Far Out Flora

Gardening in the Outerlands of San Francisco

Tag Archives: DIY

Jim’s Courtyard Oasis

May 24, 2011 by Matti | 7 Comments

Piano and more.

Piano and more.

Jim’s garden paradise is right in the heart of SOMA San Francisco. Many of you may not know, but that sweet Ford Edsel over at Flora Grubb? … That’s Jim’s planting too. BTW above in the pic, that’s an old piano next to the guitar.

Playing Elephants.

Dancing Elephants.

It’s a small space that gets a little sun here and there and lots of reflective light in the evening. Man he has taken advantage of every single nook and cranny with design coolness and found objects.

Head and old radio.

Head and old radio.

Hanging Planters

Hanging Planters

These hanging hypertufas look well aged, almost like they were pulled right from the earth and suspended in mid air.

Funky chair

Funky chair

This simple solution was way to easy…wish I would have came across it sooner. Jim plunked down a colorful wooden board on an old retro chair for extra seating.

Aeoniums with bench

Aeoniums with bench

The day we visited it was actually raining out, so it was a challenge to get some of the photos, but the drops sure look great on these Aeoniums.

Wonder woman!

Wonder woman!

OMG, I about flipped over when we located Wonder Woman in the garden. I couldn’t find the invisible jet.

Aeonium with parking meter

Aeonium with parking meter

Jim’s oasis is playful, eclectic, and delivers every bit of the things we love. Thanks for the tour.

- Far Out Flora

Square Hangy Thing

May 18, 2011 by Matti | 21 Comments

Complete, and will take some time to grow roots.

This is how it looked back then.

Almost a year ago, I planted this metal pot rack into a succulent hanging thing. Lots of little cuttings, lots of sphagnum moss, lots of potential. Well, it’s all grown up now. Not exactly what I expected, but enough to salvage.

Here's what it looks like now.

Here

Here it is today. It has been neglected for some time now.  Definitively in need of a haircut and a little refill. Oh, another issue I have found. That hemp type twine I’ve been using to hold it all together? It has been failing…basically rotting away a little faster than expected. Like the time the mirror held up with the twine fell and crushed our Clianthus puniceus. I wasn’t too concerned at that moment because I really didn’t know what Megan planted, but I love the guy now that he has recovered.

Ever since, I’ve been systematically going around the garden and replacing that hemp twine with wire. At least it should take more than a year before the wire rusts away.

A little fluffing.

A little fluffing.

A little fluffing and it’s looking sweet again, better than ever.

Looking sweet again.

Looking sweet again.

I can’t wait for another 3-6 months to pass to see what happens next. Hey, these succulents are all alive and need the occasional haircut / TLC to get them looking all cool again. Same thing with our planted containers.

Excited that we made it.

Be somebody.

While I was spicing up this succulent hanging thing, Megan picked up this cool Petunia hybrid, the Phantom Petunia. Turns out it was the same Petunia on the cover of the Garden Gate magazine that showed up that day. No way!

Time for an obscure reference. Holding this plant along with the magazine instantly reminded me of a certain movie where Steve Martin held up a drink with a bamboo umbrella next to a magazine stating…”Be somebody”. Yeah, that Petunia made me feel like Somebody. Any takers on the movie? – Far Out Flora