28 Mar Five Things Friday: Growing Yerba Buena, a Decal Update, and Between New Ferns…

Ryan and I probably fall a skosh more on the “I” side of the introvert/extrovert scale, but can’t say we hang out with many wallflowers. Except when it comes to our bathroom decor.

1. Waterlily wallpaper. Remember those temporary wall decals from last summer? The ones with vintage botanical prints of proteas? We removed them a few months ago, and recently replaced them with the François Stroobant waterlilies we were loving. As an update to the previous post, we’d like to say we used the Papilio waterproof temporary decals and they’re even better than the Avery. Thanks to the Loctite spray, these babies lay flat, and even withstand the shower steam.

2. The stag(horn fern) party. If there’s a plant that turns us instantly green with envy, it’s a staghorn fern. After touring a magical fern-filled garden here in Windansea (coming soon! We can’t wait for you to see) Ryan was inspired to pick up some Platycerium specimens of our own. We got them for a song, like 50 percent less than retail, at Kobey’s Swap Meet.

Maybe you saw Ryan’s plant selfie on Instagram. He’s working on an interesting design with them, so stay tuned for that too. For now, we’re all about the stag party!

3. The Garden Native Tour. This weekend, we’re checking out the Garden Native Tour, which will feature 15 gardens planted with indigenous species like yucca, milkweed, fremontia and tree lilac. Veggie spaces and native wine grapes will also be on view. The tours and lectures are happening Saturday and Sunday in North County San Diego — get your tickets here!

4. Welcome, Digitalis purpurea. And new to the flower bed: foxglove…we think we love you.

5. It’s all good, yerba buena. In a change of pace from our rampant garden mint, we recently added yerba buena (Micromeria douglasii, also known as Indian mint) to our ammo can planters. The taste is a deeper, more soulful variation on the mint we’re used to, plus it’s used medicinally for indigestion, insomnia and arthritis. And it doubles as quite a nifty hanging plant!

What plant-tastic plans to you have this weekend?

—TH