1 + 1 = MORE SAVINGS!
New deals every week 

Check out this weeks amazing buy 2 sale! Up to 80% off 9” Dracaena Marginata*. We work hard to get the best plants at the best price so we can extend the savings to you! Be sure to stock up on your favorites before they run out!

Need a easy way to prepare for a design bid? Try out the DIY digital staging link below, we love it!

SFF Partners w/ Habitat for Humanity & SFHDC
Growing in the Community

San Francisco Foliagecelebrated Cinco de Mayo by rolling up our sleeves at theRoots Community Garden in Bayview-Hunter’s Point. SF Foliage staff joined a wonderful mix of community members for weeding, planting, and watering on a beautiful spring day.

This family-friendly event, sponsored by Habitat For Humanity of Greater San Francisco and the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, featured live music, barbecue, and lots of neighborhood spirit. SFF was happy to donate plants, labor and garden know-how to the upkeep of this beautiful community resource.”

Check out our updated Comunity Involvement page on our website. 

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Easy, Free, Virtual Plant Design 
Do it Yourself Digital Plant Staging

This week we are excited to share a program that Costa Farms has developed called “Find Your Style”. With it you can select a room style or even upload your own room image and then digitally add a variety of plants to your liking. This is a great tool to use when preparing  a staging mock-up or a presentation for a potential job. Try it out!
 

SF Foliage Plants in Action!
SF Decorator Showhouse 2012
 
Here at San Francisco Foliage we are always trying to pick up on the latest trends in the plant world in order to provide quality materials for your projects to look their best.  Check out the latest green wall designs at the 2012 decorator showhouse by Davis Dalbok from Living Green! Plants provided by San Francisco Foliage.

 Wondering how they did it? Here is a link to the video of Davis Dalbok working with Plants On Walls on the project. Click to view the video…

Your Purchase Benefits the Community
Bayview-Hunters Point

San Francisco Foliage is proud to draw over 50% of our greenhouse employees from our home neighborhood of Bayview-Hunter’s Point, San Francisco.

In addition to providing our customers with the highest quality interiorscape foliage and dedicated personalized service, we are happy to provide decent paying jobs to our neighbors in these hard economic times.

Our philosophy of best practices is holistic. We are as committed to social justice and environmental stewardship as we are to product excellence and customer service. By doing business with us you are participating in a partnership with our community. Thank you!”

Protecting Against Pests
Healthy Plants and Healthy Humans

As a preventative against pests including mealy bugs, spider mites, scale and whitefly, horticultural oil is sprayed throughout the greenhouse on a weekly basis. We control Fungus gnats by scouting, trapping and using a beneficial nematode drench. We also treat the ground and benches surrounding the plants. We drench plants with systemics on an as needed basis, predominately during the warmer seasons when pests are more active.  Others drench the plants indiscriminately with harsh pesticides which cause the plants to stay too wet and also promotes resistance in the target pests. Our approach optimizes plant health, human health, and pest elimination.

Plants and Sea Shells!
A New Best Seller! 

Not many plants are willing to grow in a seashell. Tillandsias don’t mind. Admired for their unusual sea creature look, these interesting compositions are great for small spaces and make wonderful gift ideas.  Tillandsias do best in a location with filtered sun and should be spritzed with water once or twice a week.

Regular sized shell compositions 

Introducing Petite shell compostitions 

 

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Labels Make Life Easier
FREE Custom Labels with Your Order

SFF makes your business more efficient - FOR FREE! Custom labels can be added so your plants arrive pre-labeled and ready to sell! We can even add in your logo. Just give us  your pricing formula, or enter a retail price next to the line item, or in the line note field of the online cart. Take advantage of this amazing state of the art service, only from SFF!

Point of sale labels for retail customers
Routing codes / location codes for on-site deliveries

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It’s Alive! 
Living Jewelry


Here are a few fun ways that people are incorporating Tillandsias in to jewelry peices. Check them out!

This Just In!
Arrivals So New, They’re Not On The List.

Haven’t seen Algaonema ‘Sterling’ lately?
We have it! One of the most cold tolerant Algaonemas, hardiness tests in Florida determined Sterling can handle 3 straight days in 28 degree weather. Also, the silver foliage really enhances dark spaces that need to lighten up!

Want something eye catching for Spring? Cordylines are back with intense and vivid colors, sure to add contrast and interest to your indoor landscape.
 
Other FL arrivals include:
 Ag Calypso
Diamond Bay
Gemini
Gold Dust

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Small Is The New Black
Tiny Plants and Tiny Planters

 2” cuties so popular we can’t keep them in stock! Order soon to ensure the best selection.

For more mini garden tips and ideas check out this site.http://minigardener.wordpress.com/

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Grow your own living home
Building Botany 

Ferdinand Ludwig and fellow architects, Oliver Storz and Hannes Schwertfeger, call their new specialty “building botany.” As part of this, the three men are building structures made from plants as well as studying the elasticity of plane trees and examining how effectively willows can grow around steel pipes at the University of Stuttgart’s Institute of Basics in Modern Architectural Design.See more…

     

New Terrarium Plants, New Sales
And More Fun Features

2” Terrarium Mini-Foliage arrives this week.  We sold out quickly last time.  We would hate for you to miss out.  Order early!

We are also having a mini-sale.  Buy two of select items and enjoy big savings.  See side panel.

Lastly, don’t forget to scroll down to see the latest in the zany world that is the intersection of designer fashion and horticulture.

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Mini Plants!
What is ‘Mini’ anyway?

Back by popular demand, 2” Terrarium Foliage arrives this week! The latest craze in home plant design, terrariums and fairy gardens are a creative, whimsical way to decorate using miniature landscapes that require little care.

What’s the difference between miniature and dwarf? Miniature plants grow less than 1inch a year, whereas dwarf plants grow 1-6 inches a year. Purchasing miniature plants will ensure that your plants won’t outgrow your terrarium too quickly. SF Foliage carries a beautiful assortment of 2” Miniatures to help you keep up with the latest trends.

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Designer Foliage
Portable Plants

( We are not sure if Woolly Pockets is still making these but they sure are eye-catching in an industry that is always trying to make itself more visible.)

Move over, pint-size pooches, there’s a new object of affection ready to roll into hearts and handbags alike: The common houseplant. With Woolly Pocket’s new “living” Vagabond purse, you can keep nature close at hand by taking a beloved botanical with you wherever you may roam. Who needs a yapping Chihuahua when designer foliage is only a portable planter away?
Who needs a yapping Chihuahua when designer foliage is only a portable planter away? See More…

Innovation
At every turn

 
We try in our newsletters to showcase something a little different.  This week we highlight 2” color options, new angles on computer services, and even upside down planters - no, that is not a misprint.

And speaking of 2”, we’ll keep you posted when the terrarium foliage are back in stock in a few weeks.  They were very well received.  Thank you!

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Cuties!
Irresistible 2” Color

Looking for client gifts, or something distinctive to tuck into color bowls?  We have a great selection of cute color 2”:

African Violet                  
Calandiva & Kalanchoe 
Hypoestes                       

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Upside Down Pots?
Interesting Inverted Planters

The simple inversion of typical round planter is space-saving, sure, and sustainable to be certain (since it saves water) – but best of all: yes, your plants will hang in a pot suspended upside down from the ceiling! They require water a fraction as frequently as normal right-side-up potted plants. How does it work? A disk holds the hanging plant and soil in place and the process of pouring water in the pot from above is suddenly mess-free as well. See More…

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Looking for a Local Computer Server?
East Bay Computer Services is our Computer Service Vendor

We have worked with Jeff and Don for many years.  They maintain our servers in an air conditioned data center, their clients are businesses like yours and ours.  They provide San Francisco Foliage with secure internet service behind a firewall, backup systems, printer support, security and virus control.  They are especially good at Microsoft Small Business Server with email hosting.  This allows us to work from anywhere in the world 24/7.  -  Saram takes advantage of this when he visits Spain in the summer months, and Sharanpal has used it when he is at home in Singapore.

 

Our experience with Jeff and Don is excellent. They are quick to respond to problems, attentive, communicative and skillful. For more information  call Don at 510 290-1200 or email him at don@eastbaycomputerservices.com

 

Let him know you read about East Bay Computer Services in the San Francisco Foliage Newsletter.

agreenplanet Makes Business Life Easier
Have You Logged On Lately?

X-Ray Plants
Beautiful Radiograph Images

“The earliest floral radiographs were created over 70 years ago, and even today there are only a few radiographic artists in the world. It is my intention to keep the art form alive with new and exciting images and I am committed to seeking out interesting subjects in nature.” See More…..

Are you finding everything you need?
Check with SF Foliage!

Having trouble finding:

09, 10, 12, 14 & 16” Fragrans?

10” Chamaedorea Falcifera?

10” Marginata Cut Cane 5-6’?

14” Schefflera arboricola? Green & variegated available

18” Veitchia merrillii? 1, 2 & 3 trunk available 

 

We have good stock of all of these!  Order early… now that the cat is out of the bag.

 

We’ve been in the foliage business for 32 years.  If it is not hurricanes in Florida or quarantines from Hawaii, then there is some challenge to having everything available at any given time.  We’ve cultivated a vast and diverse network of suppliers to cover your needs.
 

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Three Bees Nursery For Sale
1921 Clement Street

After 7 years in business, Dorcas, Ben & Bruno have decide to sell their nursery at 1921 Clement Street in SF. They have decided that they want to focus more energy on the gardening & landscaping services’ arm of their business. See more at their website http://www.threebeesnursery.com/

For more info contact Bruno Baglin,

Email: bbaglin75@gmail.com

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Vertical gardens in Milan
Eco-Friendly Buildings

The project, Bosco Verticale (or Vertical Forest), is the first in a development called BioMilan which will integrate vertical gardens into the exterior structure of some new Milan buildings, such that the trees and plants will help control the building’s climate, through shading in summer and daylighting in winter, and also help filter the air. Plants are being chosen based on their ability to produce humidity and absorb CO2, dust and urban noise. Read More…

Ring in Spring  with Orange Stars
And Other Springtime Blooms From SFF

 

Meet Caitlin! 
The Newest Member of Our Sales Team

 Meet Caitlin Kreutz.  In addition to sales, Caitlin was a Horticulturist for the San Diego Botanic Garden.  She brings wide-ranging horticultural experience and an eye for design having trained withRenee Van Rems. Come in and check out the new installations she has put together at our greenhouse!  Feel free to pick up her brain for plant placement and design ideas.

caitlin@agreenplanet.com
 Ph: 415-707-1397 or ext. 27

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Plush Planters—Pillow Pots!
Creative, Innovative Planters

Each pillow top is made from high quality textiles and the creators offer them in an incredible variety of colors and patterns to match any interior.Every pillow bottom  is made from high quality waterproof fabrics to keep the surfaces on which will stand dry and clean.These pillows can be actually a good decoration element for your living room, bedroom or even  an indoor patio.This innovative planters  represents an incredible new way to decorate a  room and give them a playfull fresh note  with some unique pillows. Read and See More..
 

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Book Planters For Succulents
Do it Yourself!

 

“I am a firm believer that it doesn’t take much to add a little charm to your home or office. During my recent visit to Poke Acupuncture, I noticed that Russell had added tons of new decorations. My favorites were his DIY homemade book planters. Here is a step by step lesson on how to create them yourself.” See More…

Spring Ahead or Fall Behind!
Broms, Sales, IPM & More Design Inspiration

Get a head start and turn heads with beautiful, distinctive bromeliads available from San Francisco Foliage.  Click below for more inspiration on ways to incorporate nature into your indoor spaces.

A customer recently asked why are we doing specials.  We always look for the best value for you, our customers.  No price increases, no 2nd grade plants, no compromise.  We’re here to serve you.  We care about your success.  Drop by the greenhouse, take a look around.  You never know what you might find, in addition to what you already expect.

Warm weather makes people happy – and plant pests too!  At San Francisco Foliage, we proactively treat for the little buggers without putting your health at risk.  We use a nuanced IPM program that is mindful of foliage type, insect life cycle and appropriate application.  We use non-toxic remedies that respect your health, safety and the environment.  Do you know with what your plants have been treated?  You have a choice!  Have a pest challenge?  Feel free to ask us for more information.

Aechmea Del Mar 
Colorful and Unique

Aechmea are wonderfully uncomplicated bromeliads to grow.  For success, keep the central cup with a trace amount of water and make sure they have adequate drainage. The plants like to be potted in smallish pots. Aechmea can also live outside down to zone 8 in a shady protected spot.

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Living Tiles Continued
Add Life to Your Tiles!

Launched at the Milan Furniture Fair 2009, Maruja Fuentes has come up with unique ceramic tiles that other than presenting a neat and clean design, add meaning to your home décor. Dubbed “Planter Wall Tiles,” the wall tiles are finished with recycled materials and create an innovative space to grow your indoor plants and herbs.