Jim Mumford

Our Love For Blue Flowers: It’s Complicated

| May 22, 2019 | Categories: Biophilia, Gardening, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing
Closeup of a beautiful hydrangea. Do you see blue or lavender, or something in between? Photo: LL Marei, Flickr - Creative Commons License
With Memorial Day coming up and the Fourth of July not all that far away, the red, white and blue decorations are starting to appear, including garden and floral displays. Commercial garden centers and big box stores are putting their red, white, and blue flowers and plants front and center. Forty years ago when I sold flowers downtown, the only option I could offer to patriotic customers were red, white and blue carnation bouquets. I’ll let you in on a secret: those blue carnations were NOT found in nature. Naturally blue flowers aren’t just rare. They don’t exist. True blue pigment doesn’t exist in plants of any kind.… Read More

Expose Yourself to World Naked Gardening Day

| May 1, 2019 | Categories: Biophilia, Gardening, Nature and Wellbeing
Barbie is on board! World Naked Gardening Day is on Saturday, May 4.
I first learned about “World Naked Gardening Day” two years ago. I thought for sure it was a joke played on me by some of my friends. What a surprise to find out it’s a real event, not just what I used to do when I lived in rural San Diego without neighbors close by. And it’s been going on for years. So I wrote a blog post about it. So the laugh is on me, because the original 2017 blog post about World Naked Gardening Day is one of our top most-read blog posts of ALL TIME.  Who knew so many people were interested in this phenomenon?… Read More

Five Reasons Plants Improve Your Bottom Line

| February 20, 2019 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Humble office plants like this desk terrarium can make you more productive and healthier at work. Photo: Stocksnap/Creative Commons
Plants have never been hotter. The humble indoor plant is suddenly a design trend. We have thousands of people calling themselves “plant parents” who collect and cherish house plants. The trend is creeping its way into more workplaces, too. The benefits of plants in the workplace is something we’re passionate about at Good Earth Plant Company. We’d like more businesses to get passionate about it, too. We know there is one thing ALL businesses are passionate about: making money. Let’s face it, we’re all working hard to earn a good living so we can live well and indulge our interests. So if we told you adding plants is good for your business and will help you make more money, would we get your attention?… Read More

Do These Six Things to Keep Indoor Plants Healthy During Winter

| February 6, 2019 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Even indoor plants feel the change of seasons. Photo: Skitterphoto - Creative Commons License
Winter has hit San Diego along with the rest of the U.S. No polar vortex here, thank goodness, but we know it’s winter without needed snow on the ground or freezing daytime temperatures. We feel the change of seasons even if we don’t have to shovel driveways or scrape windshields. Plants feel the change of seasons, too – even your indoor plants. Your container plants at home and in the office grow in the spring and summer and go dormant in the winter just like their outdoor cousins. During these cooler months, conditions change inside where your indoor plants live. Less sun comes through your windows.… Read More

Pantone 2019 Color of the Year Sees the Light

| December 12, 2018 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Once again the beauty of Nature inspired the Pantone Color of the Year Choice for 2019: Living Coral. Photo: Ed Bierman/Creative Commons
It’s now headline news when the Pantone Company announces its annual choice for “Color of the Year” in early December. Good Earth Plant Company works with color so much, the choice gets our attention, especially the reasoning and psychology behind it. This year’s choice for 2019 is an eye-popping pink-toned orange called “Living Coral.” It’s straight out of the natural world. Yes, it’s bold, but we love it. Here’s what Pantone’s executive director Leslie Eiseman said about the “vibrant yet mellow” choice. “In reaction to the onslaught of digital technology and social media increasingly embedding into daily life, we are seeking authentic and immersive experiences that enable connection and intimacy.… Read More

Naughty or Nice: The Great Christmas Tree Debate

| November 28, 2018 | Categories: Environment, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Sustainable Living
It’s that time of year. Time to decide whether you want a real Christmas tree, or an artificial Christmas tree. Likes and dislikes aside, to me the more important debate is figuring out which one is better for the environment in the long run. Like a lot of decisions in life, it’s complicated. I recently learned where artificial Christmas trees originated. They have only been in use a few decades. Before that, a real pine or fir tree was the only option available if you wanted a Christmas tree. It changed when American toilet bowl brush manufacturer Addis Brush Company created an artificial tree from brush bristles in the 1930s.… Read More

Time For Thanks (Again!) At Good Earth Plant Company – 2018 Edition

| November 20, 2018 | Categories: Awards & Achievements, Case Studies, Good Earth Plant Company
It is (already!) Thanksgiving 2018, and I’m thankful for many people and experiences in my life. Thanksgiving is a good time to let them know. I’m thankful for: My mom and dad: far from perfect, but great role models and teachers. They set a good standard and give me plenty to both admire and laugh about. I’m a lucky man as a result. My son Ted: just enough of me in him to make me proud, just enough “other” to make him interesting. We had a blast in Brazil this summer. He is going to save the world. You watch. My daughter Allie: although she tries to deny it, she is way too much like me – plus smart, capable, creative and talented.… Read More

Knock on Wood! Hedging My Bets with This Fruitful Blog

| November 14, 2018 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
I’m always grateful when someone thinks enough of one of my blog posts to share it with other people. Thank you! I’m going to pay it forward this week by sharing a column written last week by San Diego author and language expert Richard Lederer. You may have heard him on the radio or attended one of his presentations. Richard writes a weekly column for the San Diego Union-Tribune called “Lederer On Language.” His most recent edition focused on language we use today that comes from a time in history when America was mainly an agricultural society. People did what came naturally when looking for ways to express their thoughts: they took inspiration from nature, from gardening, and raising crops.… Read More

Eeek! Ten Monstrous Plants For Halloween

| October 30, 2018 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants
People love being scared. We love it so much we have an entire holiday devoted to scary things: Halloween. Science backs up the reasons why we love horror movies and celebrate creepy things: we embrace the excitement and energy part of the “fight or flight” instinct. So we get ourselves all worked up to get that rush from screaming and getting freaked out. Everyone has their favorite monsters. Some people dress up like them. I have my favorite monsters too – and they are plants! There are some seriously dangerous plants that can inflict injuries from annoying to serious. Some of them can kill you with their poisonous ways.… Read More

New Living Moss Walls Change the Living Wall Landscape

| October 24, 2018 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Living Walls, Moss Walls
One of the new living moss walls which will soon be available to our clients at Good Earth Plant Company.
During my 40 plus years bringing nature into workplaces, homes, and many other places, there have only been a handful of game changer type products or concepts. Even though I came around more recently to building green roofs (2007) and living walls, (2009), their origins go back thousands of years. The modern versions of  green roofs were developed in Germany in the 1960s, and living walls in France in the late 1970s. Since then, they have spread to most countries. This changed a few years ago when “moss walls” came along. Four years ago, we installed our first moss wall using preserved lichen (the same material used in model train sets) and they have caught fire with our clients and the rest of the world.… Read More