Sunset Park

The Santa Monica neighborhood of Sunset Park is south of Ocean Park Boulevard as it crests, rising up the hill east of Lincoln Boulevard. It's a neighborhood of modest single family homes, built in the '40s and '50s to house wartime workers at Douglas Aircraft, or, later, returning GI's and their families.

There's a Middle School, and a small stretch of commercial development. On Ocean Park at 15th, there's a small plant nursery called Merrihew's Sunset Gardens.

It's a small, family run place with a nice selection of annuals as well as trees and shrubs, and perennials. There's a small sheltered greenhouse with tropical indoor plants as well.

On a day in November, I visited and looked at the fall and winter bedding plants. There were pansies, stocks, snapdragons, and chrysanthemums. The planting of fall annuals in our outdoor beds and containers is just as much a fall ritual for Californians as raking leaves is for folks in cooler climates.

Even though it's warm enough here in California in November, the light has turned and the evenings are cool. Rain is predicted for the Thanksgiving weekend. This year, [The Man I Love] and I are spending the holiday with just the two of us - no dogs, and our son is staying in New York. I thought about getting something cheerful to chase away the gloom.

How about this magnificent bi-color giant chrysanthemum as a centerpiece for a Thanksgiving table?


Wouldn't that look great in one of these talavera ceramic planters? I like the russet and gold one that matches the blossoms, don't you?

What are you planning to do to dress up your Thanksgiving table?