Datebook: Events, exhibits, classes for the week ahead

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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.

ONGOING Show house: The Veranda magazine ‘House of Windsor’ design showcase features the work of Los Angeles-based Windsor Smith, Peter Dunham, Martyn Lawrence-Bullard and Richard Shapiro, among others. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through July 17. $30 in advance; $35 at the door. 1701 Westridge Road, Brentwood. For hours and other details: www.veranda.com/unveils.

“Paris: Life & Luxury”: A variety of objects -- candlesticks, furniture, clocks and more -- evoke 18th century Paris at the Getty Center. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays. Ends Aug. 7. (Note: Getty Center will be closed on July 16 and 17 because of temporary closure of the 405 Freeway.) Free. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood. (310) 440-7300.

Butterfly pavilion: Visitors can see caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies in this temporary enclosure. The butterfly pavilion is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily through July 31. The garden is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Butterfly admission is $2 in addition to regular garden admission of $4 to $8. Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, 1500 N. College Ave., Claremont. (909) 625-8767.

Craft shows: “Ann Weber: Love and Other Audacities” is an exhibition of cardboard sculptures made with a stapler, box cutter and shellac. “Jennifer Angus: All Creatures Great and Small” is a wallpaper-like installation featuring about 3,500 brightly colored insects pinned to the wall. $5 to $7. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Ends Sept. 11. Craft and Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 937-4230.

Frederick Fisher: The architect has created a site-specific installation featuring literal and metaphorical ruins. Free. Otis Ben Maltz Gallery, 1st floor, Bronya and Andy Galef Center for Fine Arts, 9045 Lincoln Blvd., Los Angeles. Ends Sept. 1. (310) 665-6905; www.otis.edu (click on “public programs”).

“Life at the Miramar”: Rare photographs, documents and other artifacts depict life at Santa Monica’s landmark home-turned-hotel from the late 1800s to the present. Ends Oct. 18. $3 to $5. Santa Monica History Museum, Santa Monica Public Library campus, 1350 7th St., Santa Monica. (310) 395-2290.

“Surf, Skate, Bike”: Los Angeles designers in all disciplines take over the galleries of the A+D Architecture and Design Museum in the second installment of “Come In: Surf, Skate, Bike.” Ends July 24. $5. 6032 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 932-9393.

— Lisa Boone

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