On February 13 and 14,  you can find me not in the aisle of a Hallmark store or candy shop, but at the Landscape Architects Expo in Long Beach. Good Earth Plant Company participated with a display in 2013, teaming with our living wall contract nursery, Green Meadow Growers. It was a great show! Many new leads and many new conversations about what we do best: designing, installing and maintaining living walls and green roofs.

This year we upped the ante somewhat by agreeing to speak in a breakout session. My topic will be simple: “Designing Living Walls.” I’ll be speaking at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday and hope to impart enough knowledge that will help the industry create successful living walls and prevent failures. It’s not always easy to determine which system to use, which plants will do best and how to provide even distribution of water though an irrigation system.

Debbie Hopkins of Good Earth Plants greets visitors to our booth.foot wide by seven foot tall ASI tray system on display using subtropical plants, and a six foot wide, eight foot tall eco-walls hydroponic system using 4” indoor plants. Plus lots of pictures and examples for visitors to see.

In return for agreeing to be a speaker, Good Earth Plant Company gets to show off what we can do in a booth display, and what a booth it will be! We are the first thing you see entering the hall. The show has even allowed Good Earth Plants a double size booth to accommodate two living walls we will be displaying along with samples of multiple systems. We will have a four foot wide by seven foot tall ASI tray system on display using subtropical plants, and a six foot wide, eight foot tall eco-walls hydroponic system using four-inch indoor plants. Plus lots of pictures and examples for visitors to see.

Our GreenScaped Buildings Operations Manager Kerry Bauer will be joining me on Thursday to help in the booth while I am away. She worked the booth last year and was equally pleased with the results. On Friday, Valentine’s Day I will be all alone. Not exactly how I would have chosen to spend the day but one must make the best of an opportunity when it comes along. If there is anything I’ve strived to do over the years, it’s been recognizing opportunity and taking full advantage of it. Besides, who is to say that saving the environment isn’t a romantic thing to do?