A Last Chance to View This Year’s Pasadena Showcase House

This weekend is the last chance to view all of the Showcase House, the event concludes Sunday, May 15. – Photo by Susan Motander

Watching a Garden Grow

By Susan Motander

For years I have gone to the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts (PSHA), first as a mother-daughter outing with my own mom, then as a member of the press “reviewing” the house, and most recently as a docent giving tours of the gardens. I have long been impressed with the creativity of the various designers who transform the various rooms in the house.

While most of us will never live in the sorts of mansions transformed by PSHA and their supporting designers, there are always ideas the average person can use, and we are exposed to these designers who can also assist with more modest projects. But what has always intrigued me, are the gardens.

While the interior designers can set up a perfect room, when these designers complete their projects, they are done. The chair will remain in the same position, and the paint color will not change, the designers know how the light will impact the room throughout the day, each day. But the exterior designers, those who are creating the various gardens, are dealing with more ephemeral spaces.

Plants will grow, and bloom, and potentially die during the month the Showcase House is open. It was with this in mind that I decided to follow one garden from start to finish this year. With input from the members of PSHA, the pool area was determined to be the project I would follow. But as with all great plans, this one went awry.

A family emergency called me out of town for most of the month before Showcase. I was able to record and report on the first several weeks of the garden’s growth, but lost a large portion of the work. But here is a synopsis of what I watched:

As Terry Morrill of Pacific Outdoor Living, the firm in charge of this space, later described, the pool had the ambiance of a “cheap motel.” It was all pink concrete … and there was a lot of it … and it was ugly.

Apparently the concrete was put in to deal with the drainage problem on the property. It, however, must have exacerbated the problem. Over the course of just three months, Pacific Outdoor Living removed the ugly pink concrete, created a whimsical garden walk, complete with giant Lucite flowers and a small self-contained stream/water feature. They put in three large planting beds and even brought in SportsCourt, a company that installed not only a putting green, but also a half-court basketball court that easily adapts to both volleyball and paddleball.

As Terry Morrill of Pacific Outdoor Living, the firm in charge of this space, later described, the pool had the ambiance of a “cheap motel.” It was all pink concrete … and there was a lot of it … and it was ugly. – Photo by Susan Motander

Pacific Outdoor Living moved the area from “Cheap Motel,” to elegant entertaining. And it was only one of several gardens.

This weekend is the last chance to view all of the Showcase House. It is open only through Sunday, May 15. Tickets are still available online through the group’s website: www.pasadenashowcase.org.

Even if you have already toured the house, this is also the last chance to see the gardens at night. The house is open late on both Friday and Saturday evenings. The shuttle is free and there is no cost to visiting the gardens or the shops at Showcase (what you purchase is your own business). Tickets to tour the house cost between $35 and $45.

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