Results tagged “flowers”

Earlier this month, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack declared National Farmers Market Week, during which Americans were urged to try to put a visit to an area market into their routine in order to support local farmers and hopefully enrich their diets with fresh, locally sourced, healthy produce. On the heels of those eating and consumer focused efforts, Vilsack shifted his focus one step back in the chain and declared August 23-29 National Community Garden Week.

As noted earlier today, one of the seven murals made of flowers advertising the 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle was unveiled today along the 101 Freeway near downtown. This truly isn't an advertisement, at least not in the legal sense for Federal regulators who are not allowing the floralscapes to be commercial in nature. Instead, the new marketing concept (their words) uses "abstract images of the new Prius" that captures the essence of its marketing campaign--“Harmony Between Man, Nature and Machine"--developed by Saatchi & Saatchi.

Later this morning, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Caltrans and Toyota will unveil what they call a first-of-a-kind "Harmony Floralscape." From what we can tell, it's a garden of 20,000 flowers that make up a living mural of sorts, and in this case, a creative and eco-friendly supergraphic advertising Toyota's 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle. Creative, eh?

I’m not going to wait until one of you gets your compost together to ask me an important question. I’m not going to hear the 4th query on “why do I suck at gardening?” (A: worms hate you). This column needs to be responsive, sure… but let me ask a question that you should be asking: Why do my dahlias have jock itch?

              

The story could begin like this: "Once upon a time, some folks decided to plant a corn field on 32 acres of brownfield near Downtown Los Angeles." And maybe that's the story you know. But that's only one chapter of the space that is/was Not a Cornfield, because the story of the space began in the 1800s (and earlier, still) and is still being told. This is the Los Angeles State Historic Park, and its evolving landscape right now boasts some pretty stunning wildflowers most worthy of a springtime stroll around the premises. Learn more about the land's amazing and rich history first via their website, and then via a visit; the park is set up with informational markers throughout to enrich your understanding of this wonderful little place in the shadow of our skyscrapers and nestled against the Gold Line's tracks.

In the next few days and weeks, cherry blossoms are about to blanket the branches of local trees with their gorgeous blooms. Last weekend LAist headed out to Encino to the Lake Balboa area to see some early blooms, and today the Daily News has a listing of other places around town where you and yours can enjoy the cheerful springtime sight of cherry blossoms, take a stroll, snap some picks, and get outside.

             

Around the perimeter of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley are hundreds of slender trees with fragile branches soon to be fully burdened by the buouyant pink of gorgeous cherry blossoms. These trees know it's verging on spring, and about 30% of them are sporting their cheerful buds and blooms. An daytime jaunt these days to the park and a stroll around the lake will grant you a hint of what's to come.

Practically splitting Los Angeles in half, the Santa Monica Mountains are one of LA's biggest and closest outdoors assets to those of us living in Los Angeles. The National Recreation Area, under the auspices of the National Park Service, is a large area extending from the Caheunga corridor to the Pacific Ocean and is full activities from hiking Runyon Canyon to the hot topic this spring, wildflower hunting. The Park Service's Research Learning Center has it's own bloom report for the recreation area and a very helpful flower database tool. (Via Modern Hiker)

PhiLAnthropist's last minute picks for gifts that give more...check out the first PhiLAnthropist Gift Guide for more ideas.

Guerilla gardening is largely thought to have its roots in England, where folks have long planted unexpected gardens in neglected public spaces as a sort of call to action that highlights the misuse of land and repurposes it into something beautiful. They often work in crews or teams and go on carefully-planned gardening missions. Recently a local team of guerilla gardeners transformed a section of land next to an off-ramp of the 101 Hollywood Freeway.

The 31st annual Echo Park Lotus Festival is only two weeks away, but something--something central to the event--is missing: The Lotus.

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Forget June Gloom... for one major section of Descanso Gardens in La Canada it's all about June Bloom!

Last weekend, the homeowners, docents, and designers who are taking part in today's Green Gardens Tour gathered in the beautiful Santa Monica library to talk with each other and to be honored by the tour organizers at a thank you breakfast.

Enjoy the Photography.

As you drive down Sunset Blvd.eastbound toward Vermont you might see a yellow sandwich board sign at the corner of Edgemont advertising what seems to be a dozen roses for $4. Since the area has several hospitals (Kaiser, Children's, Hollywood Pres), such a deal would seem like the sort of hidden gem that you'd expect LAist to share with you. But the sign is hiding a dark secret. In fact it hopes that you...

It's certainly not the biggest farmer's market around--in fact it's pretty close to fledgling. Operational since last fall, the Toluca Lake Certified Farmer's Market takes over just one tiny block on Sancola, north of Riverside Drive. There are a few produce stands featuring excellent, although somewhat limited, selections of fresh local fruits and veggies, as well as at least one floral stand, craftsmakers with wares from soy candles to jewelry, tamales, baked goods, and...

Valentine's Day can be rough on guys. There's flowers ($80 for a dozen roses at a store on La Cienega), candy ("Are you trying to get me fat?"), jewelry (That little diamond thingie costs how much?), and dinner (you did make reservations in January, right?). You could have taken Tom Lykis' advice and dumped her last week, or planned an out of town business trip. Or you could go to the Flower District with...