Digitalis Verdente

The dog and boyfriend are alive and well, fyi.  All of the other living things in our place, however, have not been so lucky.  Over the last few years I have killed 4 indoor herb gardens, several flowering bushes, succulents, big tress....seriously, why can’t I keep a plant alive??  Even the aerogarden has a disabled pod, robbing us of delicious indoor-grown basil.  I can’t even grow schizz in an AEROGARDEN??  omg.

After the last two plants croaked when I tried to repot, give them sunshine (on a rare 90 degree day), and feed them fertilizer in the same day, I realized a huge self-intervention had to be enacted.  I had finally come to terms with my gardening inadequacies many, many years of denial and knew something had to be done immediately!  For the sake of all plantkind. It was high time to get myself over to the infamous Flora Grubb Gardens.

This magical place is located in the south area of San Francisco, in the heart of an infrequently visited industrial area of town.  Well, I assume it frequently visited by vegetable trucks and cement mixers, but not so much by folks like me.  Flora Grubb has popped up all over the design blogs I follow as the forefront of urban gardening here. 

Named for its co-owner (could she have gone into any other business?), Flora Grubb is not only one of the grooviest, most sustainable, most-forward thinking nurseries on the planet, it is one of the greatest places around just to hang out. --sunset mag.

The 2,800 square foot Mediterranean-style plant and garden accessory Mecca focused on water-sparing options for landscaping leaves even garden-less wanna-be green thumbs like me drooling. Lush succulents, vacation-inspiring palms AND a divine boutique coffee shop IN the store—what’s not to love? It’s pretty much my description of heaven.  --designsponge

I pulled up to Flora’s midday, choosing to forgo a real lunch for some contemplative garden time, hoping to snag a quick tutorial on how to not murder living things.  Boy, was I in luck-o-roonie!!  Mr. Hank came to the rescue and helped identify what my weaknesses were: not remembering to water or somehow watering too often, leaving plants outside during inopportune times, using miracle grow (*gasp*gasp*), and much ashamedly looking for guidance at home depot.  Apparently, this self-proclaimed gardening dummy was foolish in thinking she could get the enlightenment she was looking for at home depot.  Nope, instead, Mr. Hank patiently walked me through their entire garden, let me draw out plans for him to get a general idea of what I wanted to pull off, and kept in mind that he had to keep everything as easy as possible.  

I needed strong wind-proof plants that would be ok with spotty watering, inconsistent sunshine, and that would be proportional in the space I was trying to work with.  Hmmm...seemingly impossible, right?  Like I should probably have just tried to find some fake plants or something?  Ha.

Instead, he threw in bags of organic soil (two different kinds), walked me through the repotting process, helped pick out some planters, full-on instructed me on the minimal steps of care, and guaranteed that I could bring everything back and he would try to fix them for me.  It was like he was offering free clinic hours!  The “guarantee” was contingent on my bringing it in for care before it was “too late”, but I feel that phrase may be relative...right?  I guess I could have clarified what he meant by “too late”, but c'mon, I didn't want to be restricted in anyway!

Regardless, I am thoroughly in love with this place and the staff is spectacular.  They are made up of mostly horticulturalists, landscape designers, artists, and are all teachers of their craft.  In.love.  Some cutie-pies there too, for those who may be on the hunt!  :)

Let me know if you’d like me to take you over there.  I’m sure by that time, my plants will be desperate for me to bring them back for some Hank loving.