Celebrating Black Plant Entrepreneurs

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShopDaniG black plant entrepreneurs
It’s important to us at Good Earth Plant Company to use our platform to celebrate the contributions of Black Americans to horticulture and gardening during Black History Month 2022. Last year’s blog post on Black agriculture pioneers was one of our most well-read posts in 2021. Thank you! If you didn’t get a chance to read about Tuskegee University pioneers Dr. George Washington Carver and Dr. Booker T. Whatley, Frederick McKinley, Marie Clark Taylor, Abra Lee, and Ron Finley, you might consider taking a few minutes to get acquainted with these impressive people. But we barely scratched the surface. There are many more Black gardeners, designers, and plant stylists currently making news and creating a unique plant culture that’s flourishing.… Read More

Green Thumbs Up! Back to Business in 2022

Our annual trip to Florida kickstarts the year for us at Good Earth Plant Company. back to business
The past two years have been a long, hard journey. I don’t need to explain why. Finally, at the start of 2022, it seems there’s finally some sunshine and optimism. For me, I finally got to return to my favorite kickstart to the year at the annual Tropical Plants International Expo, AKA TPIE. This year’s conference moved from its normal south Florida location to Tampa due to renovations at the original venue. Green thumbs up for our new hosts, the location in Tampa Convention Center was convenient and walkable. The impressive displays, especially the thoughtful education sessions the conference committee put together, were outstanding.… Read More

Ten Plant Care Do-Over Resolutions You Need to Make

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? Was it the usual stuff: lose weight, exercise more, drink less, wear something other than sweatpants? Are you already done with all of them 13 days into 2022? Forget these resolutions and start over with us at Good Earth Plant Company. Our resolution is one we’ve stuck with for more than 40 years: we enrich peoples’ lives with plants. We’ve found new ways to do it, and we’re always looking for creative innovations, but the mission never changes. We’re heading into 2022 with some amazing projects already underway. We’ll share them with you when they’re completed.… Read More

Pantone 2022 Color of the Year Is Very Peri

Feeling Very Peri! It's the 2022 Pantone Color of the Year. Photo: Jim Mumford
At Good Earth Plant Company, we look forward to the annual announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year. It’s true! And we know you do, too. We get a massive response when our review and critique of the annual announcement is posted. Everyone has an opinion about color. Every color creates different emotions and gives us all the feels: happy, sad, excited, calm, even hungry or relaxed. Our reactions have roots in psychological effects, biological conditioning, and cultural imprinting. Color is also tied to memory. Color helps the brain store and process images more efficiently than black or white. We remember colorful images better.… Read More

Nightmare Before Christmas: Christmas Trees In Short Supply

Our Christmas tree created for our client Illumina.
Many families usually make plans to put up their Christmas tree this time of year. But when’s the last time anything seemed normal? Like so many other goods right now, the supply chain problems slowing down the delivery of so many products affect Christmas trees. Whether you prefer a real Christmas tree or an artificial Christmas tree, it’s more complicated and more expensive in 2021. For California residents – and most people in Western states – the supply chain issues combine with inventory destroyed by western wildfires in tree-growing states like Oregon. Rising temperatures also create problems for tree farmers. The result: tree costs are up about five to ten percent.… Read More

Green TV Time: Jim Mumford on KLCS-TV Los Angeles

Looking over the KLCS camera crew's shoulder at the shot. Photo: Good Earth Plant Company
We’ve been sitting on this news for months. Just like kids at Christmas, the November 10 air date finally arrived for Good Earth Plant Company’s feature stories, and interviews on KLCS-TV show “Everybody with Angela Williamson.” KLCS -TV is a multiple Emmy Award-winning noncommercial PBS affiliate station, broadcasting to more than 15 million viewers in Los Angeles and Southern California. Eight million households per month, and one out of every 10 TV viewers in Southern California, watch KLCS. So you can imagine the excitement level about spreading the message about Good Earth’s mission to enrich peoples’ lives with plants. When KLCS host and producer Dr.… Read More

Thanksgiving 2021: Warm Greetings and Gratitude

Without any doubt, the best group of employees I've ever been fortunate to have as part of the Good Earth Plant Company team. Thanksgiving 2021
Thanksgiving 2021 has arrived, and I’m so glad for the break. I’m sure you are too. What a crazy year! Right after a crazy year. IS this now the new norm? Let your holiday season begin by telling the people in your life how thankful you are for their presence in your life. And I’m thankful I have a platform like this blog to say so publicly to everyone on the record. I’m thankful for: I’m starting with my work family. Honestly, I spend a lot more time with them than anyone else, other than myself. Our culture has evolved into an outstanding place to work – I still have fun every day.… Read More

Your Top Questions About Biophilic Design Answered

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The coronavirus pandemic made us more aware of creating healthier indoor spaces, especially in the workplace. Employers are starting to pay attention. “The Great Resignation” has fired up their interest in making workplaces safe and inviting. I’ve read the words “biophilia” and “biophilic design” in the news and on websites more than ever before in the last 18 months. It’s mentioned in articles like this one, and this one, and even this one. Good Earth Plant Company does its part by enriching peoples’ lives with plants and using our award-winning blog to inform our readers about the principles of biophilia and biophilic design.… Read More

Take A Virtual Tour of the Good Earth Plant Company’s New Biophilic Warehouse

Take a virtual tour of our brand new biophilic warehouse at Good Earth Plant Company.
After more than four decades, Good Earth Plant Company has a brand new 2,000 square foot working warehouse and workshop facility. It’s been on our wish list since we moved to our Kearny Mesa property in 1994. When I bought the property 18 years ago, there was a large, three-sided mechanic’s shed. It was torn down in 2007. Since that time, we used the old concrete floor as a large patio and created a “living lab” with examples of living walls. This is where the new warehouse sits.  We relocated our living walls and they continue to thrive. We’ll give you a tour in a future blog post.… Read More

Dangerous Plants: A Little Shop of Horrors

Audrey is fictional, but there are some real life plants even more dangerous.
Science backs up the reasons why we love horror movies and celebrate creepy things like Halloween. People enjoy the excitement and energy part of the “fight or flight” instinct. So we get ourselves all worked up to get that rush from screaming about harmless things that frighten us. Everyone has their favorite monsters. Some of mine are plants! It’s no joke. Some seriously dangerous plants can inflict injuries from annoying to life-threatening. Several common indoor plants can hurt you with their poisonous ways. So many people have become indoor plant and outdoor gardening enthusiasts thanks to the pandemic. While most plants are harmless, it only takes one wrong choice to make someone sick – especially a child or a pet.… Read More