By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer
The Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase is not a garden tour of long-standing--this is only its second year. But it sure is a big one. There are 79 homes on this self-guided tour this year, including 22 with a native plant emphasis, 19 with veggie gardens, and 18 where you'll find the garden designer on the premises to answer questions. What the gardens all have in common is drought-tolerant plantings suitable for our climate.
The Showcase takes place on April 25 this year. The gardens on the tour will be open 2-6 pm on that day. And the event is free. Education is the Showcase's motive. They'd like us all to garden "green." and their aim is to provide inspiration.
To plan your tour--I'm assuming 79 in one day is a little ambitious to try and cover in 4 hours even for over-achievers--go to the Showcase's blog where all the addresses are listed and plan a trip based on your interests, time, or miles you're willing to drive. They've set it up to make that easy.
The garden at 11819 North Park Avenue on the website caught my eye, and I paid the homeowners, Cindy & Curtis Ripley, a visit in advance of the show. Not only is the landscape very pretty front and back, as you can see. But, as if often the case with these tours, the homeowners were as interesting as their garden.
Cindy Ripley runs Luna Garcia, a handcrafted pottery dinnerware store and studio, in Venice. And the Ripley's home is full of these colorful pieces. They remind me of Fiesta ware but with more intense colors, and, because they're handcrafted, more organic shapes.
Curtis Ripley is a painter and his garage is his studio. It will be open the day of the tour, and, like me, you may surprise yourself by spending more time there than the garden. Below is a sample of Curtis's work. You can see more here.
Nocturne #4
