Since stumbling over your site- I really enjoy the pictures and reads. Especially since I love anything of San Francisco, having left the city 35 years ago to live abroad.
I have started planting succulents in thrown out crocs (the shoe) and hanging them around the patio and on trees!
A friend of mine is a bit lost looking for Outer Sunset garden ideas — 47th and Kirkham… Lov eto pick your brains, if you have time, as to what grows well out in the sandy soil — i’ll trade ya a drink and some homemade cookies for yer time..
Hi Rob,
We’d love to help your friend out! They’re just a few blocks away from us. Plenty of cool stuff grows out here. I’ll send you an email in just a sec.
Hi Matti and Meagan! Just found your sites a few days ago and I’m loving all the great pictures you have. I’ve never been much of a green thumb, but it’s great to finally learn the names of all the plants I see around the Sunset. (I also live in the Outer Sunset)
Btw, have you guys seen the huge agaves growing in front of a house on Ortega between 46th and 47th? One has a flower spike shooting out of it that is three stories high!
Aloha Megan! What a beautiful site this is, I am such a sucker for succulents. and the bromeliads! wow. We have some lovely stuffs here but you guys are stoked. Maybe when BJ gets to Cali in July he could stop and talk plant story, although he’ll be shy of the Bay, he’s staying in Monterey. I am happy to see your smiling face on here, too. I only checked the site out after being on Mollys blog. Good stuff, keep up the fun hard work!
Peace,
Stacey
Hey Stacey!
It’s been forever! We’re succulent (pretty much any plant) freaks! Bromeliads too Love the cool stuff we can grow here in SF. I can’t even image what you can grow in Hawaii. I started a pineapple a while back that got HUGE. Love to have BJ stop by for a visit. Flying in to SFO?
I ran into this oddity in the city a week ago. To put the pic in perspective, the large rosette in the middle left of the hedge is about 12″ across. The hedge is about 2′ tall.
We figured out what it is! It’s an Aeonium nobile. It’s not a common one to find in cultivation. It’s native to La Palma (one of the Canary Islands). They sell them at Flora Grubb if you’re thinking about picking one up.
Hey- You guys might enjoy the Club I’m in the San Francisco Succulent & Cactus Society. http://www.sfsucculent.org/
The meetings are scheduled for the third Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM, and they are held in the San Francisco County Fair Building, located at 9th Avenue and Lincoln in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.
(Parking lot at 10th and Lincon )
Meetings at the San Francisco Succulent and Cactus Society are far from the usual boring fare (no, its not a bunch of old people falling asleep in the dark!). We have a lively crowd! Normally, 50 or more people of all ages show up for an informative slide show, panel discussion, or cultivation demonstration. There is always a featured grower offering plants not available elsewhere, a raffle for plants propagated by the club, a show and tell table with an informative discussion of the plants on display, refreshments, and more! Please come check us out.
Hey Cid, turns out both Megan and I are both members…and occasionally blog about the club: http://faroutflora.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/super-succulent-sale-and-show/ We love club…and have to admit that we have missed the last couple. But will probably be at the next one this Sept. Hope to see you there. Matti
Hello Melinda, We don’t really have a marketing / for sale submit on our blog. I do know that some people post on our Facebook cool stuff that they make and / or sell. Check it out. Matti
Just stubmled upon your site via your succulent table post and I have really been enjoying all your past posts. My husband and I are quite the succulent/cactus fans ourselves and find all your photos very inspiring. I adore your backyard and hope ours can get there someday. Keep up the wonderful posts!
I love this blog! I just got a Calceolaria integrifolia ‘Kentish Hero’ from SFBG plant sale – hoping it’ll be happy here in our Richmond district garden. If only plants had wheels – I could move it around any time I wanted.
Thanks for inspiring us – LOVE LOVE LOVE all that you are doing. Your blog, garden, and in-person enthusiasm and joy are infectious.
Awe, that’s so sweet!!!!! We planted our Calceolaria integrifolia a month or two ago and it’s looking happy. We’ve got buds on it! Yours should do just fine in Richmond if it can deal with life at our place
I thought you might be interested in telling your readers about The Great Bee Count. See the info below:
YourGardenShow.com is calling all gardeners, new and seasoned, to participate in a fun, easy and important Citizen Science effort to count bees across North America.
Whether you’re a gardener, a nature walker or a nature watcher, you can help researchers address the global bee crisis and uncover why our nation’s most important pollinators appear to be disappearing. Just head over to YourGardenShow.com and sign up with The Great Sunflower Project, joining the more than 100,000 citizens who are helping to shape bee conservation efforts by planting bee-friendly plants and counting the bees 15 minutes each week this summer and beyond.
Joining is free and the benefits are far-reaching. So step outside your back door and add to the growing buzz of Citizen Scientists who are acting locally to make a real difference worldwide.
Bee curious, Bee aware, Bee a good neighbor.
Find out more: http://www.yourgardenshow.com/citizen-science/great-sunflower-project
I noticed that you guys used to have a wordpress.com account, which is what I use but now you guys have your own domain and that you’re able to have ads on your website. What did you guys use to be able to get your own domain and post ads?
It was pretty easy to switch over. Our upstairs neighbor is hosting it for us, so he did the transfer. You can do it through on online host like godaddy I think quite a few of the web hosts will help you transfer it over. We’re still using wordpress, you just can’t see it
I’ve been gardening in SF since 1980 when I moved here from Texas. I have lived in the outer Sunset since 1989, and recently converted much of my garden to succulents and cacti. I would love to stop by your gathering this Saturday (Aug 27). I’m especially interested in that agave I saw you holding in a fantastic photo on your site! Looking for one for a space at my front curb! Also, big fan of Flora Grubb. Hope to see you Saturday, see your garden closeup, and talk about my gardening in the Sunset.
Hello guys, I really enjoyed your site, and your succulent frames are just fantastic. Could you share some info about how you created them? How do the plants stay there without falling out?I lead a small horticultural therapy project in Milan, Italy, and it would be just great if we could create something similar. Thanks!
Stumbled across your site looking for cool hanging wall succulent gardens – what an amazing space you created. Have gained lots of inspiration reading and spending time on the site.
We have a big space to cover up 6.2′ x 2′ and saw that large wall photo from April 2010. Do you know what material was used to hold the plants? Six of those would be perfect for what we need. Thanks for your help.
Love your blog. I live near St. Louis Mo., just across the Mississippi River in southwestern Illinois. We’ve had a nursery business here for 27 years, doing a lot of unusual succulents, hummingbird plants etc. I would like to stay in touch, maybe I can provide some advice is you have any diificulty with your S.F. plants in Madison…or maybe you can help me! Also I want to give you an email address for Kathi Johnson Rock who lives in Madison and has a hummingbird festival every fall in September. You can exchange plants with the members if you join, and they know lots about plants etc. Her email address is kathijr.@yahoo.com
Chris Kelley Cottage Garden Nursery Piasa IL 62079
Great blog and fantastic plants! I particularly noticed your Aristolochia californica (which I am dying to grow!). I have been looking for seeds for months now, with no success. If you happen to collect seeds, I would LOVE to have a few! Many thanks!
First, I would like to say that I’ve enjoyed reading your blog and looking at the photos since I signed up over a year ago (?). I had no idea that you lived in Madison! I live in Milwaukee, and I have family in Mt. Horeb & Sun Prairie. I just saw the Milwaukee connection on your latest blog…, and it seems that your moving back to The City soon. I don’t blame you though because it’s fantastic (architecture, hills, plants, vegan restaurants, etc.).
You included a couple links to Plant Propaganda (amazing!) and Gardens by Gabriel, which are great. We bought a home in Temecula (CA) and I hope to start planting more succulents and whatever else can grow.
Your succulents are so beautiful. They are a passion of mine, although I only have luck with “Hen and Chick” types. I especially love the echeverias, and cannot get them to thrive, even with various lighting, watering and cactus soil experimenting.
I live in the Mid-Atlantic region, foothills of mountains.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you, Linda
January 28, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Love looking at your succulent collections and creations.
I have two almost 20 year old jade trees that look almost like a bonsai of another tree.
I have had to give up heavy gardening and succulents fill that gap. However, I now make jewelry because I can’t do the heavy stuff anymore.
Keep up the good work.
September 6, 2010 at 10:09 am
LOVE your site!!
February 27, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Another fan signing up!
February 27, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Are you on twitter?
March 25, 2010 at 1:03 pm
OMG, how did I miss this one. Hey Regina, yes sfgardengirl and/or FOFmatti
Matti
March 9, 2010 at 4:37 am
Since stumbling over your site- I really enjoy the pictures and reads. Especially since I love anything of San Francisco, having left the city 35 years ago to live abroad.
I have started planting succulents in thrown out crocs (the shoe) and hanging them around the patio and on trees!
March 16, 2010 at 4:20 am
another person signing up – loving these ideas
March 16, 2010 at 5:51 am
Thanks Polly. Hey, I just saw your octopus plushy…awesome! Matti
March 20, 2010 at 10:06 am
i wish i could take matti’s stag class! miss you guys!!!!
April 13, 2010 at 9:02 am
Hey there Matti and Megan!
A friend of mine is a bit lost looking for Outer Sunset garden ideas — 47th and Kirkham… Lov eto pick your brains, if you have time, as to what grows well out in the sandy soil — i’ll trade ya a drink and some homemade cookies for yer time..
thanks kids,
rob
April 14, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Hi Rob,
We’d love to help your friend out! They’re just a few blocks away from us. Plenty of cool stuff grows out here. I’ll send you an email in just a sec.
Megan & Matti
May 28, 2010 at 2:36 am
Just found your blog thanks to another FaceAche user …. really love it!
June 9, 2010 at 12:02 am
Hi Matti and Meagan! Just found your sites a few days ago and I’m loving all the great pictures you have. I’ve never been much of a green thumb, but it’s great to finally learn the names of all the plants I see around the Sunset. (I also live in the Outer Sunset)
Btw, have you guys seen the huge agaves growing in front of a house on Ortega between 46th and 47th? One has a flower spike shooting out of it that is three stories high!
June 12, 2010 at 6:18 am
omg, 3 stories…wow. We have not seen the Ortega house agave yet, but will pop over to ckeck it out.
June 13, 2010 at 6:18 am
Oh wow! I am a new fan of your website. It’s just awesome.
June 15, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Aloha Megan! What a beautiful site this is, I am such a sucker for succulents. and the bromeliads! wow. We have some lovely stuffs here but you guys are stoked. Maybe when BJ gets to Cali in July he could stop and talk plant story, although he’ll be shy of the Bay, he’s staying in Monterey. I am happy to see your smiling face on here, too. I only checked the site out after being on Mollys blog. Good stuff, keep up the fun hard work!
Peace,
Stacey
June 16, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Hey Stacey!
Love the cool stuff we can grow here in SF. I can’t even image what you can grow in Hawaii. I started a pineapple a while back that got HUGE. Love to have BJ stop by for a visit. Flying in to SFO?
It’s been forever! We’re succulent (pretty much any plant) freaks! Bromeliads too
June 22, 2010 at 10:33 am
Here’s a puzzle for you…
Can you identify this one?
http://www.gojira.com/garden/unknown1.jpg
I ran into this oddity in the city a week ago. To put the pic in perspective, the large rosette in the middle left of the hedge is about 12″ across. The hedge is about 2′ tall.
Enjoy,
Bob Burns
San Francisco
June 23, 2010 at 3:04 pm
We figured out what it is! It’s an Aeonium nobile. It’s not a common one to find in cultivation. It’s native to La Palma (one of the Canary Islands). They sell them at Flora Grubb if you’re thinking about picking one up.
September 2, 2010 at 11:02 am
Hey- You guys might enjoy the Club I’m in the San Francisco Succulent & Cactus Society.
http://www.sfsucculent.org/
The meetings are scheduled for the third Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM, and they are held in the San Francisco County Fair Building, located at 9th Avenue and Lincoln in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.
(Parking lot at 10th and Lincon )
Meetings at the San Francisco Succulent and Cactus Society are far from the usual boring fare (no, its not a bunch of old people falling asleep in the dark!). We have a lively crowd! Normally, 50 or more people of all ages show up for an informative slide show, panel discussion, or cultivation demonstration. There is always a featured grower offering plants not available elsewhere, a raffle for plants propagated by the club, a show and tell table with an informative discussion of the plants on display, refreshments, and more! Please come check us out.
First time visitors receive a free plant!
-Cid Young
September 2, 2010 at 11:51 am
Hey Cid, turns out both Megan and I are both members…and occasionally blog about the club: http://faroutflora.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/super-succulent-sale-and-show/ We love club…and have to admit that we have missed the last couple. But will probably be at the next one this Sept. Hope to see you there. Matti
January 31, 2011 at 8:37 am
I am curious how I can submit info/photos about my succulants/garden and photos and the beautiful planter boxes my partner makes for sale.
Thanks,Melinda
February 1, 2011 at 3:10 pm
Hello Melinda, We don’t really have a marketing / for sale submit on our blog. I do know that some people post on our Facebook cool stuff that they make and / or sell. Check it out. Matti
May 4, 2011 at 10:33 am
Just stubmled upon your site via your succulent table post and I have really been enjoying all your past posts. My husband and I are quite the succulent/cactus fans ourselves and find all your photos very inspiring. I adore your backyard and hope ours can get there someday. Keep up the wonderful posts!
May 12, 2011 at 6:54 pm
I love this blog! I just got a Calceolaria integrifolia ‘Kentish Hero’ from SFBG plant sale – hoping it’ll be happy here in our Richmond district garden. If only plants had wheels – I could move it around any time I wanted.
Thanks for inspiring us – LOVE LOVE LOVE all that you are doing. Your blog, garden, and in-person enthusiasm and joy are infectious.
May 12, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Awe, that’s so sweet!!!!! We planted our Calceolaria integrifolia a month or two ago and it’s looking happy. We’ve got buds on it! Yours should do just fine in Richmond if it can deal with life at our place
May 27, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Hi Matti and Megan,
I thought you might be interested in telling your readers about The Great Bee Count. See the info below:
YourGardenShow.com is calling all gardeners, new and seasoned, to participate in a fun, easy and important Citizen Science effort to count bees across North America.
Whether you’re a gardener, a nature walker or a nature watcher, you can help researchers address the global bee crisis and uncover why our nation’s most important pollinators appear to be disappearing. Just head over to YourGardenShow.com and sign up with The Great Sunflower Project, joining the more than 100,000 citizens who are helping to shape bee conservation efforts by planting bee-friendly plants and counting the bees 15 minutes each week this summer and beyond.
Joining is free and the benefits are far-reaching. So step outside your back door and add to the growing buzz of Citizen Scientists who are acting locally to make a real difference worldwide.
Bee curious, Bee aware, Bee a good neighbor.
Find out more: http://www.yourgardenshow.com/citizen-science/great-sunflower-project
June 10, 2011 at 7:33 pm
Succulent Sale and Show this weekend in Golden Gate Park at the County Fair Building just inside the Park at 9th & Lincoln.
http://www.facebook.com/cid.young#!/event.php?eid=228942317117174
June 11, 2011 at 8:36 am
Heck yeah..we are headed down there soon. Love this sale.
June 14, 2011 at 8:32 am
Do you have any plants or outdoor dining tables for sale.
They’re inspiring, like to have them for my backyard patio.
Thank you,
Russ
June 15, 2011 at 8:11 am
Hi Russ, are our next batch of tables to start rolling out at the beginning of July. We can keep you posted. Are you on the Bay Area?
June 16, 2011 at 6:10 am
Congrats on the change to a .com! Would love it if followers could receive notice of follow-up comments to specific posts.
June 16, 2011 at 7:24 am
Oh man, didn’t realize that option was not available. We will check it out. Of course you won’t get thus though. Lol. Matti
June 29, 2011 at 7:35 pm
I noticed that you guys used to have a wordpress.com account, which is what I use but now you guys have your own domain and that you’re able to have ads on your website. What did you guys use to be able to get your own domain and post ads?
June 29, 2011 at 8:00 pm
It was pretty easy to switch over. Our upstairs neighbor is hosting it for us, so he did the transfer. You can do it through on online host like godaddy I think quite a few of the web hosts will help you transfer it over. We’re still using wordpress, you just can’t see it
August 25, 2011 at 10:30 am
I’ve been gardening in SF since 1980 when I moved here from Texas. I have lived in the outer Sunset since 1989, and recently converted much of my garden to succulents and cacti. I would love to stop by your gathering this Saturday (Aug 27). I’m especially interested in that agave I saw you holding in a fantastic photo on your site! Looking for one for a space at my front curb!
Also, big fan of Flora Grubb. Hope to see you Saturday, see your garden closeup, and talk about my gardening in the Sunset.
February 7, 2012 at 3:58 am
Wow, bowled over by ur projects….have to try a succulent garden now!
April 27, 2012 at 8:26 pm
I love the succulents planted in the old tire rim! Is the rim hollow? If so how do you plant anything in it?
April 28, 2012 at 8:14 am
I’m not 100% about the rim in this picture, but we planted one up that was fairly hollow. I think we put screen down to hold in the dirt.
May 22, 2012 at 7:06 am
Hello guys, I really enjoyed your site, and your succulent frames are just fantastic. Could you share some info about how you created them? How do the plants stay there without falling out?I lead a small horticultural therapy project in Milan, Italy, and it would be just great if we could create something similar. Thanks!
July 29, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Stumbled across your site looking for cool hanging wall succulent gardens – what an amazing space you created. Have gained lots of inspiration reading and spending time on the site.
We have a big space to cover up 6.2′ x 2′ and saw that large wall photo from April 2010. Do you know what material was used to hold the plants? Six of those would be perfect for what we need. Thanks for your help.
September 11, 2012 at 9:46 am
Love your blog. I live near St. Louis Mo., just across the Mississippi River in southwestern Illinois. We’ve had a nursery business here for 27 years, doing a lot of unusual succulents, hummingbird plants etc. I would like to stay in touch, maybe I can provide some advice is you have any diificulty with your S.F. plants in Madison…or maybe you can help me! Also I want to give you an email address for Kathi Johnson Rock who lives in Madison and has a hummingbird festival every fall in September. You can exchange plants with the members if you join, and they know lots about plants etc. Her email address is kathijr.@yahoo.com
Chris Kelley Cottage Garden Nursery Piasa IL 62079
November 2, 2012 at 2:38 am
Great blog and fantastic plants! I particularly noticed your Aristolochia californica (which I am dying to grow!). I have been looking for seeds for months now, with no success. If you happen to collect seeds, I would LOVE to have a few! Many thanks!
Sara
March 12, 2013 at 8:57 pm
Hello Matti & Megan,
First, I would like to say that I’ve enjoyed reading your blog and looking at the photos since I signed up over a year ago (?). I had no idea that you lived in Madison! I live in Milwaukee, and I have family in Mt. Horeb & Sun Prairie. I just saw the Milwaukee connection on your latest blog…, and it seems that your moving back to The City soon. I don’t blame you though because it’s fantastic (architecture, hills, plants, vegan restaurants, etc.).
You included a couple links to Plant Propaganda (amazing!) and Gardens by Gabriel, which are great. We bought a home in Temecula (CA) and I hope to start planting more succulents and whatever else can grow.
Good luck in your move and I wish you well!
Regards,
Radovan
April 29, 2013 at 10:32 am
Your succulents are so beautiful. They are a passion of mine, although I only have luck with “Hen and Chick” types. I especially love the echeverias, and cannot get them to thrive, even with various lighting, watering and cactus soil experimenting.
I live in the Mid-Atlantic region, foothills of mountains.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you, Linda