L.A. Times - Home & Garden

Sage, the West's soulful savior

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Don't overlook salvia, not only water-hardy and low-maintenance but bright blooming, aromatic and uniquely suited to the California landscape.

Many gardens go without sage in California, but at the cost of soul. Sage is to the West what lavender is to France.

Lakers reserve guard Sasha Vujacic buys W Hollywood Residences condo.

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The condominium, in the $350-million development at Hollywood and Vine, has two bedrooms and 21/2 bathrooms.

Lakers reserve guard Sasha Vujacic has purchased a unit at the W Hollywood Residences.

A Long Beach Craftsman in all its 1913 glory

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Craftsman was free, the restoration wasn't. It took money and persistence to get back to its original beauty.

When Wendy Harn rescued her 1913 Craftsman from the wrecking ball in 1989, she didn't know much about the home except that it was free to anyone who would pay to move it. So she relocated the two-story, five-bedroom behemoth from Ocean Boulevard opposite the Long Beach Museum of Art to the Bluff Park Historic District. The distance was only nine-tenths of a mile, but it marked the beginning of a long, strange trip through the curious history of a house that's been, at various times, home to pillars of the community, frat boys and yoga enthusiasts.

Thanksgiving at our little Plymouth Rock

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

My wife, Posh, is part Pilgrim. She's got all these funny ideas about religion and sex and is even pretty puritanical when it comes to what to stuff the turkey with.

A parents' guide to settling fights between siblings

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

How to hold peace talks

Conflict resolution for kids

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

In the long run, children may benefit from being taught to resolve disputes for themselves, rather than having an adult arbitrate.

Some of us are conflict avoiders. Some of us are conflict seekers. Sometimes it seems as if our children are all conflict seekers and we parents are conflict avoiders -- or conflict stiflers.

How to plant, care for sage

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Planting and care tips Planting: Start now and start small. One-gallon sages planted now in advance of winter rains should be given a hole four times the width and two to three times the depth of the nursery container. Before planting, soak the hole three or four times and allow the water to infiltrate. Loosen any bound roots, then use existing soil (not garden center planting soil) to fill around the seedling. Ensure that the root crown is not buried.

Bird decanter at Fitzsu

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

For wine lovers with a sense of humor and a taste for the modern, this bird decanter -- a new arrival at the Los Angeles store Fitzsu -- is a welcome change in the way one might aerate a favorite red.

Bubble lights vintage ad calendar

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

It's calendar season, and design fans have lots of options: Taschen's celebration of Antoni Gaudí, Pentagram's popular typographic extravaganza for font freaks, and Blue Ant Studio's annual (and free) print-it-yourself calendar depicting classic chairs. For anyone looking for a midcentury motif, check out the Bubble lights calendar featuring the original 1950s advertisements and a brief design history by architectural writer and Home contributor Jeffrey Head. Just last week we reported that George Nelson's classic white lamps are being reissued with colored shades, but the Bubble calendar includes a 1953 ad that offers this wise alternative: If you want a little drama, just add a colored light bulb. The calendar retails for $9.95 and is available at the Hennessey & Ingalls bookstore in Santa Monica, as well as the LA Phil Store at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hammer Museum store and Modernica in Los Angeles.

Pasadena's Gold Bug grows

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Stacey Coleman's 'contemporary cabinet of curiosities' takes over another storefront, all the better to display the odd and artistic.

Stacey Coleman calls his Pasadena gallery Gold Bug "a contemporary cabinet of curiosities," but after his recent expansion, the moniker seems an understatement in many ways. After taking over an adjacent storefront, Coleman, wife Shelley Kimball and daughter Theodora Coleman have filled new tables and covered additional walls with dozens of artists' work that is beautifully crafted and often delightfully odd. Lisa Wood's miniature dioramas are populated with soldier ants building a sandcastle and cicadas sitting down for tea with gold-rimmed china -- scenes that seem at once a parody of natural history displays and a celebration of them too. (And, yes, those are real insects.) Other offerings range from large sculpture costing thousands of dollars to acid-washed concrete figurines that start at less than $10. 22 E. Union St.; (626) 744-9963; www.goldbugpasadena.com .