Gothic Garden: The Witch's House

My last post was about the Witch's House in Beverly Hills, but today the focus on the property's south-facing front garden. Much of this garden receives full sun, with very few areas receiving partial shade. (The photo above was taken around 6:30pm, so those are late-afternoon shadows you see.)

First of all, I would call the landscaping at the Witch's House more of a gothic "Halloween Garden" rather than a "Witch's Garden", because it does not rely heavily on the medicinal plants and herbs that are traditionally used in a witch's garden. Instead, we see a lot of fall colors, especially blacks and oranges. (Note: black plants are almost never truly black, but the term used for very dark-colored plants.)

Here, dark-leafed, orange-flowered "Dahlia Mystic Desire" mingled with green-leaved varieties of dahlias:


 A dark backdrop was achieved with this ground cover of "Dragon's Blood" sedum (Sedum spurium), shown here near the pond's edge:



Here is a planting of pygmy crimson barberry (barberis):


A variety of dark-leaved coral bells (heuchera) were used along the sidewalk, along with orange-blossoming California poppy (Eschscholzia californica, not in bloom at this time):


Even the pads of these water lilies (Nymphaea) were streaked with a very dark purple:


 

We also saw much attention paid to plant form and texture.  Spine-covered Euphorbia "Lomi" Thai Giant Hybrid discourages trespassers as much as the "No trespassing" sign held in the craggy branches of manzanita (Arctostaphylos).

 

I'm told these tall plants resembling cornstalks are called Black Sorghum and were planted by seed:

Here is a closer look at a seedhead:


This type of sorghum can be used in dried flower arrangements, and has healthful antioxidant properties if eaten. The sorghums are supported by uniquely loopy wire cages as seen below:

I've no clue as to the name of this distinctive plant with its alien-looking seedheads:

Curly corkscrew rush (Juncus grass curly wurly) grows like a witch's untamed hair by the pond:

I'm not sure about this weeping shrub or young tree, but I'm guessing it's some type of Weeping Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum).  The branches look like they also have a crazy twisted form:

It certainly stands out against the gothic setting of the black plants:




As I mentioned earlier, the flowers tended to be in Fall colors of orange and yellow. These are milkweed/butterfly weed (Asclepias curassavica or Asclepias tuberosa) :



Blanket flowers (Gaillardia) provided more orange and yellow blooms:


Another dahlia from the Mystic series, coreopsis, and gaillardia:



Black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens') line the pathway in the west side garden:
The dark plantings and grassy plants with an intentionally overgrown look blend the parkway strip into the overall scheme:


The hardscaping tied the home's Storybook archetechture to the surroundings by the use of various-sized stone in walls and and in walkways:
 

Landscape lighting was provided by rock-shaped fixtures. This one was postioned by the only rosebush I saw in the garden, a rose with dark red blooms:


Trellises are custom made twists of wire and resemble thorny vines:

The wooden fences had uneven pickets:

The pond is used as a moat; one must cross the bridge to get to the front door of the Witch's house:

The bridge used faux tree trunks, formed from concrete, as pillars:


This etched rock by the front gate, (partially covered by sweet peas Lathyrus odoratus that are past their prime), credits landscape designer Jane Marshall. She can be reached at her website, janemarshalllandscape.com.

Hope you enjoyed this garden tour. If I've misidentified a plant, please leave a comment to let me know.

Bat's Day and the Black Market

Just got back from Bat's Day, and had a blast as usual. What is Bat's Day? It's basically Goth Day at Disneyland, and is officially called "Bat's Day in the Fun Park." The event was started 13 years ago and has grown to become Disneyland's second largest non-official event (Gay Day, in June, is the largest. They wear red t-shirts.) While Bat's Day is an unofficial event, Disneyland does cooperate to make it a success by securing venues and providing photographers for large group photos- we're talking 1,500 Goths at once in the annual photo in front of the castle at noon, among other photo ops.

All types of Goths attend, including classic, cyber, lolita, neo-victorian, and steampunk.

Hearse owners and pirate-loving people are also attracted to the event. Phantom Coaches is a local hearse club that had some members attend in their hearses, old ambulances, and flower cars.

I see some people there regularly, like sisters Green Orchid and Mistress Xian. The event is sort of a reunion for them, as they live in different states. Mistress designs and sews dresses with a new theme each year. This year the dresses were fitted with electroluminescent wires, so the skirts actually lit up and became fields of green or purple stars. You could spot the girls from quite a distance at night.



2009 with Haunted Mansion wallpaper design in the skirt (not well seen here, sorry.)



2010 had a Little Miss Muffet theme with embroidered spiders on the skirts

2011 electroluminescent starfield

Lyn is another regular that I seek out to photograph due to her magnificent wardrobe. I didn't happen to see her this year, which was disappointing.

Lyn 2010

Lyn 2009 with Hilary and ?

Mary Poppins and me, Scary Mary Poppins

This year, I dressed as a gothic Mary Poppins. By mid-day, my hair and makeup were a hot mess, but people enjoyed my dead parrot umbrella and my hat of black daisies and rotted cherries. 

Queenie and Tightrope Girl Roxie Rot

But the best outfit I saw was "Tightrope Girl" from one of the stretching portraits in the Haunted Mansion. I neglected to get her name, but here she is with artist Queenie and her rendition of the scene. (EDIT: Thanks to a comment here, I found out her name is Roxie Rot.) There was also another Tightrope Girl, but I found the first girl had the perfect face for this character.

 I met John Fair, the creator of Killhouettes there. He came in from Arizona and he kindly gifted me with these postcards he is holding. I'm a big fan of Killhouettes, as you may recall from this post.

John of Killhouettes gives a sly wink

The photo above was taken at The Black Market, an event held at a nearby hotel the day before Bat's Day, where vendors sell Gothic wares such as clothing, jewelery, books, art, dolls, hair accessories and hats. Bat's Day is actually a 3-day event, and encompasses a meet-and-greet dinner,  a concert and dance, the Black Market, a costume ball, and the big day at Disneyland.

This devilish guy is ready for the Swinging Wake masquerade ball held after the Black Market.

Here's the event creator and founder, Noah K. dressed as the graveyard caretaker in the Haunted Mansion. I first met Noah several years ago when I visited his home haunt, Grimmstone Cemetery, which ran for 20 years, and have also run into him while visiting other people's haunts.

Founder Noah K, flanked by his girlfriend Melissa and his mother

Since Bat's Day happened to fall on Mother's Day this year, Noah brought his mom along. You can barely see it, but Noah is wearing the Bat's Day hat, which is formed from a Mickey Mouse hat that has special plastic bat wings snapped onto it, and a patch that changes each year. Clever idea, yes?

For more information on Bat's Day, click here.  

Gothic Greenhouse Inspiration Photo...and a Skull Scarf

Just another day lounging in my conservatory whilst wearing my bustleskirt, contemplating colouring my hair the shade of one of the blooms on the floor.
 Seriously, NO, that is not me...I just wish it was. Then I'd be better able to see and identify that black-flowering plant that is creeping up the other side of the sofa.  The lovely pendulous datura blooms add a nice touch to this gothic scene, too.

Here I am, with a lovely new addition to my wardrobe--the skull-and-flower scarf made by Kara over at the WickedCrochet blog.

 Isn't it great? It's getting tons of compliments. I went out to lunch and practically the minute I hit the sidewalk a passerby said "I like your scarf!" Kara's blog has a link to her Etsy store, so you can check out her selection of wicked skull scarves and nasty doilies.