Our Favorite! Palo Verdes! One of our favorite trees. During each trip to the Southwest we oooh and ahhh over these beautiful trees. Their green bodies and wispy leaves, those gorgeour yellow flowers... they talk to us. And, now climate change makes it possible to grow them in CA! How’s that for a silver lining?
How did Chris know to spec 4 of them at Grande?
Early Bird Gets The Worm We know from stories Dave Muffly, Park’s arborist, that you never wait until the last minute to buy your trees. You never know what you might find… or not find. So we decide to buy our trees sooner vs later. Assana’s research points to Moon Valley Nursery in Cochella, CA, which is great: no CA agriculture importing and sequestering! We invite Curt (of Cline, Modern House Architects) and Chris (of Yates, Field Landscape) to join us. Chris can’t go, but Curt does.
OMG The expert at the nursery tells us ahead of time that they have thousands of Palo Verdes, and that she would have to drive us around. Little did we know that “thousands of trees” was not a figure of speech! They, literally, have thousands of trees… anywhere from babies in pots, to massive boxes. Most were in bloom and the sea of yellow flowers is really intoxicating. We are in heaven!
4 large specimen trees... check!
Hear Me Out Traveling with Curt is like traveling with your personalized mid-century modernist coffee table book. With Palm Springs being a hotbed of modern projects, starting in the 50s, Curt is in his element! We spend a day driving through amazing areas, gawked at houses as Curt filled us in on their history, their architect(s), what they did right, what they did wrong, etc. We also learn how the Bauhaus architects were "nudged" out of Germany. The US was the lucky recipient of these folks who starting the movement that became mid-centrury modernist architecture, those days simply called "modern".
Super fun!
Waterfall After a day of driving, a nice hike to Tahquitz Canyon is a nice break. A simple walk ending in a small but beautiful waterfall! Just what three lazy people need.
Yummers We count on Curt for food suggestions. He has an amazing roster of great breakfast diners, quick-bytes, delis, sandwiche places, and fancy dinner restaurants. And we don’t go hungry, be it a sandwich at Farm, German pancakes at Elmer’s, or yummy fried chicken at The Chicken Ranch. And every day is capped with a fancy dinner.
We have a great time with Curt, and look forward to traveling with him again. Or perhaps visit him when his Palm Springs home ever finishes... we all know no construction never ends.
