Book Review – Reimagining the California Lawn: Water-conserving Plants, Practices, and Designs

Continuing on a road we have just begun to travel, this month’s book,  Reimagining the California Lawn: Water-conserving Plants, Practices and Designs gives us another look at drought tolerant plants from around the world and offers design ideas and practical solutions to complement our Mediterranean climate.

From greenswards and meadows to succulent and kitchen gardens, this book presents alternatives to the traditional lawn that can reduce water use, beautify the landscape, and attract birds and butterflies. The horticulturist authors of Reimagining the California Lawn, Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O Brien, wrote the award-winning book California Native Plants for the Garden.

“After considering the resources and maintenance that most California lawns demand – from heavy irrigation to regular applications of fertilizer to frequent mowing with power equipment – one conclusion becomes inescapable: we need to find alternatives to turf grass that are more environmentally sound.”

When you’re ready to remove or down-size your lawn, this inspiring book will be the perfect companion to help with the process. Reimagining the California Lawn is illustrated with more than 300 color photographs and offers a variety of plant palettes to choose from as you begin to create a more sustainable landscape.

The book’s publisher, Cachuma Press was founded by John Evarts and Marjorie Popper and has been a California corporation since 1991. Cachuma is a place name in the Santa Ynez Valley, where Cachuma Press is located. “Cachuma” comes from the name of a Chumash village on the Santa Ynez River which the Spanish spelled Aquitsumu. The Chumash word for the village, ‘Aqitsu’m, means “Constant Sign.”

For an interesting and cool plus, John and Marjorie were some of our first friends in the Santa Ynez Valley when our family moved there in 1991 and their daughter, Naomi went to school with, and was great friends with our daughter, Daisy.

Photo Credit: Image via Cachuma Press

I recently read that the official cocktail of the state of California is the Mai Tai, though who decided this, I do not know, but apparently it was invented in California at either Trader Vic’s or Don the Beachcomber. We would like to present, in our newsletter dedicated to California…

DAISY’S  MAITA’I

Makes one cocktail

1 oz Neisson Blanc (Rum Agricole)
1 oz El Dorado 8 (Aged amber rum)
1 oz Errand Curacao (Dry Curacao or substitute Triple Sec)
1 oz lime juice
3/4 oz Orgeat syrup
1/3 oz Hamilton 151 (Deep amber rum)

Add all ingredients except the Hamilton 151 to a cocktail shaker and fill with crushed ice.  Shake, shake, and shake until the shaker is frosty on the outside. Pour unstrained into a glass. Float the Hamilton 151 on top. Garnish with a lime wheel and a mint sprig.

NO PINEAPPLE JUICE OR MARASCHINO CHERRY, PLEASE.

Sit poolside and sip while you luxuriate with your Shrimp and Green Peach Salad

If you are so inclined, make your own Orgeat syrup:

Cover 2 1/4 cups of raw, sliced almonds with 3 1/2 cups of filtered water in a mixing bowl.  Let it sit for 30 minutes, then strain and discard the water.

Coarsely grind the almonds in a food processor then return to the bowl and cover with 3 1/2 cups filtered water and soak for 4 hours, stirring every once in a while.

Strain liquid through cheesecloth into a glass jar, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible.  Discard the almonds. Add 1/2 cup of cane sugar, close the jar tightly and shake vigorously for 15 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.  Add 1 oz. vodka and 1/4 tsp orange blossom water and stir thoroughly.

Cover and store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  WORTH IT!

Photo Credit: Courtesy of MMH Austin

Eye of the Day Installations at the Pasadena Public Library and Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Pasadena Public Library and the Garden Club

On April 23rd and 24th, the Pasadena Public Library was transformed into a botanical paradise. “Reflections – A Centennial Celebration”,  was presented by the Pasadena Garden Club. The purpose of the Garden Club of America flower show staged within the Library was to set standards of artistic and horticultural excellence. Judges from all over the United States offered their evaluation of the individual entries.

Myron Hunt,  one of the club’s founding members, was the architect for the Pasadena Public Library and the architect for the Casita del Arroyo, a community meeting house, with a water demonstration garden and butterfly sanctuary, which has been the major community project for the Pasadena Garden Club since it was conceived, designed and built as a public works project during the Great Depression.

An Eye of the Day favorite landscape architect and member of the Pasadena Garden Club, Sally Farnum of SE Farmun Associates, designed two succulent gardens for the front area of the library and chose two Gladding McBean Oil Jars in a vibrant blue green color to frame the library entry.

We think they should be there permanently!

Eye of the Day and the Buddha at The Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Recently our good friend Virginia Hayes, curator of Lotusland, sent Julie Jordan, Curator of Contemporary Art at The Santa Barbara Museum of Art to Eye of the Day to choose a container for an upcoming exhibit.  Julie chose the pot and Virginia planted it with lotus.  Now visitors entering the Museum’s historic Ludington Court will see the finished product next to which is the focus of the exhibit, a 26′ long and 6′ high inflatable, reclining Buddha.  The sculpture is the work of Lewis de Soto and is entitled Paranirvana (Self-Portrait) and the exhibit will be in place through July 31st.

We are so fortunate to be a part of this great installation!

THE OUTLIER’S GARDEN

Outlier: something that lies outside the main body or group that it is a part of; “different” than the rest, not better, not trying to fit in, just different.

This is how I describe my garden when I’m asked.

Even when big-time designers visit Eye of the Day, their jaws drop. We often hear, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” We are proud of our store and business. Most people assume our home must be some magnificent park or arboretum. We just laugh and smile and say it more resembles a garden on LSD, it’s definitely a trip.

My garden is truly my sanctuary, my go-to place; it is where I want to be all of the time. It is my laboratory, my test kitchen and I love every recipe I try. I learn about the plants, I learn how they function in different pots and soils. I propagate, I mix, I simply play all day.  I’m fortunate to have access to so many beautiful containers; yes, most are broken and rescued from the dumpster but I don’t care. I get to experiment and when the results are spectacular, I bring them back to Eye of the Day to share them.

Take a look at this Greek Pithari I planted five years ago with a miniature rose, spectacular if I say so myself.  Even landscape designers comment on it and we know how critical they can be. They make winemakers look good.

My garden is an outlier when it comes to design but I think it is far more interesting and it is definitely more alive than most.

I will be posting pictures of my private garden here on the Blog ongoing for those who are interested to see just how unarboretum-like my wonderful garden really is.

Antique Spanish Oil Jars

I get a call from Brent at Eye of the Day.  He’s stuck in traffic on the 405 freeway in L.A., and he could use a little help unloading a container that’s just arrived at the Port of Los Angeles. I get up from the potters wheel, wrap my clay in plastic and head to Carpinteria not knowing what to expect.

Typically, Eye of the Day containers are from Greece, Italy or France  and are packed to the gills, having made the arduous journey from the Mediterranean. I know from experience that shipping ceramics in any capacity can be precarious at best, so you never know what to expect when you finally open the door.  On this particular day I figured it was more of the same, the usual three-to-four-hour marathon of unloading fragile, heavy, awkward, authentic terra cotta. I was both right and wrong. To my great surprise, the container comes from Spain. Oh man, this is gonna be awesome!

When Juan cracks open the door ever so slowly, so as not to lose anything that may have shifted in transport, it is clear that this is perhaps a once in a lifetime experience. Before me lies the mother lode of antique Spanish oil jars, richly textured, impeccably handmade, and well worn from years of use. Some are stitched up with metal staples, some seemingly have bee’s wax in them, some look as if they were glazed by the hand of a two-year old, and almost all of them have some measure of olive oil still inside!

Each pot is a masterpiece. It’s as if each and every piece has its own unique story of function colliding with inherent beauty.  These oil jars are museum quality, some of the most fantastic pieces of pottery I will ever see in my life. Yours too, when you make the trip to Eye of the Day to catch a glimpse of these Spanish beauties before they are all sold!

Book Review: Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Planting  

We never seem to stop talking about gardening during the drought and are always looking for ideas to help maintain or introduce new plants and methods into our own personal Shangri-la.  An especially helpful book can be just what you need to get rolling to some new ways.

Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings: The Ultimate Guide to Low-Water Beds, Borders and Containers truly serves as encouragement to gardeners of all levels to rethink their gardens, especially their lawns.  The book emphasizes drought-tolerant ground covers, permeable paving, succulents, native grasses and containers, and has lots of images for inspiration.

It offers suggestions on combining plants in interesting ways to display color, pattern, texture and fragrance while illustrating how few plants are needed to create a beautiful outdoor environment.  There are chapters full of plant charts with photos, descriptions and care advice to help make your garden easy to care for and easy on the eyes.

Since it wasn’t in the cards for Southern and Central California to reap the water rewards of the much touted El Nino this year, gardeners are continuing to struggle with how to use our water as efficiently as possible.  This new Sunset Western Garden Book will help all of us to see possibilities of new ways to garden that will benefit our senses and our environment.

Image via Sunset Magazine