Date: April 23-24, 2020
Time: 10:00 am – 5 pm
Location: Self-Guided LA County
Tickets: Available Now
Theodore Payne Foundation’s self-guided tour of California native gardens spans LA County. Attending the Native Plant Garden Tour is one of the best ways to get a sense of the true, authentic look of Los Angeles.
We hope you’ll join us in three exceptionally lovely gardens selected for the tour.
These gardens have common ground beyond their lush greenery and bountiful, hyper-local blooms. Each garden complements distinctive architecture. They are designed+built to do more than save water – they harness and direct it to refuel groundwater. Perhaps most delightful, each of the garden tour hosts has deep ecological expertise and distinctive perspective on what it means to save LA and our wild spaces.
Here is what you can expect in each of our gardens:
Garden 14 | Garden of the Setting Sun
Also new to the tour and located in La Crescenta, Garden 15 complements spectacular Spanish architecture and phenomenal sunsets. Artful and art-filled, the garden curates hyper-local foliage the owners know from their hiking routes and LA adventures, including a California lilac variety with particularly diaphanous blooms. Desire Portillo Rabinov and Paul Rabinov commissioned a “psychedelic nature pop” mural by Erik Junker to reflect and honor the garden’s native foliage and the fauna that call it habitat. Designer: Isara Ongwiseth + Maintenance: FormLA Landscaping
See the Plant Palette
Garden 15 | The Forbes Mountain Retreat
New to the tour, this La Crescenta garden rises from the street to wrap a rustic cabin in deep, lush, varied and ever-evolving greenery. Nestled under the front garden’s abundant tree canopy, antiques collected by owners Doug and Claudia Forbes define an outdoor living space. A rock bioswale traverses the slope and reflects the home’s rock front steps, as well as rock bands in the driveway that direct water into the garden. Designer: Eric Crow + Maintenance: FormLA Landscaping
See the Plant Palette
Garden 25 | Urban Wildlife Habitat
A perennial tour favorite just steps from the 17th Street Metro Station in Santa Monica, Garden 25 invites birds, bees and butterflies into a heavily built environment. This Certified Wildlife Habitat draws fauna into the city with its blooming Yarrow meadow and parkway, a UC Verde Buffalo Grass lawn, and an abundance of happy beach-and-ocean friendly native plants. There, owners Hilda Weiss and Wayne Lindberg harnesses their help in producing bumper crops in several raised garden beds. Designer: Isara Ongwiseth + Maintenance: Hilda Weiss
See the Plant Palette
About FormLA Landscaping
We believe gardens like these can save LA far more than water. Here is a little more about our approach and our work.