We've listed select home and garden events below. Suggest your own via reader comments. Submissions must be fewer than 75 words and must be for one-time events with legitimate value to other readers. No store promotions and no frivolous links, please. L.A. at Home staff will determine which submissions will be made public.
July 12: The Aaron Nigel Trio performs as part of Descanso Gardens’ Summer Family Series. Bring a picnic (usually not allowed in the gardens). 5:30 to 7 p.m. Included in garden admission of $3 to $8. Open until 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays through Aug. 25. 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. (818) 949-4200.
July 14-17: Designers, architects, filmmakers and educational institutions explore the “New Urban Lifestyle” as part of "Little Tokyo Design Week: Future City." The free festival will include a series of museum exhibitions, student installations, public happenings and temporary galleries in the form of shipping containers placed throughout the public plazas of Little Tokyo. Information: www.LTDesignWeek.com.
July 14: Virginia Hayes, curator of living collections at Lotusland in Santa Barbara, presents the lecture “The Cultural and Natural History of Lotuses.” 2:30 p.m. Free. No reservations required. Friends’ Hall, Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. (626) 405-2100.
July 14: Sammy Miller performs in conjunction with Descanso Gardens' summer Jazz Evenings. 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 25. Included in garden admission of $3 to $8. 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. (818) 949-4200.
July 16: Steve Gerischer teaches how create planters from hypertufa, an artificial medium with absorbent properties similar to tufa rock. 10 a.m. to noon. $30 to $35 (includes materials). Ayres Hall area, Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. Registration: (626) 821-4623.
July 16: In celebration of what would have been John Lautner’s 100th birthday, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art hosts an exhibition that includes an archival model and photographs of Lautner’s Goldstein Office. Through July 24. Free. LACMA’s Art Catalogues Bookstore, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 857-6000.
July 16: A panel of architects and critics, including Michael Rotondi, Craig Hodgetts and Sylvia Lavin, will look at John Lautner’s work. The discussion will be followed by a conversation on architectural preservation featuring Frank Preusser, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s conservation scientist, and Christopher Carr, vice president of the John Lautner Foundation. Panel discussion starts at 2 p.m. Admission is free, but tickets are required; they’re available starting one hour prior to the program. Reception follows at 4:30 p.m. Brown Auditorium, Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 857-6000.
July 16: Descanso Gardens curator Wen Wang offers an intensive training session on all aspects of plant cultivation. Learn the science behind plants, including their light, water and nutritional needs. 9:30 a.m. $3 to $50. 148 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. (818) 949-4200.
July 16: Horticulturist Lili Singer leads a class on the basics on gardening with California flora, covering planting techniques, irrigation and maintenance. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants, 10459 Tuxford St., Sun Valley. $40 to $50. (818) 768-1802.