Green Thumb: Vertical Gardens at Flora Grubb

Photo by Caitlin Atkinson

This image of the new vertical succulent garden at San Francisco's Flora Grubb stopped me in my tracks when I saw it, and I just had to share it here.

More "green wall" inspiration:

Another installation from Grubb and fiancé Kevin Smith.

Photo by Max Whittaker for the New York Times

The vertical Tillandsia garden (yet another Grubb/Smith creation) at Napa Valley's Bardessono Hotel.

Wouldn't one of these be a fantastic addition to a patio, garden fence, or atrium? If you're game to try your hand at building a "living wall," you can find a video tutorial right here.

Retail Therapy: Life + Limb

On my last visit to Portland, an in-the-know local urged me to check out a relatively new shop called Life + Limb on East Burnside. I popped in just before closing one day, and although my time there was short, it was love at first sight. In fact, I bought more irresistibly affordable goodies during my 10-minute shopping spree at Life + Limb than I did at all of my other PDX shopping stops combined.

Opened in November by graphic designer and photographer Molly Quan, Life + Limb is a full-service urban plant shop as well as a modern homegoods boutique. "I wanted to have a store that featured less-common plants, so I decided to focus on succulents. I also wanted to incorporate my love of modern design and my art background, so I carry home accessories and have monthly art shows, too," Quan explains.

One especially nice touch: Pick a plant (or three) and a vessel to put it in, and Quan will pot it up for you right there in the shop -- perfect for those last-minute hostess or housewarming gifts or if you're the type to let your nursery purchases languish for weeks before you get around to putting them in some soil.

Among the non-plant items Quan stocks are hand-picked vintage modern home accents (she has some awesome retro bullet planters, for instance), as well as a carefully curated selection of ceramics, tableware, textiles, and accessories from the likes of Perch!, Paige Russell, j.mendicino, Suck UK, Jonathan Adler, Sagaform, Loyal Loot, Modern-Twist, and Normann Copenhagen, among others.

The tree mural is by painter Erik Railton. On the "gallery wall" is artwork from Joan McGuire; a new show with pieces from popular Oregon artist Yellena James will take its place come August, with an opening reception August 1 as part of Portland's Central Eastside Arts District's First Friday festivities. Also starting in August, original work by the shop's featured artists will be available online, with full online shopping coming later this fall.

Until then, be sure to drop by Life + Limb the next time you're in Portland -- and leave some extra room in the suitcase to cart home all your new scores. The store is located at 1716 E. Burnside St., and is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 to 5 Saturdays, and 12 to 5 Sundays.

eBay Find of the Day: Vintage Terrarium

This vintage leaded-glass terrarium would be equally charming filled with ferns, orchids, or a trio of candles out in the garden or showcasing a collection of delicate treasures on a table inside.

Current bid: $10

Mark Your Calendar: World Naked Gardening Day

I know you guys have been waiting all year for this one: Saturday, May 3 is the fourth annual World Naked Gardening Day.

Why go clothes-optional in your garden? "First of all, it's fun!" proclaims the WNGD site, which goes on to invite folks to "tend their portion of the world's garden clothed as nature intended," and includes this touching poetic tribute to the practice:

SEASONAL INTERCHANGE
by Michael Aitken

In Winter, when the trees are bare,
We mortals don our winter wear.
In Spring, when trees begin to dress,
We mortals then start wearing less,
Until, for some, with Summer's heat
The role reversal is complete.

So, um, there you have it.

(Warning: Photos on the World Naked Gardening Day website are sweet and harmless in that "hairy middle-aged European nudist" sort of way. But as they do depict hairy middle-aged European nudists doing what they do, are probably NSFW.)

eBay Find of the Day: Succulent Sampler

Did you know that you could buy live plants on eBay?

Yep, in addition to just about every other item on the planet, you can also procure plants for your garden from the auction super site. (It's a particularly handy service if you don't have a great nursery nearby or if the ground hasn't quite thawed in your area and your local garden center isn't yet stocked up for gardening season.)

I love succulents -- because not only are they almost impossible to kill, they make great modern houseplants (group several in a wide, low planter for a stunning centerpiece or just one in a small container for a pretty, natural accent) as well as interesting and textural additions to your outdoor landscape. Can't decide? Enjoy succulents both ways -- keep them inside until you're ready to get your hands dirty, then incorporate them into your garden.

This succulent selection up for auction on eBay includes a mix of twenty cuttings, including hens and chicks, volcano plants, echeveria, sedum, agave, euphorbia, and several other hardy varieties. The cuttings are easy to grow -- simply stick them in well-drained soil (either potting soil mixed with sand or gravel, or perlite), protect them from hot afternoon sun, and water them every once in a blue moon. I promise, they're practically black-thumb proof.

Current bid: $30

Cool Stuff: Aluminum Herb Pots

These seven diminutive plant pots (plus footed tray) are crafted from unpolished aluminum, which gives them a great industrial vibe that will only get better as the metal patinas over time.

Fill the pots with herb plants for cooking and make them the centerpiece of your kitchen table. Or plant petite succulents in them and place the grouping on a coffee table or credenza top to bring a bit of the outdoors in while you wait for spring to arrive. Once it does, you can move the entire collection out to the patio until the weather turns cold again.

The set is $129 from the Conran Shop.

Garden Voyeur: An Overgrown Yard Goes Simple and Modern

My neighbor Steven Stept is a principal at Swatt Architects, a firm known for its modern designs. So it makes sense that when it came time to rethink the landscaping for his own home, he'd go for a look that fit right in with his modernist leanings -- and that was designed to let this busy architect enjoy the yard rather than spending his scant free time weeding and pruning.

Here, Steve takes us through the process of turning his neglected garden into a simple and serene spot for relaxation:

"Before I started this project, my back yard was completely overgrown and dilapidated. First, I ripped out several bushes and trimmed back some of the other mess. Then I ripped out the crumbling brick fireplace and brick patio (a neighbor used the reclaimed brick in his own yard). I later took out a messy plum tree that was closing off the yard and making it feel smaller.

After removing most of the vegetation and hardscaping, I let the yard sit for four years as a pile of dirt while I concentrated on the inside of the house and the front yard.

Last year, it was finally time to overhaul the back yard. I wanted to create a wonderful, private outdoor space where I could put my feet in the grass and have a large deck for entertaining. Architecturally, I was aiming for a design that was clear and simple, but strong. Keeping the design simple would also help the yard work with my 1928 English Tudor. I like mixing old and new, and the yard is an extension of some of the modern qualities I’ve incorporated inside my house.

I created a long concrete retaining wall along the back of the yard, which separated the higher and lower ground, provided a space for a bamboo “screen” in front of the fence, and became the base of a long Ipe-wood bench bordering the deck area.

Another retaining wall created a level area for a lawn and provided space for planting horsetail and other greenery along the back of the house. Next to this 36-inch-deep planter, I laid a 36-inch pebble strip adjacent a new Ipe deck with steps leading up to the lawn.

At the end of the pebble strip, I built a vertical "screen wall" with 2-by-2 strips of Ipe to help break up the massing and scale of the side of my freestanding garage. A similar screen wall at the end of the concrete planter box helps hide the neighbor’s driveway from view.

Once I started in earnest, the whole process took about a year. I trenched for the retaining walls with my neighbor’s son, and then hired a landscape company to form and pour the concrete. We stripped the forms two hours after the pour and troweled the concrete smooth. The next phase was digging out dirt and blocking and framing the deck and screen walls, which I did myself with help from a carpenter. After I planted the bamboo and horsetail, I hired another landscape company to install an irrigation system and outdoor lighting (including uplighting for the bamboo), and to lay sod. Finally, I decided to stain the deck rather than letting it age to a natural gray.

I’m really proud of the finished project. After living here for seven years without a usable yard, I now use this space every chance I get."

(Not to make you folks in other parts of the country jealous or anything, but the temperature here in the Bay Area was a balmy 75 degrees today, so I wouldn't be surprised if Steve was out there enjoying a glass of wine after dinner.)

Thanks for giving us a peek into your outdoor oasis, Steve!

eBay Find of the Day: Zen Head Planter

This multi-faced Buddha planter is so bizarre -- but it's sort of irresistible, too. It'd certainly be a conversation piece at your next garden party or barbecue.

Current bid: $37.

Green Thumb: Savings on Native and Drought-Tolerant Plants

Unfortunately, I missed this year's free Bay-Friendly Garden Tour (such is the life of a Little League mom). But I was pleased to see a nice discount offer in the tour program, good for draught-tolerant and native plants at great local nurseries like Berkeley Hort, East Bay Nursery, Grand Lake Garden Center, and Evergreen Nursery.

Simply print out the second page of this flyer and present it at one of the participating nurseries to get 10 percent off "Bay-Friendly" plants through the end of the year.


To learn more about low-water and sustainable gardening, click here. And don't forget to mark your calendars for next year's tour on April 27, 2008.

Green Thumb: In Praise of Succulents

I have a bit of a succulent fetish. They're just so ... weird. And otherworldly. And fleshy. And textural. And cool.

And, let's not forget, practically death-proof. It's true: If you leave succulents out in the burning sun and forget to water them for months at a time, they'll be fine. I give a mixed pot of them to my mother (a notorious black thumb) every year, and even she can't kill them.

Bigger succulents can be pricey, but they grow quickly and multiply like mad, so I like to buy the cheap, tiny ones in 2-inch containers at the Easy Bay Nursery in Berkeley or the big Rockridge Longs off Broadway. When I'm a bit more flush, or after some unusual varieties, I hit the Dry Garden in North Oakland. One of these days, I'm going to make it up to Sebastopol's Lone Pine Nursery, the wholesale succulent and cacti grower that stocks most of the nurseries in the Bay Area.

Next time you're shopping for plants, grab a basketful of echeveria, euphorbia, or agave, then group them together in an interesting pot for a weird -- and wonderful -- living arrangement.