Lisa Gimmy Landscape Architecture

When you think the kitchen at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House could not be more lovely... until Ikebana Sogetsu Los Angeles welcomes Spring inside the home. Here, a memorable arrangement beautifully comprised of kumquats on the branch, green onions, and carrots.

The elegant never fails to punctuate spring with beautiful, cheerful blooms.

Our congratulations to Stonehill Taylor, the winner in interior design for hospitality at the BLT Design Awards. We had the privilege of working with them, along with ONYX Architects, Summa International, Darkhorse Lightworks, and Gray Real Estate Advisors on updating this 1926 hotel, formerly known as Hotel Constance. LGLA helped select the new fountain urn and designed a lush and layered courtyard garden that retained healthy, contributing, established plants.

Spring is in the air! Southern California’s superbloom has begun, and one of our favorites, Hesperaloe parviflora 'Perpa' (Brakelights red yucca) reliably puts on a colorful show every spring, shown here at our project, Desert Retreat.
Photo by Millicent Harvey Photography

It was a joy discussing the secrets of great desert garden design Modernism Week. Thank you for your support and interest!



Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, Scottsdale
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Lotusland
OJB Landscape Architecture
Ten Eyck Landscape Architects

..A recent day at our Rancho Mirage project. As you’ll hear Lisa discuss tomorrow at her Modernism Week lecture, we love incorporating boulders into the landscape, and it's essential to have experts to assist in the sourcing, selection, and placement!

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Lisa’s lecture at Modernism Week “The Secrets of Great Desert Gardens”, is sold out! Thank you for your support. Developing this lecture has been a labor of love, and we look forward to seeing you next Tuesday in Palm Springs!

Photo by Millicent Harvey Photography.

Researching and creating our lecture for Modernism Week has been a joy – and we look forward to sharing it with you! Lisa will be speaking about “The Secrets of Designing Great Desert Gardens” on Tuesday 02.20 at 11 a.m.

For tickets, please visit Modernism’s website:
https://go.modtix.com/f/f24/designing-desert-gardens?date=2024-02-20&fbclid=IwAR0KIUWEfOhF4tbd2DVBbdGvwLYbsyu8XNXTjiTBtQn3L1RIjaYBULvupq0

We are excited to share with you that Lisa will be speaking Modernism Week 2024! In her lecture, entitled “The Secrets of Designing Great Desert Gardens,” she will be discussing some of the history of desert gardens in the Southwest, their star plants and their respective origins and requirements, and she will share some of LGLA’s work in the desert. She will be speaking on Tuesday, February 20, 11 a.m. We hope to see you there! See link below to purchase tickets. Photo: Water Lilies fountain by Gene Flores, photographed at LGLA’s Desert Gardens project by . https://go.modtix.com/f/f24/designing-desert-gardens?date=2024-02-20

This seventeen-year-old Vriesea imperialis – one of the largest bromeliad species in the world - has signaled its waning days with a stunning show. The plant, which has gradually built up a storage of humus, mosses, and lichens around the root system, sends up a stalk that pulls water and nutrients from its base to deliver it to the fruit, where tiny droplets of water appear. Yellow orchid-like flowers then open, and can provide nectar and pollen for birds, bees, moths and insects for up to five months. What an impressive grand finale!

Is there a more beautiful harbinger of autumn? Driven by the change in daylength and temperatures, Monarch butterflies west of the Rockies make their fall migration to tree groves along the California coast. This "snow bird" greeted our principal in her front garden this morning.

Chinon, as viewed from the fortress.

The great French landscape architect Andre Le Notre, known for designs with formal patterns, water features and terraces, which allowed gardens to be appreciated while viewing them from a higher perspective. Some of his most famous works are the gardens at Chateau de Versailles, Chateau de Chantilly, Vaux-le-Vicomte and the Tuileries, where this memorial honors him.

Leonardo Da Vinci's staircase (1516) at Chateau de Chambord, the Loire Valley's largest Renaissance castle. In addition to its beauty, the staircase's double-helix design features two intertwining spiral staircases - one for users to ascend, the other for them to descend.

Hilltop view, Sancerre.

The sublime Parterre de l'orangerie - with the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses in the background - features orange trees from Portugal, Spain and Italy, lemon trees, oleander, palm and pomegranate trees, some more than 200 years old. Timing is everything - they typically are not brought outside from the Orangerie until May.

Springtime in Paris!

La Tour Eiffel, by the numbers:
2 years, 2 months, 5 days: length of construction
1989: year of completion
20 years: intended lifespan.
1898: first radio transmissions from tower
1903: served as a military post
1914: a radio transmitter in the Eiffel Tower jammed the Germans’ radio communications, helping the Allies win the First Battle of the Marne.
1925: transmitted the first public radio program
1083: current height in feet
7,000,000: visitors per year
20,200,000: total weight

Supporting 9700 tons of iron lace that reach 1050' into the Parisian sky.. la Tour Eiffel's beautiful base.

A flawless spring day in Giverny - what inspiration!

The 2023 California Preservation Foundation Conference is next week, during which we’ll be gratefully honored for our work on the Virginia Robinson Gardens as part of the 40th Annual California Preservation Awards. The conference is a wonderful way to celebrate our state’s rich history and learn more about significant sites and efforts to preserve them.

https://californiapreservation.org/awards/virginia-robinson-gardens/

We are honored to have been distinguished with a 2023 Preservation Design Award from the California Preservation Foundation for the Virginia Robinson Gardens Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS). Work on this pro-bono project began over three years ago and includes the contributions of over thirty volunteers. Overseen by the NPS, HALS is one of three national programs documenting America’s built environment. Completed drawings are maintained in the Library of Congress where they are made available to the public and serve as a resource for historians, educators, and other preservation planners. The HALS report will support the VRG’s goal of achieving House Museum accreditation and will act as a guide for the continued preservation of the gardens. Thank you to CPF for the recognition and to the VRG Board for their support! Photo: Virginia Robinson at her King Palm Forest, said to be the largest collection of king palms outside their native Australia.

Yesterday evening's outdoor lighting review for phase two of a favorite project, Desert Retreat, went quite nicely!

The brilliant yellow flowers of the Senna artemisioides punctuate the blue desert sky and are complemented by the earth tones of surrounding boulders. These rugged, fragrant, colorful shrubs help create privacy along the property line of our Palm Springs project.

The final stretch of our Palm Springs project, when the Blue Elf aloes could not be more beautiful..

We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday, and a fulfilling 2023! We remain grateful for our wonderful clients and professional allies, and we look forward to continuing to create beautiful spaces in the new year.