Sunday, July 14, 2013

You can follow me now at DiggingBliss.com. "Garden Bliss" is a name I love, but the domain was not available and it didn't match my old Blogger URL, "sacgardening.blogspot.com". I've made the leap to a self-hosted WordPress blog. I'm having a blast learning WordPress!

 

It's still very much a work in progress, but you might want to start following me there since all new posts will be at Digging Bliss. I will be adding a custom header, more content and ways to interact, even recipes in a printer-friendly format!

Blogger has been a wonderful, FREE blog host, and I highly recommend Blogger for beginning or frugal-minded bloggers. WordPress is something I wanted to try because I wanted to have more creative control over my blog and I wanted my blog to be more "responsive". That means it will look good whether you're viewing it on a computer, a tablet or e-reader, or a smart phone.

Thanks for sticking with me!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

A little bit of Flora Grubb came home with me



I've had these Flora Grubb Thigmatrope Satellite Fleet air plant holders on my mental wish list since the first time I saw them online. This is the most clever, ingenious, slightly rustic, simple, elegant, artistic way to display air plants on a wall. At fifteen bucks a pop, I didn't immediately order seven of them. I went through my usual internal dialogue--



Fifteen dollars? Each?! I wonder if I could make them. No. Who do I know who could make these for me? Elliot. Who do I know who would actually do it? No one. They really are clever. And somebody did already make them. Fifteen dollars really isn't so bad and they'll last forever. And here they are. And I'm only going to get three for now.
During my first visit to Flora Grubb on Friday, I decided that if I was going to buy anything, it should be a few of these, with an air plant for each. Perusing the air plants is half the fun.

BEFORE


In fact, there was a man in front of me in line who was already being rung up and when he saw the three air plants I had agonized over and finally selected, he turned to me saying,"Where did you get those?" and asked to get out of line. He came back with several red Tillandsias after seeing a red one I had picked out.

What I love about the Thigmatrope besides its simple design is that it allows the plants to face you head on, magically suspended on your wall. The effect is really quite striking. The design also allows you to easily remove the plants for their weekly bath.

Thigmatropes, sans air plants
Voila!

AFTER

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Visit to Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco

I made my first visit to Flora Grubb Gardens yesterday, a San Francisco garden shop I've admired online for years. It's wonderful, and exceeded my expectations in terms of overall fabulousness. Flora Grubb was our last stop of the day before heading home to Sacramento, and the timing was almost perfect. 

Except for Ritual Coffee Roasters being closed for the day, we happened to visit in the last hour before closing time. They were "un-crowded" enough for us to enjoy the park-like peacefulness and the opportunity to explore all parts of the nursery, from the outdoor garden vignettes with color-coordinated plants, pots and furniture, to the napping nursery cat, to all the cool, clever and useful supplies inside. 

This is air plant heaven, succulent heaven, junk art heaven, garden furniture heaven, and nursery + cafe heaven. We even experienced parking heaven as I was able to pull my Honda into a spot right out front. After a day of parking dramas and dodging buses, cyclists, and pedestrians, it felt somewhat decadent to be able to park... for free... at the entrance.

Enjoy!

Aunt Eileen at the entrance to Flora Grubb
Eileen enjoying a comfortable cement lounger.
The ubiquitous lounging nursery cat.
Love these planters!
Alphabet succulent frames!
Air Plant bike and trike!
Array of colorful ceramic pots
Need something to attach your air plants to?
Old sink planted with carnivorous pitcher plants
Fermobulous Fermob French bistro tables
Fermob chairs adorning a high wall
Kids + gardening = fun
Eileen trying on a hat
Indoor/Outdoor rugs
Air plants and unique metal frames
Aeriums
Artisan pottery
Tabletop Aeriums
Thigmotrope Satellite air plant holders. I bought three for my house. These look fabulous against the purple backdrop.
Clever air plant pricing system
Air Plant demonstration wall
Ritual Coffee inside Flora Grubb
One of Flora Grubb's friendly employees making a planter.
Here I am, in funky nursery plant heaven.
Enjoying the warm curves of the cement lounger after a day of hustle and bustle.
Flora Grubb delivery truck and more parking!
Flora Grubb entry sign
Panorama of Flora Grubb, 1635 Jerrold Avenue, SF, CA.