Home and garden events in the Southland

OCT. 4

Native plants:

Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants hosts its annual Fall Festival featuring discounts on hundreds of California native trees, shrubs, ground covers, flowering perennials and shade plants. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 10459 Tuxford Street, Sun Valley. Free. Silent auction will be held at 5:30 p.m. followed by Greg Rubin’s lecture, “The Secrets of Landscaping With Native Plants,” at 6:30 p.m. North Valley City Hall Auditorium, 7747 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga. (818) 768-1802.

Plant sale:

Descanso Gardens’ autumn plant sale will feature a wide selection of plants, many propagated by Descanso volunteers. Fruit-bearing olive trees from Italy and Spain are available in limited quantities. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. Free. (818) 949-7980.

LA Mart sample sale:

Furnishings by Alu-Mont, Henredon, American Leather, Bernhardt Furniture, Drexel Heritage and others will be discounted up to 70% off when the design center opens to the public. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 1933 S. Broadway, Los Angeles. $10. (213) 763-5800.

Global warming:

John Zavalney discusses the scientific causes and effects of global warming, as well as possible consequences of inaction. Zavalney is one of 1,000 trained lecturers who present concepts in former Vice President Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth.” 10 a.m. to noon. Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. $5 to $12. Reservations recommended: (818) 949-7980.

Gardening classes:

Horticultural consultant Marta Teegen leads a class on fall kitchen gardens from 10 a.m. to noon and container gardening from 1 to 3 p.m. $50. To register, e-mail marta@homegrownlosangeles.com.

Architecture bus tour:

Esotouric hosts a tour of five iconic religious buildings: the Aetherius Society, Krotona Apartments, Sister Aimee Semple McPherson’s Parsonage, the Philosophical Research Society and the Vedanta Society of Southern California. 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Departs from Bodhi Tree Bookstore, 8585 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood. $64. (323) 223-2767, www.esotouric.com.

Schindler House:

Architect Judith Sheine, chairwoman of the Cal Poly Pomona architecture department and author of “R.M. Schindler,” will give a tour of the Schindler House and lecture at 11 a.m. MAK Center for Art and Architecture, 835 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood. $7. (323) 651-1510, www.makcenter.org.

OCT. 5

Lawn alternatives:

Landscape designer Steve Gerischer will discuss ways to replace or reduce your lawn, plus drought-tolerant plants to put in its place. 1:30 to 4 p.m. Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. $22 to $25. (626) 821-4623.

Designers tour:

Pasadena chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers’ self-guided Home & Kitchen Tour includes six remodels in Pasadena, San Marino, Altadena and Glendale. 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. $35. (800) 237-2634, www.asidpasadena.org.

OCT. 6

LACMA lecture:

Kathryn Hiesinger, a curator of European decorative arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, presents the slide-lecture “Collecting Modern: Decorative Arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1876 to Present.” 7 p.m. Brown Auditorium, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. $15 to $20. Reservations: (323) 857-6528.

OCT. 7

Chinese gardens:

Richard Strassberg, professor of Chinese at UCLA, will kick off the Huntington’s fourth annual Chinese garden lecture series with a presentation about 18th-century Qing dynasty emperor Kangxi and the vast summer residence he built in Chengde, Manchuria. 7:30 p.m. Friends’ Hall, Huntington Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. Free. (626) 405-2100.

OCT. 8

SCI-Arc:

Hear a lecture by Arvind Palep, co-founder of 1st Ave Machine USA, a computer graphics and animation studio that employs 3-D effects to blur the line between the real and imaginary. 7 p.m. W.M. Keck Lecture Hall, Southern California Institute of Architecture, 960 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles. Free. www.sciarc.edu.

OCT. 9

Landscape field trip:

Landscape designer Laramee Haynes leads a tour of two private installations that showcase unusual, long-lived plants. A visit to his Pasadena home gardens and nursery follows. 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. $20. Reservations required: (626) 821-4624.

California gardens:

Bart O’Brien, director of special projects at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, will discuss some of his favorite public and private California gardens and the interesting plants (natives and exotics) in them. Presented by the Southern California Horticulture Society. 7:30 p.m. Friendship Auditorium, 3201 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles. Free. (818) 567-1496.

Herb talk:

Huntington Botanical Gardens staff members Katarina Eriksson and Beverly Lepak will share tips for growing useful herbs at home. 2:30 p.m. Free. Friends’ Hall, Huntington Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. Free. (626) 405-2100.

OCT. 10

Tord Boontje:

The noted designer will be in Los Angeles to mark the opening of Artecnica’s showroom and to co-host a benefit for LA’s Best, an after-school education and recreation program. Boontje and Artecnica CEO Enrico Bressan will speak at 6 p.m. Children’s art projects using the manufacturing remnants from Boontje’s designs will be auctioned off at 7 p.m. Admission is free, but space is limited. Prospective attendees must RSVP to events@artecnica.com and must receive confirmation that they have been added to the guest list. 508 S. San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles; (323) 655-6551.

OCT. 11

Huntington sale:

Highlights of the Huntington Botanical Gardens’ annual plant sale will include colorful fall-blooming salvias and Cuphea ignea, also called cigar plant. Huntington staff and volunteers will be on hand to answer questions about plant selection and care; soil improvement; pruning and dividing; lawn care; and pest problems. 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 11 and 12. Free. 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. (626) 405-2100.

CONTINUING

Greene & Greene:

“Seeing Greene & Greene: Architecture in Photographs,” an exhibition of more than 70 photographs by various artists, celebrates the work of Arts and Crafts legends Charles and Henry Greene. Runs through Jan. 4. Pasadena Museum of California Art, 490 E. Union St. $5 to $7. (626) 568-3665.

Lautner show:

“Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner.” Through Oct. 12. Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. $5 to $7. (310) 443-7000, www.hammer.ucla.edu.

Neutra tour : Richard and Dion Neutra’s VDL Research House II, managed by Cal Poly Pomona’s College of Environmental Design, will be open to the public 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. 2300 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles. $10. www.neutravdl.org .

Spider Pavilion:

The Natural History Museum’s Spider Pavilion features hundreds of spiders in a greenhouse habitat. Timed tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily through Nov. 2. 900 Exposition Blvd. Spider Pavilion admission is $1 to $3; museum admission is $6.50 to $9. (213) 763-DINO.

-- Lisa Boone

Please send listings at least three weeks in advance to home@latimes.com or to the Home section, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012.