Garden Inspiration

Abour twelve years ago, Flora Grubb, co-owner and co-founder of Flora Grubb Gardens, moved and began working on a new garden. No garden is ever finished, but Flora decided this garden is ready to share with you.

Moderated by Flora Grubb, a conversation with authors & photographer of the new book, "Designing the Lush Dry Garden"

Our own Clarke DeMornay’s south of market garden featured in the New York Times.

One of Flora's favorite things is to help dear friends with their gardens, and this glorious front garden is close to her heart. It's the home of Oakland artist Terri Loewenthal, and together they've built a wild and vibrant collection of plants that shelters Terri's house and welcomes visitors.

There’s a beautiful rooftop dining garden in San Francisco’s Union Square. Rooftops make for challenging gardening environments, but Oliver Gardens designed a lush, layered space with a palette of durable plants.

LA landscape architect Josh Rosen—botanical superhero alias Airplantman—has created a magical tillandsia-filled batcave in the courtyard behind his Mar Vista studio. Check it out, then come see us and start your own collection!

All over the Bay Area, Pine House Edible Gardens creates immersive gardens that are beautiful and productive, but that are also about community, connection, and building deep meaning into our lives. Get inspired by their beautiful designs!

Need some inspiration for your spring garden? Here's a beauty from our designer friends Dani Coulter and Johnny Keegan of Collecting Flowers, whose soft, lovely textured gardens are some of our favorites in SF.

If you’ve spent any time at Flora Grubb Gardens in SF, you’ve most likely experienced the warmth, plant genius, and general fabulousness of our beloved Clarke de Mornay. Now take a peek into Clarke’s own gorgeously detailed and eclectic home garden, a paradise for plant collectors!

Use our handy map to find peace and inspiration in some spectacular public gardens. And share your favorites with us!

Behind a door on an alley South of Market in San Francisco, at the end of a narrow passageway, the fabulous Jim Kumiega cultivates a secret green enclave in a tiny courtyard.

An urban garden with limited space for planting doesn't have to feel sparse or cramped. Check out what designer Christopher Reynolds pulled off here, transforming a narrow SF yard into a graceful, peaceful oasis.

Urban gardening often involves working with narrow, confined spaces and odd-shaped borders. Here’s a bit of small garden inspiration for you as you look to plan garden beds in challenging tight-squeeze spots.

Lots of us are working with limited outdoor space, but even the tiniest square of air can become a garden, like this lovely little SF stoop.

In this secluded oasis designed by the fabulous Daniel Nolan, contrasting textures play off each other to beautiful effect, soft and sculptural shapes working in harmony to create a lush, artful design. 

Create a Brachychiton that looks like the one you’ve seen in photos. We’ll show you how!

Monarch Milkweed, Asclepias fasicularis, in stock at our Los Angeles store.

Grevillea are incredibly useful shrubs in the landscape. These low-maintenance shrubs offer soft, airy texture and nearly year-round blooms. Their unique flowers are hummingbird magnets!

Aloe ‘Safari Rose’. A small, autumn and winter-blooming aloe with masses of pink flowers from autumn into early spring. Needs minimal water, tolerates some shade. Perfect in a pot.

Grow a Brachychiton indoors. Bright light and spare water are they key to growing the Queensland Bottle tree inside.

The dry garden is a place we cultivate for harvest and beauty and life outdoors without overdoing the water in our summer-dry climate. With all their beauty and versatility, palms can play an important in the dry garden.

Among the proteaceae there is a vast variety of exotic flowers, and many of these plants have a long blooming season, especially here in coastal California, where the weather mimics their native South African and Australian coastal landscapes.

Phlebodium aureum 'Blue Star' fern is one of our favorite versatile plants, growing happily in the Bay Area either indoors or out.

Our growing grounds in the beautiful Rainbow Valley have been hard at work; both our stores are stocked with the widest selection of Proteas and Leucospermums that we've had all year! Learn which ones are available now, then get your favorites at Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco or Los Angeles.

This adorable bromeliad is a favorite for rare plant folks—and very hard to find! Slowly, over time, the plant will envelop its rock pot, forming a kind of spiky ball with its exquisite miniature rosettes.

Want the breezy, laid back vibe of a tropical paradise in your cool weather, low-water garden? Plant bromeliads! Both our stores are fully stocked with these stunners right now.

One of our favorite plants for low-water gardens, Beschorneria yuccoides 'Flamingo Glow' truly delivers on so many levels, with soft, delicate leaves, pretty variegated color, and of course that wildly exotic bloom.

Many beautiful yucca plants will thrive in coastal California, and we often have several varieties in stock—along with quite a few yucca lookalikes!—at our San Francisco and Marina del Rey nurseries. Read on to learn more about these tough and lovely plants.

It’s well known that at Flora Grubb Gardens we love epiphytic forest dwellers. Epiphytes are plants that grow on trees such as bromeliads, orchids, staghorn ferns, rhipsalis… and vireyas!

Down at our farms in the Rainbow Valley, we grow over a dozen varieties of trailing succulents, perfect for hanging baskets, vertical gardens, and container gardens. All of these cuties are in stock now!

Here in the Bay Area, when the acacias start showing their fireworks of delicate golden blooms, we know that spring is just around the corner.

Our DIY Potting Bench is back! Come and make something beautiful for your home or garden.

Even in cooler weather, the bougainvilleas are popping all over town.

Haworthias, tough-as-nails miniature succulents that look like dollhouse agaves or aloes, are perfect for making jewelbox compositions in little tabletop pots.

Californians, let's get real: It's time to kiss your super-thirsty lawn goodbye. Did you catch Flora chatting about this on KQED? Or The New York Times weighing in on "How to Fall Out of Love With Your Lawn"? Everybody's talking about gorgeous ways to replace your grass with low-water landscapes.

Aeoniums, with their sweetly symmetrical rosettes, whimsical leggy growth habits, and wide variety of foliage colors and patterns, are so much fun to grow and collect. We've almost always got dozens in stock at Flora Grubb Gardens nursery in San Francisco.

The rare and mesmerizing Aloe polyphylla is finally back in stock! We have a limited supply of baby 4-inch spiral aloes. Watch this little cutie grow into a mesmerizing spiral.

Every year in the springtime we receive a special order of rare and unusual Japanese maples from Oregon, and we get so excited when the truck arrives!

Late winter is when leucadendrons are at their most stunning, showing their vibrant color and putting out shiny new growth. Flora Grubb Gardens stores in SF and LA are always stocked with a rainbow of different varieties ready to come home with you!

In coastal California we're lucky enough to be able to host cozy holiday gatherings outside. Put out some blankets, pour hot drinks, and enjoy your gorgeous year-round garden! Winter blooms and brightly colored foliage are all the festive decor you need, and we’ve got plenty of both at Flora Grubb Gardens.

Pittosporums have an amazing superpower: the ability to quickly grow into a screen that’s dense enough to disguise a wall or create some privacy, but still feels light and airy. Read on to learn how to use these versatile plants to make your own screen in your garden.

Passion flowers are exotic and aggressively detailed, with a flamboyant artistry that seems almost cosmic, like they come from another planet. Check out some of the varieties we often carry at Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco.

Succulents and cactus love life in coastal California, which makes them a great un-thirsty choice for your garden.

Sculpture and vessels from California artist Ted Fullwood arriving weekly at Flora Grubb Gardens San Francisco.

Some of our most colorful modern garden containers come from Vietnam. We specialize in classic modern shapes and are always on the lookout for bold new colors and finishes.

Our Ocean Rock cylinder pots have a distinctive pebbled glaze that brings a beautiful texture and an artistic look to the garden. Available in gray or terra cotta color, with lots of available sizes.

Bergs pots, designed in Denmark and handmade in Tuscany, are in stock in both our stores in tons of shapes and sizes. Mix and match them for the loveliest look!

We carry a wide selection of rustic ceramic pottery in a variety of amazing glazes and textures. For instance the glaze on these large architectural ceramic pots makes each handmade piece a work of art.

Flora Grubb Gardens selection of Modernica stoneware pots and planters are high fired and durable. The iconic stand is crafted from Brazilian walnut and is suitable for both indoor or outdoor use.

Both traditional and modern contemporary terra cotta planters are right at home in modern gardens and interiors. Flora Grubb Gardens has a wide selection to offer in small, medium and large sizes and shapes.

Flora Grubb Gardens offers a wide selection of cylinder ceramic pots and planters in various sizes and colors. We love these planters for their versatility and classic modern design. From bright yellows, soft pinks, to classic black and white, our cylinder pots and planters are a mainstay for any outdoor garden or indoor space.

There is always something new in Flora Grubb Gardens’ houseplant boutique. We offer an ever-changing assortment of small pots and planters for indoor houseplants or outdoor tables.

Flora Grubb Gardens offers sleek modern squares, rectangles, and troughs made of a combination of fiberglass and natural clay. This relatively lightweight material is excellent for decks and terraces, or wherever weight is a concern.

Flora Grubb Gardens offers sleek modern planters, made of a combination of fiberglass and natural clay, in a clean bright white color. The relatively lightweight material of fibreclay pots is excellent for decks and terraces, or wherever weight is a concern.

Lots of our customers have questions about how to keep their pets and plants safe in their homes. Here’s some inspiration and tips for a pet-friendly indoor garden!

Our nurseries are packed with rare treasures for your bright, low-water indoor garden. Grown on our own farms down in the Rainbow Valley, these special plants are hard to find in nurseries, and we're so excited to send them home with you!

Houseplant dreams are just what you need for a cozy weekend. Here's a peek inside a plant-filled SF house to inspire your indoor garden plans.

Here at FGG, the question we hear most often from customers is “How often do I water my houseplant?” It sounds like a simple question, but the answer is actually pretty complicated.

What better place to cozy up for this weird winter at home than an artful plant-filled beach house on the coast south of SF? Our own Jeff Wright graciously invited us into his sweet cottage for a peek.

For your plant-obsessed beloved, here's the most romantic gift: A rare and exquisite 'String of Hearts' plant (Ceropegia woodii). Its heart-shaped leaves are strung together on delicate vines, like a tangle of precious necklaces.

A mid-century Eichler home in SF, with its warm wood paneling, sleek concrete floors, and flood of light from inner courtyards, is the perfect place to grow a lush indoor garden. Some longtime FGG friends invited us into their home to share their houseplant inspiration.

We carry many varieties of ficus houseplants for your indoor garden. Here are a few of our favorites with some helpful information and fascinating botanical history!

At Flora Grubb Gardens, our plant shop in San Francisco, we find that Adeniums are beloved by plant lovers from surprisingly different backgrounds.

Humidity is often a crucial (but overlooked!) part of indoor plant care. Here are some tips and tricks for making sure that your plant is happy with the amount of humidity in the room so it can thrive.

For houseplants we recommend using a cachepot system for planting, instead of direct planting into your decorative pot. Here’s how to use the system in five easy steps!

We all love this plant for the masterfully sculpted leaves. When young, the leaves are simple and heart-shaped, without the characteristic splits and holes. Each leaf emerges larger than the last, and with more character, until they are three feet across, with deeply lobed margins and dozens of inner holes.

Raphidophora tetrasperma (aka "mini monstera") is the “it” girl of houseplants, perfect for that focal point in your nice bright room.

We love collaborating with Daniel Nolan, who got his start ten years ago on the FGG team. Now he's one of the Bay Area’s most sought-after garden designers! We had so much fun catching up with Daniel in his gorgeous, inspiring studio office filled with houseplants.

Want to brighten and energize your home? Think about adding some sweet little baby houseplants to your collection. Watching plants grow as you tend them over the years is a deeply pleasurable part of indoor gardening.

Got a very bright spot in your house that’s begging for a plant? Columnar euphorbia are intricate, sculptural succulents that will happily grow indoors with proper care and attention. Read on for some interesting facts about euphorbia and advice about growing these beauties as houseplants.

Here’s a pro tip: Almost all indoor plants will happily grow in bright indirect light, but only some are okay with sitting in a sunny window. feeling the direct warm sun on their leaves. We’ve got some beautiful houseplant suggestions for spots in your home with bright direct sun.

Most plants prefer bright indirect sunlight, but some plants are perfectly happy in more moderate light conditions. Read on for help assessing the light in your space and choosing just the right plant for moderate (or medium bright) light.

Some houseplants can tolerate lower light conditions surprisingly well. We’ve got some beautiful choices you can consider for a lower light spot in your home.

We all deserve a little more plant love in our lives. Practice some botanical self care by choosing just the right plant and pot to suit your personal style and the environment of your home.

Strelitzia nicolai—also known as Giant Bird of Paradise, the banana leaf plant or banana leaf palm, is one of our favorite plants for Bay Area gardens, but few people know that this plant can also grow happily indoors!

When watering succulents or cacti in pots without drainage, the most important things to keep in mind are to apply the water in a controlled manner and allow the soil to dry out in between the waterings.

Pull up a window and search “What should be my first houseplant?” and the number one result is the snake plant, also known as “mother-in-law’s tongue.” So if you’re new to houseplants, this is a great place to start. But if you’re an expert collector, maybe we lost you at “snake plant” and you’re already moving on? Hold up! Even the most jaded houseplant collector can find new intrigue within the ever-so-common genus Sansevieria.

Ficus lyrata, commonly called the fiddle-leaf fig, is a perfect indoor specimen plant. The plant features very large, heavily veined, and violin-shaped leaves that grow upright on a tall plant. We almost always have Ficus lyrata in stock at our retail plant store in San Francisco.

A plant is a gift of life, growth, breath, and renewal. What better way to show your love and gratitude this holiday season?

Each year Fermob edits their array of 25 colors. In 2026- we are saying goodbye to a neutral Lapilli Grey— and replacing it with another neutral- Latte Beige. We share our thoughts on the new neutral for 2026.

This perfectly designed folding chair became popular on the streets of Paris in 1889, when the lemonade vendors of the day needed chairs they could easily fold up at the end of the evening. This classic chair is the perfect size for our Bay Area gardens and comes in all of Fermob’s 24 hues.

The iconic woven Fermob Sixties collection is comfortable, lightweight garden furniture with endless breezy style.

The Luxembourg collection by Fermob is comfortable and classic. Relax on a smooth bench or in a reclining chair!

At Flora Grubb Gardens, we carry an assortment of French Fermob garden furniture from various collections, including side tables and seats. Add a pop of color to your garden with a table perfect for setting down your book or cocktail.

We are totally in love with Fermob furniture’s three luminous pastel shades: Ice Mint, Frosted Lemon, and Clay Grey. Fermob is calling these “powerful pastels,” which is so spot on!