He's the one who loves the black stems on the variegated Pittosporum tenuifolium. And he's the one who gets concerned when visitors tread on the erodium and other ground covers. Parrot tulips add color against a wall painted in an earth tone. The Fairs bought the house in May 1998 but deliberately waited a year before beginning the garden because Blythe wanted to observe how the sun's path changed through the year. Considering the garden is only a year old, things have really grown.
Shrubs look like shrubs already and garden beds look filled in.
Fair is an organic gardener and follows the Bio-Dynamic methods of precise formulas for compost and fertilizers and specific gardening regimens. She fertilizes the garden with a mulch-like cover of compost that she makes on the other side of the house. For the fun of it, Fair keeps a book where friends and guests can write comments about meals and the garden. Search the archives of the Los Angeles Times for similar stories. You will not be charged to look for stories, only to retrieve one.