of this month.
Saturday December 3, 2011 –
10am – 12pm – Arboretum Adventures – The Cactus Garden
12pm – 4pm – Organic Fruit & Vegetable Gardening
For more about the upcoming events – check out this link
I hope that you have a fun month – there are sill a lot of gardening events to attend, and don’t forget to use your imagination to create some unique gardening gifts for your friends and family!
For more about my designs, please visit my website
Wordless Wednesday – Chrysanthemums at Descanso Gardens
Purple Intermediate Incurve Chrysanthemum
Yellow Spider Chrysanthemum
Fancy (don’t know what kind of) Chrysanthemum
For more about my designs take a look at my website
Gifts that keep on keepin’ on!
If you are reading my blog you just might be a plant lover! If that is the case, why not give some beautiful plants to those lucky enough to be on your list?
Creating a beautiful container design for your friends ensure that you are on their minds all year. Here are a few tips for creating a great design:
- Decide whether you want to go for holiday colors or your friend’s color scheme and stick to it!
- Pick a beautiful container (and make sure it is large enough for all you want to put in it) if you are in SCV, try Green Thumb Nursery or Green Nursery, they both have fantastic selections!
- Select a stand out plant as your “thriller” and build around that. Camellias are a nice choice as are an agave and echiverea, or one of my favorites a Duranta. (Yes, your friends will eventually replant them into the garden as they grow too large — added bonus!)
- Think outside the box – what about throwing in some edibles as filler? This is a great time to design using leafy greens! My favorites are red mustard, a beautiful red veined sorrel, and arugula (because I use it in salads to spice things up).
- Don’t forget something cascading – it gives you three layers of plants and adds dimension.
- Add a surprise to your container. Bury some bulbs of beautiful spring flowers in your container and you will certainly delight your friends again come springtime.
I love designing containers; as a matter of fact I love designing! For more about my landscape designs, take a look at my website
Wordless Wednesday – November’s Beauty
Cassia in bloom
Hachiya Persimmon
Tumble Weed! Wind alert
For more about my designs please visit my website.
My Favorite Books
I have been taking both my portfolio and a couple of favorite books with me lately on first time client meetings and they have been met with great excitement!
I have had more than one person ask me to send them links to one or the other of the books I carry or have been furiously scribbling away while we are looking at beautiful, inspirational photographs.
I love to get new ideas from other talented designers and horticulturalists and both of these books give me inspiration every time I turn the pages.
I was lucky to attend a book signing last year sponsored by APLD where Carol Bornstein and Bart O’Brien were speaking. I had been anxiously awaiting the publication of their book, Reimagining The California Lawn, (written along with David Fross) since I had heard Carol speak during the summer of 2010 at the Pacific Horticultural Symposium. This book has proved to be everything that I had anticipated and more. I thought it would just be for my use, but find that it inspires my clients to think outside their standard comfort zone because the photographs are so amazing.
I have always loved edibles, since I have been a kid in New York, our family had fruit trees, berry bushes, and always a vegetable garden. I have been adding edibles to my garden designs when ever even the slightest opportunity presents itself. When I heard about the next book – I was VERY excited! I have never had the opportunity to meet Ivette Soler, author of the Edible Front Yard, but I follow her on twitter and was kept up to date on the status of her book until its publication. This book has beautiful photographs by Ann Summa and is a must have for anyone thinking of adding edibles to their landscape – either in the front yard, or anywhere else.
I hope you take a moment to look at the links to these books, gain some inspiration, and maybe add to your collection.
Enjoy!
For more about my designs, please check out my website.
