Succulent enthusiasts flock to the annual Cactus & Succulent Society Show at the Los Angeles Arboretum mid-August. It’s the largest of its kind in the US. Judges award ribbons and trophies based on how well a specimen is grown, its rarity, and how well it’s “staged” in its pot. Pots aren’t merely containers, they’re works [...]
These vignettes suggest water—flowing, tumbling, cascading, splashing or dripping water—yet there is none. Each illustrates the ingenuity of a garden designer in the dry, hot Southwest, where water is scarce. Yet the same concept, of creating the look of water, might apply to any garden. In this composition, by Akana Designs for the San Diego [...]
Leave it to LA. Designers in that city are using crushed glass to snazz potted plants. The glass, tumbled so the edges are smooth (it’s often from recycled bottles) lends a splash of glamor.Landscape designer Laura Morton married a pink-edged phormium with an Italian terracotta pot, using a topdressing of peachy-pink glass that also draws [...]
Your front porch is the first room of your home guests see. It sets the stage, reveals how tidy you are, and how much the aesthetics of your environment matter to you. A porch also can be a semi-public sitting area, combining elements of indoors and out. A red aeonium in the garden echoes the [...]
The annual cactus and succulent show at the Los Angeles Arboretum is the largest in the world. It’s a 2-hour drive for me, but I wouldn’t miss it. When I see a plant I’ve never seen before or a perfect specimen of something I’m familiar with, I go slack-jawed and stare. And this year there were dozens. [...]