{"id":155315,"date":"2026-01-29T19:33:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T19:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/155315\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T19:33:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T19:33:21","slug":"spring-comes-early-for-los-angeles-plant-lovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/155315\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Comes Early for Los Angeles Plant Lovers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The next few weeks bring conventions, sales and expeditions to the world of rare flora<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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<\/a> with a plant tunnel made from hundreds of specimens of Swedish Ivy, ferns, moss and spider plants loved by Oprah<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Shoppers at The Huntington\u2019s annual plant saleCredit: \u00a9 The Huntington<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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\u2019s Central Library with workshops and seminars on repotting, bouquet making and the Jewish holiday of Tu B\u2019Shevat, or New Year of the Trees<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

Native plant lovers can meet the Payne Foundation<\/a>\u2019s Director of Horticulture,\u00a0Tim 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<\/a> in San Marino for their famous sale of rare and unusual plants from the century-old estate\u2019s collections on April 26. Early last century, the tycoon hired his personal botanist, William Hertrich, to roam the world in search of rare specimens \u2014 many of which still grow on the 200-acre parcel. Those tickets sell out fast, so be sure to reserve a timed entry slot.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"One of Henry Huntington\u2019s prized cactus specimens arrived in San Marino 101 years agoCredit: Photo by Security Pacific National Bank Photo Collection\/Los Angeles Public Library<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n