Latest News: Celebrate the Setting Sun, Q&A with the Rabinovs, Meet Our Tour Hosts
Upcoming Events: Native Plant Garden Tour, MyGBCE
Sustainable Tips: Grow It Like Hilda!
Blooming Now: Tour Our Gardens! See Rare Blooms
Team Update: Vote for Ruby!
Monthly Archives: April 2022
Love Outdoor Life
From Protecting Public Land to Cultivating Their Own Space
April 2020. By Isara Ongwiseth: Desiree Portillo-Rabinov and Paul Rabinov have an impact on the environment that can be felt throughout LA, from our transit hubs to the trails that take us into the wild. We asked them about their stewardship of public lands and how it informs their experience of their own garden.
What motivated you to engage in active stewardship of public lands?
Both of us have been inspired by our love of the outdoors, and our understanding of the importance of preserving our natural environment through our own efforts as well as supporting policies and organizations that are focused on that effort.
How did you get involved?
We have both belonged to and participated in various groups whose purpose is environmentally focused, but also understand the importance of access to nature, including the Santa Monica Mountains Advisory Board, Trust for Public Lands, Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy, Glendale Environmental Coalition and Glendale Parks and Open Space Foundation.
During my involvement with Project Amiga as co-founder of this San Gabriel Valley/East Los Angeles nonprofit, we partnered with the San Gabriel Mountains Forever movement. The movement was a collective effort of organizations related to environmental, social service, workforce development, and faith and community-based organization that shared the vision for long-term recreational usage, access, and preservation campaigns of the San Gabriel’s to benefit the health and well-being of the public.
Project Amiga’s role was to facilitate access to the beauty of the outdoors by low-income, underserved communities in order to inspire recreation as well as stewardship and preservation of public lands for future generations to enjoy.
In 2009-2011, we achieved our three main Campaign components. We passed Wilderness legislation in the Los Angeles and portions of San Bernardino National Forests. We passed legislation designating all or large part of the Angeles and the Western Section of the San Bernardino forests as a national recreation area. Lastly, we created a base of engaged stewards who will protect and nurture these lands for generations to come.
Where does the garden support your broader sustainability goals?
We understand it’s important that our actions need to be consistent with our beliefs. Cultivating a garden that is designed and based upon California natives not only affects our water usage but provides an environment more suitable to the entire local ecosystem. When we have our friends come over for visits, they are enamored by the beauty of the native plants that can enhance the yard and attract so many insects, birds and scents. It brings life to our yard with the natural sounds of wildlife.
When is your favorite time in the garden?
We’ve enjoyed countless spectacular sunsets in our front garden, every one of them memorable in its own way. Throughout the day it’s beautiful when I have my morning coffee, lunch, and a late afternoon glass of wine.
Who is your favorite creature that lives in or has visited your garden?
That has to be our pup who loves playing on the chemical-free meadows and hiding in the blooms. Sonny enjoys eating the plants and running through them. The hummingbirds are everywhere, and it feels great that our garden can sustain their diets. And they are gorgeous to watch.
Do you have a favorite gardening tool?
Bare hands are great gardening tools since many native foliage have textures that are wonderful to touch. The Indian Mallow leaves are soft like velvet while the delightful scents of native sage will linger on your hands.
Tell us about the (fun!) artwork in the garden?
We had two extremely talented artists do the artwork. One is a friend of our daughters, Eric Junker, who paints murals all over LA and significant restaurants. Our daughter and her partner have a restaurant/wine bar that has its wall painted by Eric, which inspired us. Michael Amescua designed our outdoor statue, and I have bought his work through Self Help Graphics, where he worked and trained upcoming artists. He has his shop in Pasadena.
Learn more about the hosts of the 2022 Native Plant Garden Tour.
Meet Tour Hosts
2022 Tour Hosts Bring Abundant Native Plant and Ecological Expertise
April, 2022. By Cassy Aoyagi: One of the things that most delights us about garden tours is the chance to introduce our clients to one another. This year, we have the joy of doing that a little early! Each of our 2022 brings their own distinctive ecological and hyper-local native plant expertise to the table – and the tour.
Garden 14 | Garden of the Setting Sun
Desiree Portillo-Rabinov and Paul Rabinov
The Rabinovs’ impact on the environment can be felt throughout LA, from our transit hubs to the trails that take us into the wild.
Desiree Portillo-Rabinov works for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), She has planned and beautified our roadways, instigating land-use changes that improve access to transit stations, increase ridership, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Desiree also manages the implementation of the annual countywide bicycle design planning and training programs. She serves as the state co-chair and on the California Advisory Board the Trust for Public Land.
Paul Rabinov co-founded Crescenta Valley Clean and Green to promote the importance of protecting and preserving the environment. The Crescenta Valley Town Council elected Paul to represent Crescenta Valley and Altadena on the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a 26-person advisory committee and governmental entity tasked with preserving the state’s wilderness and urban parkland. One of his goals in representing the area is to extend and improve access to the Rim of the Valley Trail.
Garden 15 | Forbes Mountain Retreat
Doug and Claudia Forbes
The Forbes Mountain Retreat sits within 3 miles of the childhood homes of both Doug and Claudia Forbes. As La Canada-La Crescenta natives, they enjoyed roaming the natural spaces of Descanso Gardens as children and as they grew.
As adults, it was a dream to find their dream home in their hometown. Doug spent more than thirty years as a professor at the College of the Canyons in Valencia. Claudia served as a health educator at Huntington Hospital for the same. During this time, the large coast live oak at the top of the driveway shaded their comings and goings, becoming more expansive and extraordinary each year. The canopy was a great stroke of luck – likely planted as an acorn by an unassisted bird or squirrel.
Retirement sparked attention to the garden and its role in their lives. Claudia began volunteering as a docent at Descanso Gardens, an experience that piqued her interest in native plants. Reading Douglas Tallamy’s “Bringing Nature Home” and visiting gardens on the Theodore Payne Foundation Native Plant Tour further informed her understanding of just how important native plants can be. Doug’s horticultural interest formed while reading up on the medicinal use of plants, mushrooms, and plant propagation.
As they began to formulate plans and preferences for the garden, Claudia began to recall college lessons in botany, as well as inspiring family excursions to the Channel Islands. Several of the couple’s plant choices stem from those visits to Catalina, Santa Cruz and San Miguel islands. Several of the plants in the garden were propagated from cuttings Doug made.
Garden 25 | Urban Wildlife Refuge
Hilda Weiss and Wayne Lindberg
Hilda Weiss and Wayne Lindberg work as a team to collect, preserve and promote LA’s beauty.
Since 2007, the couple has operated the award-winning Poetry.LA website and YouTube channel, home to hundreds of videos of Southern California poet performances, interviews, documentaries and themed series. They have videoed events at over 60 venues from San Clemente to Ventura and Riverside to Redondo Beach, capturing performances by noted poets of the region as well as four U.S. Poet Laureates and three Los Angeles Poet Laureates.
Like their work, Hilda and Wayne’s home preserves and promotes LA’s distinctive artistry. The home sits just steps from a Metro stop and is surrounded by larger structures – it appears as a portal to a more holistic history. A rare workman’s cottage, the Santa Monica Conservancy has recognized its historical value, as well as Hilda and Wayne’s meticulous restoration work. In addition to restoring the structure, the couple ensured the rare, expansive space around it serves as an urban wildlife refuge and pollinator rescue station.
In 2014, Hilda moved from preserving to promoting native plants – she convinced the Santa Monica Conservancy to consider an ocean-friendly plant palette to surround its new headquarters in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica. She now serves as a docent at the Santa Monica Conservancy’s Preservation Resource Center where she ensures architectural enthusiasts and the Ocean Park community appreciate the significance of the Shotgun House Coastal Garden.
We hope you’ll enjoy meeting these LA beautiful humans every bit as much as you enjoy exploring these lush and leafy gardens! More Tour Information