Cottage Green

I don't have a cottage, 

but I sure do love these moss, sage and kelly greens cottage colors. 

Glass Houses

Dreaming of green houses and the plants that reside within them.

The Garden Gallery in Morro Bay, CA

This weekend, I stopped to visit Morro Bay, one of my favorite coastal California towns. I was especially interested in taking a stroll through one of my favorite shops, The Garden Gallery. Not only is this a lovely place to purchase beautiful house plants and succulents, it is so artfully laid out that its becomes a meditative exercise. Here are some of my snapshots...

The best part of The Garden Gallery is the location. 

The bay and Morro Rock are just across the street. 

I couldn't leave without adopting a few friends for the road.

This is my lovely little Agave, happily perched on a table back at home in the Casita.

Botanical Mood

Thanos Tsingos, Flowers, 1960.

House Plants Heal

House plants are good for you. It's true! There is a body of extensive research that shows how house plants assist in cleaning the air you breathe by removing indoor pollutants and producing oxygen through photosynthesis. The healing effect of house plants is undeniable. Whenever I see natural green living things, I feel a sense of calm and mental order. This feeling is also backed by science. A study, conducted at Kansas State University, recommends house plants as a kind of medicine and found that viewing plants during recovery from surgery led to a significant improvement in physiologic responses as evidenced by lower systolic blood pressure, and lower ratings of pain, anxiety, and fatigue as compared to patients without plants in their rooms. Amazing, right?

House plants can even help you work better. What? Yes! According to THIS study from Texas A&M, “Keeping ornamental plants in the home and in the workplace increases memory retention and concentration. Work performed under the natural influence of ornamental plants is normally of higher quality and completed with a much higher accuracy rate than work done in environments devoid of nature.” 

Plus, they're beautiful. Everyone benefits from seeing natural green things. Caring for houseplants puts even the most remote city dweller in direct contact with nature. I only have a few house plants, but after seeing the following photos, I think I might adopt a few more. So if you'd like to breathe easy, heal faster, stay healthier and work more efficiently, then get yourself a house plant! 

And for those of you, like me, who are unsure about what kind of house plant 

is best suited for the amount of light your home receives, here is a handy-dandy guide.