The Rooftop Garden Climbs Down a Wall

The Rooftop Garden Climbs Down a Wall
By KEN BELSON
Published: November 18, 2009

Unlike green roofs — and their vertical cousins, green walls — edible walls also produce fruit, vegetables and herbs in far less space than typical gardens.

Read the full article here!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/business/energy-environment/19WALLS.html?_r=1

Poinsettia have arrived!

In lots of festive colors and sizes........

We love tillandsia!!

Air plants can grow without soil
Erle Nickel, Special to The Chronicle
Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The latest conversation starter at San Francisco's Plant Cafe may be not the organic salads but the tillandsias. But don't look for them on the menu, they're on the wall.

The most recognizable member of the bromeliad family, tillandsias, commonly known as air plants, are popping up in unusual places including Bardessono in Yountville, where they decorate the hotel's entrance in a vertical installation.

These Central and South American natives are working their way into mainstream gardening circles adding their striking foliage and widely varied tropical flowers to indoor and outdoor gardens. This weekend, they'll be featured along with the rest of their plant family in the San Francisco Bromeliad Society's sale.

Few plants can match tillandsia's resume. They grow and flourish without soil; they boast a dizzying array of foliage and flower combinations; they reproduce vigorously either through pups, the small offspring that bromeliads and many succulents produce, or by broadcasting seed; and they are among the easiest and forgiving of any plants on Earth. Bromeliad enthusiast and collector Bill Holliday of Oakland adds: "Mexico has by far the most species of tillandsias and though most like dry winters and moist summers, T. plumosa and T. magnusiana are two gems adaptable to our climate that make perfect little spheres of gray, fuzzy, blade-like leaves."
But despite their popular name, these plants don't live on air alone. In the wild, moisture and nutrients are gathered from the air through structures on the leaves called trichomes. Tillandsias are often found growing in trees but are not parasitic; the branches serve only as support.

read more here.....

Holiday Color...just arrived!

 
 

ooooh....cyclamen & mums just arriving in our stores!

Plant Narcissus (Paperwhites) for holiday blooms!

 

Botanically speaking, daffodils, jonquils, and what are commonly called paper whites, are all Narcissus. Our plant pick this month is the Narcissus Tazetta or Paper White. It is the birth flower of December symbolizing sweetness, rebirth, and formality. We do not need to dwell on the fact that it also stands for egotism and self-admiration, qualities it carries from the tragic youth, Narcissus. That Narcissus was turned into a flower, is enough.

The Paper White Narcissus is a bulb commonly used as a “forced” pot- plant around the winter holidays. Planted in shallow dishes or vases filled with pebbles, the bulbs will bloom just 6 weeks from the time they are started. Many people enjoy watching the daily progress of the roots in a clear vase. The speed with which they grow make them an ideal kid’s project. The fragrance is sweet and reminds us of sunshine in the dark of winter.

After the bloom has finished, plant the bulbs outdoors in a sunny location and let the foliage wither naturally. The blossoms will be back to see you the following winter. You can just as easily use paper whites in the garden like any other bulb. They will bloom naturally in late December and January reminding us that spring is on the way.

Planted and ready to go!

1st picture -- hanging basket

2nd picture -- succulents!

The large plant is a Crassula falcata, the rest are sedum and string of pearls.

Winter is here

and our hours have changed....


Winter Hours: 8:30am to 5:30pm

...at all Sloat Garden Center locations, except as noted below.
--Danville: Mon-Sat: 8am-5:30pm, 9am to 5pm on Sundays
--Pierce Street: 9am to 5:30pm, 7 days a week

Fall color is here! oooh.....ahhhhh.....

Winter hours are now in effect at all Sloat locations

WINTER HOURS - 8:30am to 5:30pm at all locations, except as noted below
--Danville: Mon-Sat: 8am-5:30pm, 9am to 5pm on Sundays
--Pierce Street: 9am to 5:30pm, 7 days a week

This just in: Balinese Pebble Pots

Just arrived at Sloat Garden Center this week!

This unique pottery (handcrafted in Bali) is being imported into the U.S. for the first time!

Available at the following Sloat Garden Center locations
-- Sloat Boulevard (San Francisco)
-- Mill Valley (Miller Avenue
-- Kentfield
-- Novato
-- Danville