Holiday Fun with Floral Designer Brad Austin
Brad Austin, from Brad Austin Imaginative Florals and his husband Ricky Ramirez, gave a hands-on class on making floral arrangements for the holiday season on December 18, 2019 at the Virginia Robinson Gardens. Brad mixed Noble Fir pine leaves to create a long lasting and versatile plant base that can easily mix with roses, Christmas Holly, ornaments, and orchids to create a reusable Christmas to Hanukkah to New Year’s arrangement. Brad also demonstrated how to pull apart roses to make them larger and more dramatic looking and created a charming light-up floral arrangement with a Champagne bottle and white roses as the focal point. Brad and Ricky graciously gifted each guest with a potted pine and orchid floral arrangement, and a bag of handy crafting tools, which were used for the hands-on portion of the workshop. Each guest then created their own nature inspired fresh floral napkin rings. Many thanks…
Re-Wilding Your Garden
A Garden Journey to Sustainability and Habitat Enhancement for the Creatures that Call Your Garden Home On Monday, November 18, 2019, Superintendent Timothy Lindsay gave an informative and thought provoking talk on re-wilding your garden. Tim presented ideas to help make smart plant choices when planning a garden. He suggested plants be selected not just based on their aesthetic contribution to the garden, but also on how the plants in the garden contribute to sustaining our souls, the creatures that live in our gardens and our planet. He emphasized the importance of choosing climate appropriate plants. These obviously include native plants and plants that originated in other Mediterranean regions of the world. Since native insects and animals evolved to utilize native plants as a food source, many exotic plants, while beautiful, offer little or no food value or habitat for wildlife. One should therefore be motivated to choose native plants…
New Members Holiday House Tour and Cookie Extravaganza
Virginia’s Robinson’s estate was aglow with decorations for the Festive Holiday House Tour and Cookie Extravaganza on Friday, December 6, 2019. Betty Goldstein, head of the Membership Committee, kicked off the afternoon by leading a Docent Tour for the New Members event. Standing by the Christmas tree, which was lavishly decorated with pink feathers, poinsettias, and mirrored balls in the entry, Betty pointed out that pink was Virginia’s favorite color. Two additional exquisite Christmas trees sparkled with traditional decorations in the golden salon and the library. Following the tour, everyone gathered around the buffet table on the loggia where there was a sumptuous display of homemade cookies. Empty boxes were placed at the end of the buffet table so guests could take home cookies to the special people in their lives. Rachel Ault enthusiastically served warm apple cider, the perfect traditional drink for this time of year. “In the cookie…
A Spellbinding Account of Our Fascinating Area by Jeff Hyland, Cultural and Architectural Historian
As expected from the accomplished Jeanne Anderson, the Fellows had another brilliant event. On December 7th, 2019, in the afternoon, the Fellows mingled with each other and tasted an excellent selection of appetizers and sweets, in addition to having the honor of attending a fabulous presentation on Legendary Estates of Bel Air by Jeff Hyland. Jeff has been a long-time supporter not only of the Virginia Robinson Gardens, but also of the history of the many great estates throughout Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills. His books are filled with wonderful stories from the many amazing people who have lived here and the incredible lives they lived in the fascinating homes they built. He is steeped in the history of the area as he was born in Bel Air. Jeff’s book, The Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills, is an exhaustive work that brings home to the reader the most…
Spotlight on Catherine Fellowes
Each month we spotlight a volunteer, staff member, docent, donor, or sponsor of Virginia Robinson Gardens (VRG) — those that have made an impact on the organization. We want to let you know about these wonderful people and corporations that give so much to the Virginia Robinson Gardens and to the community, and what they do that is so impactful. This month, we spotlight Catherine Fellowes, a dedicated Friend of Robinson Gardens Member. She is a very talented interior designer who has generously donated her time to beautifully restore, design, and refurbish many rooms in the VRG house. We asked her these three questions: 1. How did you first learn about VRG, and what inspired you to become a Friend? My grandparents were avid gardeners, and my grandmother was always very involved in Garden Clubs. They had beautiful native mid-western plants throughout their gardens and lush vegetable beds. They both…