Chorisia insignia

The Chorisia is native to South America, but appears around town as a striking specimen tree. It has green bark with spines, showy flowers, cottony seeds, and the trunk is often swollen like a water balloon.

Two chorisia side-by-side in front of our new apartment building:

Callistemon citrinus

The Crimson bottlebrush is native to New South Wales, but grows well in LA, even as a street tree.

Its showy stamens made frilly pink spots on the sidewalk:

Ciclavia

Today was the annual Ciclavia in LA, a few hours during which a set route is closed to motorized traffic and bikes, rollerskates, joggers, and walkers take over the streets. It was a great event to watch. The streets were transformed into a joyful parade of people on wheels, from the littlest ones on training-wheels to the coolest low-riders.






MacArthur Park was full of people taking a break and enjoying the sun, or shade. Dozens of vendors with little food carts sold roasted corn on the cob, flavored ices shaved from huge ice blocks, mango slices, and fresh juices. We saw some beautiful folk dancing in the park:

Van Dyke Parks

A few weeks ago now we saw legendary American composer/musician Van Dyke Parks at Amoeba Music in Hollywood. It was a short, free, show, and Parks sold and signed his new 45" releases afterwards (this guy remains a true lover of vinyl!). Strangely, one of the songs he performed had a lyric about coming from Alabama to Los Angeles! Along with his love of vinyl, he professed his dislike of YouTube, since he believes unauthorized performance videos dilute the power of artistic expression and experience. I had snapped this photo minutes before they announced "No photos, please..." I hope he'll forgive this one.

Grevillea robusta

One of the most unusual trees I've seen in LA is Grevillea robusta, or Silk Oak (it is not really an oak). Several tall specimens line the edge of a ball field at Elysian Park. The flowers are amazing for their intense yellow color and intricately curving floral parts; they imparted a yellowish cast to the entire tree. This species has a very limited range in the US; apparently it can grow only in coastal and southern California and New Mexico, and southern Florida.

The Schindler House

Tucked into a quiet street in West Hollywood is one of LA's remarkable modern houses, the Schindler House. Architect Rudolph Schindler came to the US from Austria to work with Frank Llyod Wright, first in Chicago, and then in LA. This is the house he built for himself and two other adults.

I found the house striking for its limited material palette (dark wood, glass, canvas, and thick concrete, play of light and shadow, and the definition of outdoor rooms through topography and strong planted form.

an LA sunset

Descanso Gardens

Oak forest




Manzanita


Chaparral


Shagbark manzanita

Halprin landscapes, downtown LA

I admire the work of late landscape architect Larry Halprin. In his work, he carefully considered landscape ecology and processes, especially the flow of water, as well as considering individual people's experience of places, including movement and choreography of space (his wife was Anna Halprin, regarded as a trailblazer in contemporary dance). He also developed innovative community participation processes to create dialogue about public space; one such process took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, when the Halprin firm was working on what is now the Downtown Mall.

Most of Halprin's best known work is in the Northwest, but I was excited to hear that he has some projects in LA as well. One is the Maguire Gardens at the Central Public Library downtown, one of my favorite spots of the past few weeks. What is most striking to me about the garden is the range of places to sit: you can sit on a bench in the shade, or on a low wall listening to the rush of the fountain, or in the sun along the terraced axis, watching people come and go. With these choices, it seems that each person finds his or her own comfortable spot to be, within the bustling diversity of downtown.






The other Halprin landscape is the Bunker Hill Steps, which are similarly influenced by Italian design. Surrounded by strong vertical architecture, the steps are a bold, horizontal, landscape gesture. The central fountain was off when I visited, and the rocks looked strangely Disney-esque. From the top of the steps, one can look over the library's roof and sun mosaic.