Alexa McEntarffer

Don’t Miss The Plant Bargains at the Good Earth Plants Open House

| April 24, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
We are knee-deep in palms, ficus and orchids here at Good Earth Plants and busy getting ready to welcome you to our Spring Plant Sale and Open House on Friday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Have you sent your RSVP yet? What are you waiting for! The greenhouse and demonstration garden have never looked better with living wall and green roof displays and “Plant Portrait” samples fully planted and lush with spring growth. Some of the smaller living walls will be on sale and you can take one home with you. We also have a number of assorted items for sale from indoor green plants and pottery  to 10-foot Queen palm trees.… Read More

Welcome Spring at the Good Earth Plants Open House and Plant Sale

| April 17, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
The Good Earth Plant Company green roof seven years ago and today.
The buds are bursting, hotels are filled and days are longer. It must be spring in San Diego.  It’s also time for the Good Earth Plants crew to sweep up and dust off our warehouse and demo garden so we can show off some exciting new projects at our Open House and Plant Sale on Friday, April 25 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Opening the doors to guests is a great way for us to see our operation with fresh eyes. Our talented staff coaxes new growth to show off our living wall displays and our now seven-year-old green roof, one of the first in San Diego.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Salutes San Diego’s “Art Alive 2014”

| April 10, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements
Jim Mumford's "Art Alive" floral design interprets the painting "Sunday Afternoon" by Hughie Lee-Smith.
Spring in San Diego is an amazing time of year: perfect weather, plants and flowers in bloom, and longer days to enjoy it all. Spring also brings an event Good Earth Plants has supported for the past 15 years: San Diego’s Art Alive. This annual fundraiser for the San Diego Museum of Art brings together floral and plant designers and art for three day celebration April 11-13, 2014. Floral designers and those in related industries (like us at Good Earth Plants) create a interpretation of a piece of art using plants and flowers as their living medium. This year, I chose the painting “Sunday Afternoon” by Hughie Lee-Smith.… Read More

Jim Mumford’s Tree Benefits You Never Knew

| March 20, 2014 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Environment, Gardening, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
My time spent growing up in San Diego in the 1960s and 70s was pretty close to perfect. There were always a gang of guys around for fun and adventure and the canyon behind my home provided the perfect giant trees for climbing, fort-building and tire-swinging. The canyon’s trees acted as sturdy protectors of my childhood and I never dreamed that someday those same trees might be endangered. Trees provide a multitude of benefits. Things you would never even think about. Did you know trees can help reduce violence? Neighborhoods and homes that lack trees have a higher rate of violence in and out of the home than their greener counterparts.… Read More

GreenScaped Buildings: Top Five Green Roofs and Living Walls Trends

| March 15, 2014 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Green Roofs, Living Walls
Take a look at our latest: the innovative living wall at LPL Financial including a flat screen TV display.
If I am still awake at 11:45 p.m., I am compelled to prop my eyes open long enough to catch late night talk show host David Letterman’s “Top Ten List.” He keeps things light while skating right on the edge of being controversial. Good stuff! While my list isn’t quite as edgy or as long, my Top Five Green Roofs and Living Walls Trends are a cool way to quickly catch up on what’s new in our industry. The benefits of having a green roof are tremendous, from long-term energy savings to being just plain beautiful. It’s a growing niche business and we are proud as parents when one gets completed and is up and growing on its own.… Read More

Planting A Seed: Remembering Loren Nancarrow

| January 2, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Media Coverage, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
So much has already been said about San Diego environmental reporter and author Loren Nancarrow following his death from brain cancer at age 60 last week. The feelings of loss and sadness expressed by so many people were a tribute to how much of an impact he had made, probably more than he realized. Loren was one of the first members of the San Diego media to recognize the importance of rethinking our relationship to the environment and nature. It went beyond just the general gardening tips and maybe water use tips that you would read reports about or see on TV from time to time.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Wishes You A Green And Happy New Year

| December 30, 2013 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
Time to break out the bubbly and party hats. 2013 is in the rear view mirror and 2014 is in front of us. What a year it has been! From Boston to Seattle, the Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings teams have had their hands full with amazing projects and renewed enthusiasm. We wrapped up 2013 with a big, green bow and a nod of satisfaction. For the Good Earth Plants team, it was our time to shine with plantscaping the Old Police Headquarters and adding new life to our existing office building clients.  Debbie Hopkins and her talented crew brought new clients into the mix with cutting edge designs for lobbies and offices, including Illumina who added a new building to its office park, Encore in Mission Valley, and Co-Merge in downtown.… Read More

Jim Mumford’s 2013 Green Christmas Wishes from Good Earth Plants

| December 23, 2013 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Newsletters
While most people are gathering around the Christmas tree and wrapping their final gifts, the Good Earth Plants team is busy putting a bow on the 2013 Christmas season. We still have a solid week’s worth of work to do delivering last-minute orders, checking on big décor projects and making sure the tree at Horton Plaza is holding up after the mix of weather we have had. Whew! While it’s not yet over for us, I wanted to stop for a moment and send along my thoughts on the season to all of you who kindly read my musings throughout the year.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Turns Black and White Into Green at San Diego Landmark

| December 19, 2013 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Many, many years ago I was pulled over for exceeding the speed limit while riding my motorcycle down a San Diego freeway. Despite the fact that I passed the field sobriety test and insisted that it had been hours since I had consumed a drink, the officer decided to take me “downtown” to police headquarters. My story has a happy ending as I passed the Breathalyzer test and the officer tore up my ticket due to my exceedingly polite demeanor and being completely innocent of a DUI. I never would have imagined that 30-plus years later, I would be chosen to supply the plants, planters and maintenance services for a project we shall call “the project which cannot be named but is located at the Old Police Headquarters.”… Read More

Living Wall Maintenance: It Takes a Professional

| December 17, 2013 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Case Studies, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Living Walls
I love taking my daughter Allie shopping at the Fashion Valley Mall. The stores, the displays, the crowds. I will even tolerate a line to find a parking spot so that we can wander the mall. So imagine my joy when Greenscaped Buildings got a call to design, build and maintain a living wall just outside the new True Foods restaurant. Healthy food and a living wall, two of my favorite things! It was one of our largest living wall projects and we were so proud when it was completed. We took pictures and shook hands and for the next year, Good Earth Plant Company maintained it to keep it green and growing.… Read More