A few weeks ago I spent an afternoon at Flora Grubb Gardens as I needed a little inspiration for some upcoming container projects. Flora never lets me down! It was a beautiful fall day when the sun’s gentle rays allow everything to glow just a little bit brighter.
For those of you not familiar with this San Francisco nursery, suffice it to say Flora does an amazing job of providing the most beautiful specimens of Mediterranean plants artfully paired with her collection of jaw-dropping containers. Color, texture and form are perfectly echoed in both the plants and their containers.
Who, I ask, could possibly leave here without loads of inspiration? Not me!
Okay, I know this is a stretch, but it’s sort of a container for the tillandsias, right?
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Just catching up on your blogs and I couldn’t resist commenting about Flora’s. Her shop is my go-to spot whenever I’m in San Francisco, so much inspiration around every corner. I was also amused at the pots you photographed… I bought the purple container and the one with the blue striations at a local nursery for one of my clients this summer. My first purple pot! As always, thanks, Rebecca!!!
I knew you’d be a fan of Flora’s! You two have very similar taste (from what I could tell by the container photos of yours that I’ve seen). When are you going to start a blog, anyway, so we can ALL see your fabulous creations???
Have you visited DIG Gardens in Santa Cruz? That is another stunning nursery. If you have not put it on your list to visit. Not quite as big of selection as Flora Grubb, but never the less an interesting retail experience. Once a month or so they have some sort of non profit that comes in and does a community dinner using their retail space with a full on menu that I have been meaning to try to get to but since I live in SF and it starts at around 6 or 7 PM it would be a much later evening for me.
Hi Bruce – your timing is amazing! If you check DIG’s blog, you’ll see that just this morning they’ve linked to a post I wrote about them several months ago. Yes, I’m quite familiar with this little gem of a shop, in fact I spoke there over the summer, about my book ‘Garden Up’. You’re right – it’s a great place with a very ‘Flora’ feel to it. I haven’t been to one of their dinners either, though I’ve heard from friends who have gone that it’s a really fun event. It seems you and I have the same taste in nurseries! Let me know if there’s others that I should know about!
Oh, that just looks so wonderful! I love how the orange highlights the green.
Yes I love that place….and I live nearby in Glen Park…so I visit often and frequent. If you are a member of the SF Botanical society, you get a discount….shhhhhhhhhhhh. I think its 15% off.
Lucky YOU, Bruce! If I lived nearby I’d visit there at least once a week just for the inspiration alone! And thanks for the discount tip – your secret’s safe with me!! 🙂
Yep, she’s a master of placing colorful glazed pots and plants together. And you notice how many are next to each other (rather than the plant being inside the pot)? Instead of potted plants, they’re pot-‘n’-plants.
Didn’t we have fun, Debra? Now you know why I kept sneaking off – the lighting was just TOO perfect!
Uh oh, I’ve never been there, but that looks like a dangerous place to visit 😉 I can already see I’d get into trouble. I love the purple color of the container in your second photo. Might have to stop by next time I’m up near SF!
You would be correct – you can get in lots of trouble there (but it’s the ‘good’ kind of trouble!)