A planning meeting for Palisades Volunteer Week, a community-wide week of caring, April 23 to 30, will be held on March 30, 7 p.m. at the Palisades Malibu YMCA, 821 Via de la Paz. The second annual Palisades Volunteer Week is designed to encourage hands-on volunteering by Palisadians. Volunteer opportunities are being organized for a variety of nonprofits, including ACCESS Books, Westside Food Bank, Meals on Wheels, Heal the Bay, OPCC, Daybreak, Turning Point Transitional Housing, Special Olympics, Chrysalis, St. Joseph Center, USA Tennis, Venice Animal Allies, Venice Family Clinic, and Share Our Strength. Volunteers are needed to help refurbish a school library and landscape a school courtyard as well as entertain at some local retirement homes and style hair of Chrysalis clients who are going on job interviews. In addition, volunteers are needed to serve food to people who are homeless, sort food at the Westside Food Bank, run a bake sale for charity, deliver for Meals on Wheels, help maintain a local trail, mentor Chrysalis clients, tutor, design and paint a mural, help with a sports clinic, walk animals, donate toiletries, food, children’s books, eyeglasses, tennis racquets, and knit a cap for a newborn. The Palisades Hunger Walk, benefiting CROP, and the American Cancer Society Relay for Life will take place the first weekend. The Palisades-Malibu YMCA will be the headquarters for the week of caring. Volunteers will be able to sort and bag toiletries for homeless men, women and children, and sort donated children’s books. Palisadians are encouraged to volunteer with their school, church, temple, business associates and friends. This is a great way for students to perform community service and for families to show that they believe in it. The first Palisades Volunteer Week, held last May, involved over 200 volunteers and over 1,000 volunteer hours. One participant in that week said to Marie Steckmest, coordinator, that it was so nice to be able to do something one-on-one to help someone instead of going to an event and donating money. Volunteer activities and a sign-up form are listed at PalisadesCares.org. For further information, call Marie Steckmest at 459-1614 or e-mail info@palisadescares.org.

One seed weighs about one 35-millionths of an ounce; another weighs 40 pounds. Amazing seeds will be the topic for horticulturist and garden consultant Lily Singer at the Palisades Garden Club meeting on Monday, April 3, 7:30 p.m. at the Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford. Singer will bring specimens and offer fascinating facts about the seeds, including the many ways that they ensure their survival. The world’s largest seed comes from the coco-de-mer palm, native to the Seychelles Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. While not a true coconut palm, the enormous seed is called a double coconut and is enclosed by a thick, woody endocarp. A single seed may be 12 inches long, and three feet around. On the other hand, certain epiphytic orchids of the tropical forest produce the world’s smallest seeds, some only about 1/300th of an inch long. A knowledgeable and accomplished speaker, Singer brings her years of experience to public forums, classes and to her Home section articles in the Los Angeles Times. Singer grew up in the San Fernando Valley and finally found her calling and career at 23 years old when she started working at a nursery in Canoga Park. From there, while taking a course at Pierce College in 1978, she met the late Sandy Kennedy, a landscape gardener who at that time was manager of Merrihew’s Nursery on Wilshire (and later owner of the Outdoor Room), who invited Singer to work at Merrihew’s. In the early 1990s, she helped open Sunset Gardens on Ocean Park Boulevard. When Merrihew’s closed its Wilshire location in 1986, Singer decided to move into garden consulting, which she continues to this day. “I work as a garden consultant, helping people know what to do in their garden, assessing plants, solving problems, basically helping people be better gardeners,” she says. In addition to her consulting business, Singer produces the Thursday morning garden series at the Los Angeles Arboretum, which for 24 Thursday mornings a year offers experts in horticulture and a number of field trips. Singer also teaches at UCLA and will begin a new program through UCLA Extension’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, which begins on May 9 and will include field trips to public and private gardens in Southern California. While lamenting the disappearance of retail nurseries in the Los Angeles area, Singer offers these tips on what makes a good nursery. “There must be a good selection of healthy plants and a lot of sales people, some of whom are more knowledgeable than others. After all, you have to start somewhere, just as I did.” The public is invited to the meeting, where refreshments will be served.

Lindsay Powers, Todd Rosoff Marry Lindsay Ann Powers and Todd Aaron Rosoff were married on October 15 at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley. Reverend Dale Baker officiated. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie E. Powers II of Pacific Palisades. The groom is the son of Mrs. Sherrill L. Rosoff of Pepperell, Massachusetts, and Mr. Arnold J. Rosoff of Philadelphia. The bride attended St. Matthew’s Parish School and Harvard-Westlake School. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor of arts degree in communication. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She is currently a freelance editor/writer in San Francisco. The bridegroom attended schools in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of science degree in economics. He graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his MBA. He is currently employed by UBS in San Francisco. The maid of honor was the bride’s sister, Michelle Powers, and the matron of honor was Reigin Zawadski. The bridesmaids were Meghan Bradshaw, Merriah Harkins, Emily Manning (childhood friend from Pacific Palisades), Sheila Normile and Alexia Rosoff (groom’s sister). The flower girls were Meghan and Gianna Bacher (bride’s cousins) and Elizabeth Lee (groom’s cousin). The best men were David Barna and Jamie Carpi. The groomsmen were Adam Bradshaw, Taylor Browning, August Cole, Matt Reber and Mark Zawadski. After a honeymoon in Big Sur and Hawaii, the newlyweds are residing in San Francisco Dana Grueber and Brooke Temple Marry Dana Beth Grueber, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Grueber of Studio City, California, was married to Charles Brooke Temple III, son of Charles Brooke and Susan Temple, longtime Palisadians, on November 20. The ceremony took place in Temescal Gateway Park in a clearing above Stuart Hall. The reception following the ceremony was held at the Jonathan Beach Club. The bride, national sales director for Swedish company SCA, attended Exeter in London and graduated from the University of California at San Diego. The bridegroom, director for business development for TSI, attended St. Augustine By-The-Sea, Harvard High School, University of Colorado, Oxford University in England, and graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his JDS from Duke University. The bride’s sister, Mrs. Perry Haberman, and the groom’s sister, Mrs. Evan Brau, took part in the ceremony. The flower girl was Peyton Brau, and ring bearers were Spenser Haberman and Jameson Brau. After enjoying a honeymoon trip in Argentina, the couple resides in Brentwood. Lauren Prongay, Todd Barrish to Wed Lauren Jeanne Prongay, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Prongay of Pacific Palisades, and Todd Michael Barrish, son of Dr. and Mrs. Bernard Barrish of Randolph, New Jersey, are engaged. The future bride is a graduate of Corpus Christi School and Marymount High School. She has a B.A. in communications from Villanova University, where she graduated cum laude, and an M.A. in communications management from the Annenberg School for Communication at USC. She is currently a public relations executive for a communications firm specializing in consumer healthcare product marketing. Barrish graduated from the University of Maryland with a B. A. in English. He is currently an advertising executive in New York City, where he manages and plans interactive video campaigns for major motion pictures and other entertainment industry clients. The couple met while both were working in New York City. They currently reside in Morris Township, New Jersey, with their dogs Chance and Dexter. They are planning a September 2006 wedding at Alba Vineyard in Milford, New Jersey. Elana Kemp, Yaakov Sussan Exchange Vows in Jerusalem Elana Goldie Fanny Kemp, daughter of Louis Kemp, a former Palisadian now living in Beverlywood, and Corrine Benarosh of Tel Aviv, Israel, and Rabbi Yaakov Sussan of Jerusalem, Israel were married in Jerusalem on March 12. After a honeymoon in the Greek Islands, the couple will reside in Safat, where they will both attend university to become doctors of holistic medicine. Tebbe and Flesner Plan June Wedding on Kauai Carmen Alexandra Tebbe, daughter of Paula and Bruce Tebbe is engaged to be married to Stephen Neal Flesner, Jr., son of Marilynn Krontz and Stephen Flesner. The bride’s great grandparents Rea and Robert Westenhaver are longtime Palisades residents. Tebbe is a graduate of John Thomas Dye School and Marlborough, class of 1997. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.A. in history and is employed as a real estate broker. The bridegroom graduated cum laude with a B.S. degree in business from the University of Missouri. He attended Imperial College in London and earned his MBA from the University of Oregon in 2003. He is in the mortgage business. The couple are to be married on the beach in Kauai in June.

Take time to “smell the roses” by attending the town’s annual garden tour taking place from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 9. Sponsored by the Pacific Palisades Garden Club, this year’s event features six distinctive private gardens. In addition, attendees can spruce up their own gardens via a plant market staged in the parking lot of the Palisades Branch Library, 861 Alma Real Dr., from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets, $20, are available for advance purchase at The Outdoor Room Nursery, 17311 Sunset Blvd. and at the Sunday farmers market on Swarthmore. They will also be sold the day of the event at each of the sites. Proceeds are used to provide horticultural scholarships and fund community beautification projects. Contact: 454-7826. The Lively Italian Garden”’1343 Amalfi Drive Wanted: Garden to complement handsome Italianate-style house, formal but playful, pink, fragrant, with inviting paths. Found: This lively garden! The entrance, with its pair of tall topiaries, accents of Italian cypress, cobbled axial paths, and geometric beds are indeed formal, but within the regularity of box and teucrium edging, pink tumbling bonica roses soften and enliven. (Italian gardens are rarely colorful.) Round armillary sundial and round fountain echo each other. The iron loggia is clothed in pink and white fragrance: pandorea, Jasminum polyanthum, and Mme. Alfred Carrier rose. A path leads past Osmanthus fragrans, espaliered magnolia and Saint Francis to the left; to the right, glimpse 50-year-old olive trees and glorious mountain views. The pool, surrounded by handsome stone walls, is playful with arching water jets. Formal obelisks become fanciful by whimsical shell surfacing. Beyond the pool are roses for cutting and a dombeya which blooms with round pink hanging balls. Next to a wisteria tree is a mix of vining wisteria and pandorea on the dining loggia. A great variety of beautifully planted urns and containers everywhere add elegance, color and design. The side yard contains an herb garden, a formal entrance to the laundry room, an outdoor shower and specially designed hutch for five lucky rabbits. The side gate opens out to cobbled drive which is to be adjusted with construction of tennis court and guest house on adjacent lot. The designer of this beautiful garden is March Wiseley of Stone Canyon Gardens. East Coast Cottage Garden”’811 Galloway Peering over the picket fence, one is immediately captivated by the engaging charm of both house and garden. It’s easy to recognize the owner/designer’s intent to recreate the East Coast ambiance that she had left behind. The front yard entrance gate is framed by two topiary Italian cypress. Dodonaea and blue cypress are used to block views into front windows. A pair of oak leaf hydrangeas frame Adirondack garden chairs. Camellias, white Breath of Heaven and red leafed azalea “Little John” are dominant features of this cottage-style enclosure. Enter the side yard and find the remarkable use of Plectrantrus argentatus as a vigorous vine. More vines, two Eden roses flanking a climbing Iceberg, as well as hydrangeas, Osmanthus fragrans and Geranium maderense are behind the portable garden shed. Note that the lot line is on the diagonal, making the garden seem larger and forming three small triangles to the rear behind the house. Because of the smallness of the house, it was important for this garden to function as an expanded living room. The far corner is the children’s area, with a deck bordered by their plantings of strawberries and herbs. Ferns, hydrangeas, and camellias are prominent plants and ground covers of baby tears, Dymondia and Campanula fill in areas between the unusual stripped pavers, a unifying feature for this comfortable and appealing cottage garden. Jewel Against Sea and Sky”’17646 Tramonto Sky and sea are the main features of this cliff-top garden. Because space is at a premium, it is appropriate to design the garden like a jewel placed amid nature’s magnificent setting. Garden and house are seen as one as plants have been chosen to reflect the color and harmonize with the architecture of the house. At street level are found two species of agave’A. attenuata and A. parryi’and three species of euphorbia, “Sticks on Fire” being the most eye-catching. Conspicuous ground covers are the beautiful red-orange gazania and the blue succulent Senecio mandraliscae. Euphorbia tirucalli, “pencil plant,” grows in a planter by the front door. Enter the gate to the terrace and be greeted by a large container planted with gold eleagnus, bronze loquat and mattress vine. Down the steps and tucked in under a chorisia or silk floss tree, is a flagstone fountain, framed to blend with the house, with water falling over the horizontal edges’a perfect solution to the problem of wind-blown water drops. This garden has been planned to meet the challenges of wind, salt spray and even blowing sand. A container of dodonea and westringia screens neighbors. With elegant intent, no plants are allowed to obstruct this view, across tiles and through rails, to the grandeur of sea and sky. Stephanie Wilson Blanc designed the garden. Four Gardens of Delight”’16927 Dulce Ynez Lane This house boasts four distinct gardens. Enter first to the back through the utility garden dedicated to vegetables and roses. Here are “wrong-colored” roses, i.e., colors not appropriate in the other gardens but beautiful for cutting. Through a second gate one enters into the informal elegance of an Italian garden, a style chosen to honor three resident Italian greyhounds. Gravel paths and terraces are splendid for their running exercises. A bubbling ceramic jar acts as the focal point for the axes of paths and three olive trees. Two pairs of dwarf Italian cypress, “Tiny Towers,” frame a westringia hedge and act as exclamation points to a floral mural. A yellow, orange, gold and white scheme reigns within box borders and on citrus terraces. Imagine this garden in the moonlight with a silvery sheen on gravel, olives and gray foliage. Walk through another enclosed transition garden, passing Euphorbia cotinifolia and a cascading fountain to enter the “Christmas Gift Garden,” a December surprise. This English cottage garden, explained as a “home for indigent hedgehogs,” delights the visitor with surrounding all-season blooms. Design of rear and side gardens is by Kelly Comras, landscape architect, with design and maintenance of front by Carol Wyner of Second Nature Design. A Garden for All Reasons”’955 Hartzell A garden designer for 26 years, Ivy Reid has planned her own personal garden for various reasons: to incorporate the practices of biodynamics using special compost to grow vegetables and herbs for kitchen and gift-making; to satisfy all the senses; to design with a series of vignettes or rooms using feng shui principles to create energy and provide a retreat to nurture and calm body, mind and spirit. From the David Austin roses for potpourri and the vegetable and herb parterre in the front, to the meditation water garden and landscaping library in the rear, these objectives are being met. Reminders of recent Asian travels are the welcoming Thai bed and her new interest in tropicals. Note the unusual cryptocereus (rick rack cactus) hanging within the lattice arch in the front as well as the red and green ti and the taro in the central border. On the other side of the border, wander along the plant trail among the grasses. Enjoy the sounds and shapes of the lotus fountain and realize that these many design goals have been beautifully achieved in a most satisfying and exuberant garden that is used and enjoyed daily. The Many Starred Garden”’500 Toyopa The unexpected begins to unfold on entrance as one passes between a pair of unusual fragrant shrubs, Prunus laurocerasus, and across a wide bridge over a horizontal pond. Emphasis here is on shapes and leaf color. Note the two groupings of four Fagus sylvatica “Dawyck,” a columnar copper European beech, and the lines of hydrangea, box and red-edged photinia hedge. More of this garden can only be peeped at from a path; to enter, use the Almoloya Drive gate. Here the garden opens out to a large lawn bordered by a splendid variety of citrus, stone fruit and figs. Beyond the pool rises a huge rocky escarpment down from which splashes water from ledge to ledge. Steps lead up to the main level of the house, which looks out over a long wood deck enhanced by collections of handsomely planted green and brown containers. Behind the shade structure is the stream, the beginning of the main water feature, moving over and around rocks to flow over the cliff edge and course down to the papyrus pool below. Above all this swing constellations of large electrified stars, a fitting touch to this star of a garden. Sean Knibbs selected and arranged the plants for the garden and pots.