by Timothy Rutt
Altadena Heritage presented its annual Golden Poppy Awards Sunday afternoon, commemorating the efforts of homeowners and others to create attractive and environmentally-appropriate islands of peace and beauty in Altadena.
Winners included both a young couple that had recently returned to Altadena; a 90-year-old resident who's been working on her garden for over 50 years; and an underground "guerilla gardener" who adopted a neglected plot of land as his own.
The winners -- who are chosen by eight Altadena Heritage members who are assigned a section of town and drive around it looking for interesting gardens -- were announced during the annual Golden Poppy fete, this year held at the home of master gardener Susann Edmonds.
Winners receive a bronze plaque that they can display in their garden for two years.
Cody Howard, county land near the 2200 block of East Altadena Drive.
Howard, a horticulturalist with the Huntington Museum and Gardens, created a garden on a plot of vacant, weedy county land on Altadena Drive. The garden, of cacti, succulants, and a few trees, is largely only watered by rainfall (see story below).
Sylvie Andrews and Nick Adams-Wright, 451 Poppyfields Drive
The couple are each lifelong Altadenans who met each other at UC-Santa Cruz and, after school, wanted to move back home. Buying a fixer-upper, they fixed up the garden first, adding 15 fruit trees to the yard and a brick pizza oven in the front yard.
Carol Blake, 473 Concha St.
Blake has lived in her fourth home in Altadena since 1975, and always insures she has an outstanding garden. Her current home on half an acre includes climate-appropriate Mediterranean and succulant plants.
Mary Coppurud, 2781 McNally Ave.
90-year-old Cuppurud moved into her home in 1960, and has been working on the garden every since.
Mary Ann Yeager, 1722 Morada Pl.
Yeager's 1927 Spanish-style home went through new front yard landscaping starting in 1997, tearing out the lawn and incorporating more climate-appropriate plants and a flagstone walkway.
Paula Delfosse and Robert Gounley, 1738 La Paz Rd.
The couple remade their landscape, turning the back yard into a desert garden and putting 99% California natives in the front yard. They're planning to incorporate "aquaponics" into their system, which includes a water feature with fish -- the water is cycled from the fish tank through the garden and back to the fish tank, fertilizing the garden and cleaning the fish's water at the same time.
The event also included music by Altadena artist/musican Robert Hilton, who creates his own instruments from found and recovered materials, with percussionist Steven "Breeze" Smith.
