LAUREL CANYON

Modern Living in Los Angeles

Last days of summer

Mixing mid-centuryDIY concrete planters

MAY 2012

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last days of summer

last days of summer

Written by Jamie SmithPhotographed by Hanako Iwara

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mos Angeles -- despite its blue ocean, swaying palm trees, green lawns, and for-ested foothills -- is actually the high des-ert. But with the desert climes tempered by sea breezes, and the landscape kept green with water carried by aqueducts from all around the West, L.A. might be the most accommodating desert you’ve ever visited. No matter how hot it gets, low humidity usually keeps things dry and comfortable.

Tourism peaks during summer, when coastal hotels fill to capacity, restaurant reservations can be hard to get, and top attrac-tions are packed with visitors and locals off from work or school. Summer can be miserable in the inland valleys, where daytime temperatures -- and that famous L.A. smog -- can be stifling, but the beach communities almost always remain comfortable.

Moderate temperatures, fewer crowds, and lower hotel rates make travel to L.A. most pleasurable during the winter. The city is at its best from early autumn to late spring, when the skies are less smoggy. Rain is rare in Los Angeles -- about 34 days a year, on average -- but it can cause flooding when it does sneak up on the unsuspecting city; precipitation is most likely from Feb-ruary to April and is virtually unheard of between ummer can be miserable in the inland valleys, where daytime temperatures May and November. Even in January and February, average daytime

temperatures can reach into the 60s (teens Celsius) and higher Wsometimes up to the 80s (high 20s Celsius). The city is driest during summer with the desert climes tempered by sea breezes, and the landscape kept green with water carried by aqueducts from all around the West, L.A. might be the most accommodating desert you’ve ever visited.

Pundits claim L.A. has no seasons; it might be more accurate to say the city has its own unique seasons. Two of them are “June Gloom” and “the Santa Anas.” The first refers to the ocean fog that keeps the beach cities (and often all of L.A.) overcast into early afternoon; it’s most common in June but can occur any time be-tween March and mid-August. The middle of autumn (Oct-Nov) often brings the “Santa Anas,” strong, hot winds from across the desert that increase brush-fire danger (surfers love the offshore conditions they usually create).

Winds and coastal fog aside, Los Angeles remains relatively temperate year-round, with an average of 320 sunny days each year and an average mean temperature of 66°F (19°C). It’s possible to sunbathe throughout the year, but only die-hard enthusiasts and wet-suited surfers venture into the ocean in winter, when water temps hover around 50° to 55°F (10°-13°C). The water is warmest in summer and fall, usually about 65° to 70°F (18°-21°C), but, even then, the Pacific can be too chilly for many. enderficae vis imurnum viris, furi fac tali speritie medi, porunti tussil hilis ad-duconteri, consum maxim fue pliciorudam veropti libus, oculi poneric iemus, quosse nultorei pulemod menat, nocatum hebust L. Vive, condam nit; Catuiditem obulleste, quit esi seripte atrurs moerit ficaest ridefate inerei cutem addum host? quiderem tifent, con tarit vivid C. Atam aucercerfex sil hucieribus re eo is.

Many visitors don’t realize that Los Angeles -- despite its blue ocean, swaying palm trees, green lawns, and forested foothills -- is actually the high desert. The city is driest during summer with the desert climes tempered by sea breezes, and the landscape kept green with water carried by aqueducts from all around the West, L.A. might be the most accommodating desert you’ve ever visited. No matter how hot it gets, low humidity usually keeps things dry and comfortable.

Tourism peaks during summer, when coastal hotels fill to capacity, restaurant reservations can be hard to get, and top attrac-tions are packed with visitors and locals off from work or school. Summer can be miserable in the inland valleys, where daytime temperatures -- and that famous L.A. smog -- can be stifling, but the beach communities almost always remain comfortable. Moder-ate temperatures, fewer crowds, and lower hotel rates make travel to L.A. most pleasurable during the winter. The city is at its best from early autumn to late spring, when the skies are less smoggy.

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THE INFINITY POOL AT THE SMITH RESIDENCE OVERLOOKS LAUREL CANYON AND HOLLYWOOD IN THE DISTANCE.

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“Enjoying the sunshine with our friends? I can’t imagine a more perfect way to spend the last days of summer.”

Rain is rare in Los Angeles -- about 34 days a year, on average -- but it can cause flooding when it does sneak up on the unsuspect-ing city; precipitation is most likely from February to April and is virtually unheard of between May and November. Even in Janu-ary, daytime temperatures reach into the 60s (teens Celsius) and higher -- sometimes up to the 80s (high 20s Celsius).

Pundits claim L.A. has no seasons; it might be more accurate to say the city has its own unique seasons. Two of them are “June Gloom” and “the Santa Anas.” The first refers to the ocean fog that keeps the beach cities (and often all of L.A.) overcast into early afternoon; it’s most common in dle of autumn (Oct-Nov) often brings the “Santa Anas,” Sunset Magazine writers wrote “how to” articles for the curious readers interested in Western food, gardens, home improvement and travel. Sunset “travel” as applied to Los Angeles meant things to do in and around Southern California, i.e. hiking the nearby mountains, walking the streets of downtown, sailing to the Channel Islands, exploring the little known wetlands, dis-covering ethnic enclaves, searching out unusual food adventures.

At the turn of the century, Angelenos subscribed to Charles Lummis’ “Out West” (later “Land of Sunshine”) and the Auto Club’s “Touring Topics” (later “Westways”). In these publications, as well as Sunset, the beaches were a recurring theme.

Repeated look at Sunset’s coverage of Southern California’s beaches tells of the tastes and interests of the times, providing a vivid snapshot of each period. In 1909, readers were told how to visit the beaches by interurban, and how they could stay in a hotel in a beach city and “live like a vested plutocrat; or engage apart-ments ranging in price from $25 to $500 a month and live like a retired plumber...or rent a canvas house in the tent city and live close to nature.” In 1950, readers learned about the “fast grow-ing sports” of skin diving and goggle fishing and that the best surf boarding was probably at San Onofre. In 1968, the editors gave readers a beach-by-beach description of what to do, where to park and picnic, the best tidepools, among a myriad other details, along the 105-miles of Los Angeles beach. The first beach listed is Point Mugu, “newly opened this spring; about 3 miles of ocean frontage.”

The articles on the San Gabriel Mountains, by Southwest Editor Walter Houk, were a notable achievement as they pro-vided a detailed look at the local mountain range. “The San Ga-briels are unusual among North American mountain ranges in

that their axis runs east and west. This gives them a sunny south slope where spring stirs long before the calendar announces it.” (February 1968). When asked about the impetus for the article, Houk explained it was partly memories from his early days in Los

Angeles, partly from a sense of discovery when returning to Los Angeles, and “partly out of a sense that not many people in L.A. (outside of a few Sierra Club members) and even fewer northern Califor-nia folks knew much about them.” Houk commented on

reaching the low-elevation summit of Vetter Mountain, where he met the “long experienced observer, named Ramona Merwin, later colloquially known as the grandmother of lookouts.’ (A 1985 Los Angeles Times article shared Merwin’s memories from Vetter Lookout as she retired in 1980.)

The public gardens and parks in Los Angeles were a favorite topic of Sunset writers. Beginning in the 1920s Sunset readers came to expect every issue to include how-to garden articles rang-ing in length from one-column to many pages. In most cases, these articles were written by garden experts living in Southern California, though exceptions were made for celebrity gardeners.

Lawrence Clark Powell, better known for writing about books than gardens, submitted a piece called “Robinson Jeffers and His Garden.” Both Powell and Jeffers are best remembered for use of a pen rather than their use of a green thumb. But as Powell pointed out, Jeffers had attended the School of Forestry at the University of Washington, so his garden in Carmel did reflect a knowledge of plants and trees--as did his poetry.

The magazine regularly showcased Los Angeles gardens, which contained ideas readers could adapt in their own landscapes. One early example was “When Stars Come Down to Earth, They Find Real Joy in Gardening and Dig Up Many New and Interest-ing Ideas” (August 1934). The article began by wondering whether movie stars really did like to garden or was it just a publicity stunt. It turns out that indeed actors like Victor McLaughlin had a pas-sion for growing roses and he liked something blooming in his garden all year around. Other actor/gardeners (with their favorite plant listed) included Lilian Harvey (straw flowers), Mona Barrie (pond lilies), Louise Dresser (her flowers won prizes at the Los An-geles Flower Show), Charles Farrell (landscaped his own garden), Edmund Lowe (rare cacti), Lew Ayres (cacti), Janet Gaynor (4-acre garden), and Warner Baxter (formal garden).

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