Monthly Archives: February 2024

Feel (Peach) Fuzzy!

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FLIRT WITH FUZZY OR COMMIT TO A PEACHY PEACE

 
 
March 2024. Each year, a variety of organizations forecast color trends for the coming year. We take notice, as these are often the colors that will help a space feel fresh, revitalized and current.

We pay special attention to Pantone Institute’s Color of the Year. While not the first of the colors to be announced, it tends to have exponential impact. In fact, you may have already seen its choice, Peach Fuzz, showing up in media as well as fashion and interior design shops.

The color has been described as one that invites you to “reach out and touch,” one that evokes “compassion and empathy,” as well as “a more peaceful future.” Well, we’re on board with all of that!

Whether you want to add a little Peach Fuzz to freshen your look (low commitment) or hope getting fuzzy will bring more peace to the world (high commitment), we see a few ways to bring it! Here are our high-to-low commitment tips.
 
 

 

ALL IN: PASSION FOR PEACH

LA’s exceptional Spanish architecture provides plenty of opportunities to wrap yourself in a peachy peace. If you have yet to move into such a paradise, there are a few other all-in options:
 

 
Patios, Walks and Drives: Many of the distinctively-LA materials we use to construct long lasting outdoor rooms and “traffic” flows through a garden can bring a naturally peachy hue. The most natural materials include flagstone, tiles, and even gravels. Dyed concrete is also a nice all-in option.
 

 
Built-In Features: We love the space-saving and movement-directing qualities of built in furnishings and features. Those that involve tile, stone, or metal finishes require commitment to the color trend, but can be designed and built to bring a timeless quality.
 

 
Pro Tip: Even when on-trend, the more built in and architectural the feature, the more timeless it should feel. It can happen! A peachy flagstone patio and path may feel like a big commitment when plants are young. Once greenery establishes, the features will feel like a neutral backdrop, especially when paired with LA’s deep blue California Lilac, Margarita B.O.P. Penstemon, and Woolly Blue Curls.
 
 

 

MIX-IN: PRESENTING PEACH

If you want to present a little more peach to your garden but aren’t quite ready to commit to architectural changes, planting Peach Fuzz may be an option for you. Several native plants bloom with a full or partially peachy color, including a few of our favorites:
 

 
Long Lasting Color: Apricot Mallow, as well as Santa Cruz Island and California Buckwheats have staying power. Apricot Mallow will bloom much of the year. Buckwheat’s display of peachy blooms will evolve throughout the year, ranging from cream thorough peach to rust.
 

 
Seasonal Pop: For true Peach Fuzz, Apricot Monkeyflower can’t be beat (yes, we see the irony!). Both Monkeyflower and Alumroot bloom through much of spring and summer, but they do eventually retreat, making them lower commitment options. For Fuzz in fall, consider Manzanita – on arrival, its berries, known as California’s little apples, will appear peachy.
 
 
Pro Tip: While blooms provide a peachy pop, the full tapestry and seasonal cycles of a garden mitigate the level of commitment. They can also be a way to bring a pop of peach to your interior spaces without having to buy so much as a sofa pillow… just gaze out the window or vase a few blooms for indoor enjoyment.

 
 

TOE-IN: FUZZY FOR AWHILE

For those looking for a perfunctory pop of peach, a few options include:
 

 
Container Gardens: Potted plants can also be peachy! We love container gardens for integrating non-native foliage that needs more care in our hot, dry summers and cold, wet winters.
 

 
Containers: Pots themselves can be beautiful, low-commitment ways to participate in a trend. We like classic terra cotta pots or those with a patina that will give them a useful life beyond their trending moment.
 

 
Cushion Covers: For those who replace them often or leave them out in the sun, outdoor cushions can also be a lighthearted commitment.

Pro Tip: Anything mobile lessens the commitment. No longer love a particular container? Place it in a foliage-full area where you might otherwise plant a fill-in. Think your interest in that cushion cover will fade with time? Maybe a pattern will feel more manageable.

 
 

Bloomful Color Palettes

Follow FormLA Landscaping’s board Blooming Now: August in LA on Pinterest.

Build Love with LA

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Let’s up our partnership skillset to reduce the climate cycle drama

 
February 2024. Love inspires us to look for the all-sides wins. In conflict and urgency, it inclines us to see our partner’s point of view and to listen intently for their needs. After all, once we are in partnership, I can’t win if you lose.

As Angelenos, we find ourselves in partnership with an exceedingly beautiful, creative, savvy, yet volatile partner. While those outside the marriage engage with her “sunny disposition,” we know the unerring sunshine takes a toll. We know we also have to prepare for raging waters and shifting ground.

The good news? The more we provide what LA needs, the less drama we add to this cycle. Over time, we can build our resilience and skill set to ride out the ebbs and flows. This will mean greater safety in the moment and a better life for our children – and an even better one for our children’s children. This absolutely does not require collapsing our own needs. In fact, we can simultaneously get more of what brings us comfort and joy. A true win-win-win.
 

 
As with any partnered endeavor, we need deep, honest and accurate communication to succeed. Rather than hardening in the hopes of protecting ourselves, we need to slow things down as well as free-up time and space where we can effectively absorb the storms. When we do, they will begin to feel like the gift they are. Here is what that looks like.
 
 

Slow Down

We need to be able to slow the flow of the storm long enough to direct the downpour to where it can really sink in. The Forbes Mountain Retreat, open for the 2024 Native Plant Garden Tour, illustrates this two-step technique. It’s expansive tree canopy slows rainfall, while rock bands in the driveway direct the storm to a place where the garden can take it all in.
 

 
On this steeply sloped property, the effort does more than keep LA’s rage from slipping out into the street. It stabilizes the ground and protects the home.
 
 

Loosen Up

We also need to develop the ability to absorb more. We may need to un-pave some areas we’ve hardened. The Schumacher Garden Retreat, open to the public April 21st as part of The Garden Conservancy’s Pasadena Open Days, beautifully illustrates several ways we can do this.
 

 
Water-absorbing decomposed granite, low-water need foliage, and an edited concrete drive create opportunities for impactful breakthroughs. They replace an expansive concrete drive and thirsty, chemical dependent turf grass. (See Before+After)
 
 

Go Deep

Where we can, we’ll want to dig below the surface. LA will appreciate us going deep! This takes developing our ability to hold water until we can truly drink it all in. The Sustainable Storybook Garden in Studio City shows the how-to – as well as the immediate pay-off – for engaging in this work.
 

 
While petite, the garden developed an exceptional capacity to hold water with the addition of two bioswales. Rather than taking the normal 3-5 years to hit its stride, the garden felt fully established while still in its honeymoon year. Incredible! See this delight-evoking space during The Garden Conservancy’s LA Open Days April 28th.
 
 

Recruit Your Village

We can accomplish a lot of good by keeping our focus at home. When we extend a partnership approach into our community spaces, we can manufacture miracles. Harnessing expansive, public spaces to address LA’s needs takes pressure off each of our private spaces. We applaud the residents and City of Sierra Madre for engaging in this work together.
 

 
Last year, Sierra Madre resident volunteers added yet another water-directing and absorbing public garden to amplify the impact of the Authentic Foothill Gardens long in place at city hall. Each of these gardens is open to the public year round.
 

 
We’ve spent generations hardening up, and it may take awhile for us to change how we operate. We believe that with each step we take, the immediate safety, aesthetic and financial benefits will feed our capacity for greater change. In the meantime, know we are committed to being in team with you as well as our beloved city through the ups and downs.
 
 

More Information

FormLA: Water-Restricted Summer
FormLA: Beautiful Bioswales
LA Times: The Unloved LA River Just Prevented a Flood Disaster
Houzz: Patio Pavers Go Green In-Between
Houzz: Dry River Beds Solve for Runoff
Houzz: Bioswale (Rain Garden) Ideabook