The next few weeks bring conventions, sales and expeditions to the world of rare flora
Some Angelenos developed their love of greenery during Covid when backyards became personal botanical gardens. Others have always known the difference between Monstera Adansonii and Monstera Obliqua. Los Angeles is a plant paradise and today’s young plant lovers have reinvigorated the world of flora with a crop of new houseplant boutiques, a giant convention where thousands vie for the rarest variegations and a newish valley bookstore with a plant tunnel made from hundreds of specimens of Swedish Ivy, ferns, moss and spider plants loved by Oprah.
Shoppers at The Huntington’s annual plant saleCredit: © The Huntington
It’s not even spring, but a Gen Z parking attendant downtown recently noted that he had spent hundreds on his rare varieties of pothos and was looking forward to finding more specimens. He already has tickets to PlantCon coming to the Magic Box Downtown, February 21 and 22. The Los Angeles Public Library is hosting Plant Day on January 31 at Downtown’s Central Library with workshops and seminars on repotting, bouquet making and the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat, or New Year of the Trees. The Theodore Payne Foundation and California Native Plant Society will be on hand to tell you which milkweed the butterflies like best and where to find it.
Native plant lovers can meet the Payne Foundation’s Director of Horticulture, Tim Becker, on February 12 for a three-hour class on indigenous plant gardens. Shortly after the equinox kicks off spring, you can queue up at The Huntington in San Marino for their famous sale of rare and unusual plants from the century-old estate’s collections on April 26. Early last century, the tycoon hired his personal botanist, William Hertrich, to roam the world in search of rare specimens — many of which still grow on the 200-acre parcel. Those tickets sell out fast, so be sure to reserve a timed entry slot.
One of Henry Huntington’s prized cactus specimens arrived in San Marino 101 years agoCredit: Photo by Security Pacific National Bank Photo Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
It’s fun to develop a green thumb, but remember not to use your green elbows to knock a fellow plant lover out of the way when you spot that elusive Philodendron spiritus-sancti on the shelf.