Botanical Inspiration: The Flora Around Us

Whether it's embodied in dangerous spikes, brilliant colors, smooth surfaces or delicate petals, the flora around us never ceases to inspire me.  Here are a few favorite specimens, as of late.   Some I shot at a wholesale nursery, others while hiking, one in our very own yard and a few in a friend's wild and crazy garden.  Enjoy their beauty.

To see more botanical inspirations on a [somewhat] daily basis follow me on Instagram.

Images are:  Barrel Cactus, PincushionProtea, a feral cactus, New Zealand Flax, Echium, and Garden Rose.

Out And About: Flora Grubb Gardens

This week's Out And About features 2 of my very favorite things:  coffee and plants.   They come together seamlessly at Flora Grubb, in San Francisco, creating an urban oasis for the coffee connoisseur and the horticulturalist.   Wanting to visit Flora Grubb Gardens for some time now, I finally went this past weekend.  Its artful botanical displays and vertical gardens were even cooler than I had imagined.  The interesting variety of plants and, of course, the coffee made for an inspiring experience. Take a look at some of the many photos (I went a little camera crazy) I took while I shopped:

Many thanks to Flora Grubb for creating such an inspiring and beautiful place to shop and to AM for taking me there this weekend!

AND,  many loving thoughts out to all to my friends and readers back East who have been hugely affected by the storm.