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June 8th, 2010

A Walk on the Wild Side: Wild Gardens

If green is the new black, then wild is the “au courant” look in gardens. gardens

By: Sher Hann

So goes the ecological wisdom.

In fact, the concept of “wild gardens” is not new, dating back to the 1860’s when it was pioneered in England by William Robinson. It has evolved to what we commonly call today the English Cottage Garden. Robinson, taking his cue from the Arts and Crafts movement, strove for the practical, more natural, less formal garden that harmonized with the surrounding landscape. Wild gardens were to contain a large variety of plants, including edibles and natives all mixed together in a free design.

In eco-conscious Southern California, wild gardens showcase those plants that thrive in our dry environment. Some wild gardens also seek to attract wildlife. In the wild garden in the photo, surrounding a home in Wood Ranch, owner Agnes Faughnan says, “We focused on the abundance of birds in the area, putting in not only plants but also a water feature that would attract them. Definitely, this has been a success story.”

To maintain the pastoral environment, Faughnan’s garden uses natural stone for the patio, walkways and small retaining walls. The resulting setting, says Faughnan, is eco-friendly, with low-water-using plants irrigated by micro irrigation sprinklers. It offers variety, with an abundance of native plants, perennials, annuals, shrubs and trees, including lemon, lime, tangerines, blood orange, pear, Asian pears, persimmons, pomegranate, fig and black walnut, as well as many herbs and, of course, lavender.

“Our wild garden is also practical,” says Faughnan, “because of its low requirements for both water and maintenance. Like nature,” she says, “our garden is a work in progress.”

For more images of this tranquil paradise, see Starbright Gardens.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Sher Hann
Web Site
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Posted by Sher Hann on June 8th, 2010

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January 21st, 2010

Confessions of a Print-aholic

There is something about holding a paper

Even my little dog, Walter, prefers reading a book to reading online. He is shown hear at story time with a friend

By: Sher Hann

It has been raining all day, and I am finally at home, sitting in front of the fire, a glass a wine in hand, reading, of all things, the newspaper. Ink on the fingers, for many years a bane, is now a badge of honor.

I use a computer all day long: reading e-mail, check the MLS, surfing the net, visiting Facebook, reading the headlines on my Google homepage. And I’ll admit that many a morning begins still in bed, with a cup of coffee and my Blackberry in hand, as I scan CNN headlines on my phone. Yet, before I dash out, I am not happy if I cannot hold the Wall Street Journal and, at the very least, read the front-page capsules. A tech column Walter Mossberg, for example, would be a special treat, and I want to read about in the paper, not peruse the Wall Street Journal online.

There is something about holding a newspaper, book or magazine that a screen cannot satisfy. A screen does not bend to the touch. It doesn’t flutter closed as I jump up to pull my little dog, Walter, from the edge of the fire (where he looks like just another log on the hearth) and holding a laptop is not comfortable when I lounge on the sofa. Not even a Nook can do this (although I do admire the Kate Spade Nook covers at Barnes & Noble).

Tomorrow I will most likely succumb to the urge to buy a book, I am sure. Two things drive me to read a book: bad weather or being sick. I will brave the rain to check into Barnes & Noble, where I will buy a cappuccino, peruse the latest mysteries and select some very cheap entertainment: a book, to be touched, read, savored and remembered in a way that instant articles never can be. I will take my new book home, enjoy a warm fire, pluck little Walter from its edge, and read … and read … and read.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Sher Hann
Web Site
" . $name . "

Posted by Sher Hann on January 21st, 2010

Please leave a comment.

Geography

Agoura Hills is considered the "Gateway to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area." The city is unofficially divided into a number of varied districts, the most notable of these districts include Downtown, Forest Cove, South End, Malibu Junction, East Agoura, and Old Agoura. Agoura has a Mountain called Negrohead Mountain. Named after John Ballard.

History

Agoura Hills was first settled by the Chumash Indians, and later by Spanish Franciscan missionaries. In 1845. José Maria Dominguez was given Rancho Las Virgenes as a Mexican land grant and Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes later purchased the rancho from Dominguez in 1845. The "Reyes Adobe" ranch headquarters can still be found today in a museum along Reyes Adobe Rd. in central Agoura Hills. By 1900, Agoura Hills was being used as a popular stage stop for travelers along the Camino Real because of its natural spring at the foothills of Ladyface Mountain, one of Agoura Hills' defining geographic features. In the 1920s, the community was briefly known as Picture City, as Paramount Pictures owned a ranch in the area used for filming Westerns. To obtain a post office of its own the residents were required to choose a one word name, and in 1927 chose a misspelling of the last name of Pierre Agoure, a local Basque man and French immigrant who had settled in the area in 1871 to live the lifestyle of the Mexican rancher and styled himself Don Pierre Agoure, accordingly. Agoure was a successful sheep herder and had a reputation as a swashbuckler. His name was chosen for the post office as it was the shortest name proposed.

Music Scene

Agoura Hills is known regionally for its live music scene and artistic originality in the alt/rap-metal scene, a fame that has given rise to such top acts as Underwood, Delve, Hoobastank, Fort Minor, and Linkin Park. This music scene was born amid the coming of age of the children of the first wave of migration into Agoura Hills, those that settled in the 1960s. The 1980s was the first boom in the music scene, but by the late 80s, as many of these original rockers moved off to college or aged, the scene quietly began to slip away. However, in the mid-1990s the music scene took off again, energized by the coming of age of the children of those who had settled in the early 1980s. But by the 2000s, much of this wave of teenagers had aged or gone to college, leaving the scene with only a shell of the energy it once had. Although the scene lives on, pushed forward by various Battle of the Bands competitions and garage concerts, the lack of a third major wave of migration to Agoura Hills. Agoura Hills is home to The Canyon Club, a highly regarded concert venue that hosts national and regional touring acts such as Peter Frampton, REO Speedwagon, X, Steel Pulse, The New Cars, Asia, Boys II Men, Which One's Pink?, Alan Parsons, and The Smithereens.

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