On the way back to Wisconsin last Spring we hit up Santa Barbara after our central coast stop. We checked out San Marcos Growers in a cool electric golf cart. Since we hadn’t been to Lotusland yet, it was quite possibly one of the coolest plant excursions we’d ever been on. The place is huge and full of really cool plants. Please note that the nursery is wholesale only and not open to the public, but they have one of the finest websites around for succulent and rare plant information. Here’s a taste of their crazy Agave selection:
We need one of these. After getting stabbed by our big, kind of crappy Agave americanas all the time, I think we’ll be going with shrimpier agaves in the future. I couldn’t even look at these pictures before I knew we were moving back. It was too sad.
Flying with an almost six month old was nerve-racking, but Zoe was great. No crying and lots of sleeping. Ripping up and trying to eat the Skymall magazine provided lots of entertainment. Our flight to SF arrived 30 minutes EARLY and we flew in down the coast over Marin and then over the city. Our old apartment is pretty much below the plane in this pic. The golden gate bridge is peeking out at the top of the pic. To top it off our luggage popped out in less than five minutes.
Flora’s Edsel
Our first stop was Flora Grubb Gardens, which is looking amazing as always. Did you know that the Edsel was in this spot before Flora?
Bro poles
Love the new vertical bromeliad hangout. Matti needs to build us a plant pole for our new epiphyte collection when we move back.
Java Beach
Before we hit the road for Pacific Grove we stopped at Java Beach for our favorite sandwich. We left our big camera at home, so we only have phone pics. We’re both still instagraming like crazy at faroutmegan & fofmatti
It just dawned on us that we haven’t told anyone what the heck we do in Wisconsin and it’s Small Business Saturday. The fabulous Flora Grubb gave us the opportunity to run her really cool Web Shop from Madison when she heard the news we were moving back to Wisconsin. We use our UW-Madison art degrees to hand craft rockin’ Aeriums, in addition to packing and shipping all online orders. Our house here in Wisconsin has a big finished basement where all the magic happens. Matti also continues to do reporting and other special projects for Flora.
Matti & The Moby
The best part, we get to hang out with Zoe all day! Check out Flora’s Web Shop, there’s tons of fun holiday stuff happening along with a bunch of super cool new products.
Flora Grubb Gardens updated the look of their impressive woolly pocket wall last week. You can see how it looked last spring above. It’s always good to freshen things up. Their new transformation is pretty sweet…vertical garden on one side and Thigmotropes on the other. Thigmotrope? It’s their clever new way to mount Tillandsias on your wall.
Setting up the wall
I was without the good camera so I busted out the iPhone. Dead center is where that original wall garden hung. Here you can see them fork lifting the bones for the new wall garden into place…detail below.
New Wall Set up
Filling in the Garden Wall
After getting the bones in place, some of the Flora Grubb gurus got to work planting the shady side reusing the woolly pocket planters from the original hanging wall.
Filling in the garden wall
Shady side in progress
Man, it’s a treat to watch pros at work. Lots of Philodendrons and ferns were incorporated taking advantage of the lack of direct sunlight.
Living Garden Complete
More or less…the woolly pocket wall was finished. How keen of them to build a window in the middle.
Front of the new installation
Okay, here’s where it get even cooler. On the front of the structure, they inaugurated their newly released Thigmotrope Satellite. These metal guys are a fun way to display your Tillandsias on the wall. Good news for those of us who are running out of flat space in our homes. BTW, Tillandsias (aka Air Plants) are a great plant for those that have challenges keeping plants alive.
Thigmotropes installed with Tillandsias
I promised to bring the good camera with me soon to Flora Grubb to get some better pics. Seeing it completed…all I can say is the Thigmotrope rocks! Great work guys.
