Hello Friends –

Join Us! Thanksgiving Open House: Friday, Saturday & Sunday

We are witnessing how the season turns in this last week of November. The sun is low, the sky's often gray, autumn leaves are firing up, and green grass is sprouting over the tan hillsides. We're gathering friends and family at home for a feast, then heading out for a walk afterwards.

California Buckeye (Aesculus californica)

Nature grounds this sense of place. From that ground, though, grows the life we're all creating together in this place we call home, San Francisco. We hope you consider our nursery part of what makes this city special. Without local businesses, we think San Francisco just wouldn't be the same. In a stressful economy, we're shopping even more locally than before, and we hope you share our spirit of support for small, local businesses.

Every year we celebrate the holiday here at the nursery with an open house full of good stuff for you and your loved ones to do and see after Thanksgiving. Come visit us for refreshments (starting at 11am), new gift selections, workshops, and good company.

Workshop: The Everlasting Holiday Wreath (with a Twist!)

Make your own wreath to reflect our seasonal surroundings.

Friday 11/26, Saturday 11/27, and Sunday 11/28: 11am - 12:30pm
$125 fee, including take-home wreath with live plants.
RSVP by 10am, Wednesday, November 24 (and tell us how many in your party)

Few things are more nostalgic than the rich, wintry smell of a fir or pine wreath. In the mild Bay Area climate, we get to enjoy our gardens through the colder months. So we've created a wreath that celebrates the diversity of our California winter gardens.

Two of our Cutting Garden design geniuses, Susie Nadler and Patrick Lannan, will teach you how to prepare your own wreath. We'll provide all the supplies and tools.

Habitat Sculpture by Kevin Smith

This beautiful sculpture by Kevin Smith and Lisa Lee Benjamin is a force for nature.

Come see beautiful sculptures imagined as habitats for bugs created for our Open House by artist Kevin Smith, with inspiration from Urban Hedgerow collaborator Lisa Lee Benjamin. Assembled from salvaged and natural materials, they are designed to sustain a flow of wild visitors, making our home habitats more alive with birdsong.

Kids' Workshop: Decorate a Tiny Tree

Friday, November 26 and Saturday, November 27 at 11am $10 fee No RSVP needed Our friend Julie Benjamin of Little Lane Studios will be offering a workshop for kids here at the nursery. Participants will be decorating miniature trees for winter. Also: Modern Playhouse will be setting up their structures for kids' fun over the weekend.

Handmade Aerium Ornaments

You will love these ornaments, handmade here at the store with foraged and live ingredients. Each is a tiny, unique world (a terrarium minus earth plus air plants equals "aerium") and a gift you won't find anywhere else. Look for them in the store or find them in our Web Shop.

These tiny worlds will enchant you.

Succulent Wreaths

A living wreath marks the cycle of the seasons.

These wreaths, always a favorite, are amazingly varied and artful. Made of live succulents, they will grow and change over the course of the year. We have them in several sizes and we tend to run out by Christmas, so come in soon! You can also buy them in our Web Shop.

A Cabinet for Kids

My son, Greyson, has inspired me to assemble a selection of garden- and nature-related treats for kids. I'm amazed by how he interacts with the natural world. Take a peek at the cabinet filled with kids' garden tools, toys, and books.

These charm crowns, handmade by a local artist, are perfect gifts for kids.

This cute owl and stuffed cactus teach kids about wildlife while they play.

Handmade Owl Ornaments

Our owl obsession continues with these handmade ceramic ornaments, among our favorite holiday offerings this year.

A Gift for the Urban Gardener — Orchids for Outdoors

For those of us who garden in tight city spaces, these bloomy, exotic orchids – masdevallias from fogbound cloud forests – make a big impact with little effort. I'm in love with their interplanetary shapes and intense colors. Give them a shady spot and plentiful water and protection from frost and slugs.

This masdevallia orchid blooms and thrives in mild Bay Area gardens.

Gift Certificates

If you love our nursery and want to give a gift that shares Flora Grubb Gardens with a loved one, what's simpler than a gift certificate? They're available in the store or through our Web Shop.

Saturday, November 27, 2pm

Revolutionary Yardscapes
By Matthew Levesque, photographs by Saxon Holt
Book Launch Party

Reception and book signing at 2pm

Our friend and Bayview neighbor, Matthew Levesque, is responsible for some of the most exquisite designs with found objects that we've seen. Matthew has created beautiful gardenscapes out of others' discards by tapping into the trash stream the way an artist delves into the unconscious.

We love Matthew's endlessly inventive designs with found materials.

Paintings by Patrick Lannan

Our multi-talented colleague, Patrick, will be showing his paintings here in the store at a reception on Sunday, 11/28, from 2pm to 4pm. Come meet the artist and see his beautiful BIRCH series.

Bay Area Garden Design Consultations

People inspired by visiting the nursery sometimes invite us to their gardens for advice on design and on plant choices. We love helping people create something new or refine an existing space. We offer garden design consultations in the nine Bay Area counties.

Our consultations make a great gift for yourself or loved ones in the Bay Area. Your loved ones will think of you each time they enjoy their new garden. You can purchase garden consultations on our Web Shop or in the store.

GIVE A GARDEN!

Garden Consultation Gift $300
During our visit we'll help rethink a space and give ideas for amazing, high-impact, durable plants suited to the microclimate. When they come into the nursery for continuing discussions about their garden, they'll have the advantage of our first-hand perspective.

Garden Starter Gift $1,200
In addition to an hour-long Bay Area consultation, your gift includes a $900 credit for use in the nursery, enough to create a beautiful terrace garden or freshen the public face of a city garden.

Garden Maker Gift $5,000
We'll collaborate on substantial garden-making, starting with a consultation in the garden and including a credit of $4700 for use on anything from plants to tools to further consultation in the garden.

Of course, we're always excited to share our advice (for free!) here in the nursery and would love to hear from you by phone (415-626-7256) or email consult@floragrubb.com for help on your garden projects big and small.

Winter Hours

Join Us on Facebook

It's just like neighbors chatting about their gardens over the fence, but digitally. Please join us.

If you can't make it here this weekend, do come visit us this season — there are so many beautiful things to see!

– Flora and everyone at Flora Grubb Gardens