My favorite Authentic Provence category is “pavilions and tents”

Just discovered the most heartbreakingly gorgeous website for all things provencal in the garden: Authentic Provence (www.authenticprovence.com). Especially heartbreaking if you are sitting in the freezing snow instead of the sun. However we can all dream…You will be so inspired by this website.

The brick and mortar store is located in Palm Beach, Florida. However the virtual store offers 14 extensive categories, such as garden antiques, fountains, planters, antique tile, lighting.….My favorite is the Pavilion and Tent category, especially the umbrello octagonale and mercato delle erbe. The “spout” section alone sends me into ecstasy. And don’t get me started on the antique doors. Check it out at www.authenticprovence.com.

On the web:

Thursday, March 31:  “Landscape Scenography: Setting the stage for garden mystery” with speakers Chip Sullivan and Elizabeth Boults followed by a signing of their book An Illustrated History of Landscape Design @ the  Los Angeles Arboretum: jill.berry@arboretum.org or 626–821-4623

Tea tree shaped into a tight ball.

Some plants just worm their way into our lives. Perhaps because of its versatility, the tea tree, or leptospernum, is just such a plant. A native of Australia and New Zealand, it thrives in Sunset zones 14 — 24. Jo O’Connell of Australian Native Plant Nursery in Ojai says there are many different varieties of this shrub. “While the plants all have similar pink, red and white flowers, they vary in height and growth habits.”  I personally love them trimmed into tight balls close to the ground or as trees with visible branches. But the most unusual application is pictured below in Walnut Creek: the leptospernums have been allowed to grow through a wood framed wire fence, creating a glorious living wall.

Tea trees like well drained soil, are drought tolerant and good near the ocean. My one speciman took a couple of years to get going but it is thriving now. There are 16 varieties of this shrub listed in the Sunset Western Garden book — one could have a whole garden of nothing but tea trees!

www.australianplants.com

A living wall of leptospernum.

On the Web:

Thursday, 2/10: Currents, gooseberries and manzanitas for your Southern California garden @ the Los Angeles Arboretum, 9:30 — 12, $20.00/ 626–821-4623 or jill.berry@arboretum.org/

Saturday, 2/12:

• Make a fabulous fountain from a watering can @ the Los Angeles Arboretum — bring a watering can, all other materials provided at cost –I couldn’t find a cost on this class / 626–821-4623 or jill.berry@arboretum.org/
• Birding basics at Descanso Garden 8am — 10am — $20/10 members/ www.descansogardens.org/
• Also at Descanso: Companion Planting 1pm — $20/10 member and:  Backyard Chickens and Bees 10am — 12pm — $25/15 member
• Camellia Show and Sale @ Huntington Gardens Sat 1 — 4:30 and Sun 10:30 — 4:30 / Huntington.org/
• Hypertufa class: Make a container resembling a stone trough 10am — 12pm / $35/25 member / theodorepayne.org/

Sunday, 2/13:

• 27th Wild Mushroom Fair @ the Los Angeles Arboretum, 10am — 4 pm details @ arboretum.org/

Functional sculpture at Garden Temple

This is the kind of store, a life changing sort of store, that makes me want to open the same business so I could spend all of my time there. That is kind of what happened with David Mills, who with wife Mari, founded Garden Temple in in Studio City in 2002. Prior to opening the showroom David traveled the world buying and selling ethnic art, including stone basins from Central America. It seemed a logical next step to install pumps, but the logistics are more complex. “We get the stone in various states of completion from India, Guatamala, Vietnam.…than the fountains are finished locally. “I love being in a creative business that offers a bit of nature in the city,”  says David. “I grew up in the valley and miss the open spaces. This is a neighborhood space. We welcome people to come in and wander around, like the family with small children who come almost every weekend.”

The simple, attractive forms David designs and fabricates facilitate water flow and fall. “We also install and maintain our fountains, and we are very safety conscious. It’s also important that the parts underneath that you don’t see are durable  and made of high quality material.” Garden Temple’s large outdoor showroom and indoor area showcases hand chiseled stone troughs, basins and blocks, copper vessels, exotic indoor plants and planters.

Garden Temple, 13055 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, 91604 / 818–783-0079 / 10 — 5 / 7 days a week / www.gardentemple.com

On the web: Burkard Nursery in Pasadena is having their Labor Day sale Friday, September 3 thru Monday September 6. All items 30% off. (626) 796‑4355 / www.burkardnurseries.com / More information in Find a nursery under East Valley and beyond.

“Huge Sudeley Bench” by Pablo Reinoso at Sudeley Castle

I came across this work of art on a favorite website and stopped in my tracks! What a perfect setting for this glorious piece of outdoor sculpture!

From the catalog:

As impressive in scale and ambition as its name suggests, Huge Sudeley Bench was commissioned especially for the Sotheby’s at Sudeley Castle exhibition. It represents the first time that Reinoso has worked on this monumental scale, overseeing a team of foundry technicians who employed hydraulic machinery to manipulate lengths of steel girder into exuberant and free flowing forms. Reinoso refers to this process as ‘breathing sculpture’, referencing the manner in which Calder adapted his mobiles while at the same time acknowledging its architectural properties. Commenting on his early training as a sculptor, Reinoso has stated his will to go beyond prescribed boundaries, ‘boundaries you need to know but you don’t need to respect’. Huge Sudeley Bench was created in three individual sections and treated with black autobody paint, a decision made to ensure that future generations could refresh its surfaces and appreciate the work in the pristine state it first left the foundry. It also sees the introduction of Reinoso’s new artist’s monogram which he intends to apply to all his future creations.

“Spaghetti chair” is actually a bench.

To learn more about Pablo Reinoso and his work, go to:  www.pabloreinoso.com, www.chairblog.eu/, and to see more of this Sotheby’s exhibition:www.sothebys.com/minisite/sudeley/.

A Socal company that carries beautiful garden art and fountains on a smaller scale is Garden Temple (818–783-0079) in Studio City,www.gardentemple.com.