Do you take your work home with you?

I think that everyone imagines that a landscape designer probably has a huge garden just bursting with plants. Some do, but I fall much more in the category of not wanting to take my work home with me.

So instead of a burgeoning garden, I have a few carefully picked pots on a small balcony. And I love it that way. One of my clients started calling all of her new plants her “dependents” and I guess I think of it that way, too. So these pots are the few dependents that I have deemed worthy.

The pots themselves are from Planter Paradise in El Cajon. It is the best, and most affordable, pottery store in the County. Hands down, no arguing. Their pots are at least 50% cheaper than everywhere else, and about 100% cheaper than buying pots from a nursery. If you go, and you really should, say hello to Robert for me. He’s the owner- you will not believe how many pots he can squeeze into the trunk of a Toyato Yaris. Really, it’s a skill.

So, in the teal square planter, I have my newest dependent, Pennisetum spathiolatum. It came from Green Meadows and I love how the seedheads dance above the foliage.

The next one is my culinary herbs: thyme and rosemary. I also have cilantro, tarragon, oregano, and sage. With those around, my inner chef is satisfied.

My succulent planter has Sedum Autumn Joy (a little past its prime) and sedum morganium, with a little Echevaria peeking through.

My new succulent bowl has my favorite little Aloe, Aloe Doran Black, with a few friends.

What about you? Do you take your work home with you?