Welcome to The Jungle!

Happy Valentine's/President's Day Weekend!  I hope you all had a lovely time, whether you actually had the day off or not.  I had the great fortune of going up to Mammoth with our church small group and had a fun time playing in snow and hanging out with friends.  The fresh fluffy snow was a blessing because this season has been unusually dry.  So dry in fact, that a lot of winter sports industries/resorts have suffered... including dog sledding which we were as a result unable to do this weekend.  (I was crushed not to be able to play with a herd of dogs, naturally.  Evan was relieved that he escaped having to do another of my "romantic" ventures.)  But truly though, there has been quite a drought in California.

So what to do in the garden when there's no water?  Go to The Jungle! 

Before you continue, here's some background music...

I made this discovery a few weeks ago.  Someone had suggested this as the place to go for air plants (I will be writing a whole separate post about these wonderful and increasingly popular plants later), but I hadn't actually made the trek until I needed a few succulents for a planter recently.  And oh my, do they have some succulents:

I was quite impressed.  As a regular at Armstrong Garden Center, I am used to a relatively small selection of succulents.  The Jungle, on the other hand, has innumerable species of tropical plants and specifically succulents in a variety of different sizes.  

For the uninitiated, succulents are amazing plants

1) They do not need much water (what drought?)

2) As a result, they are rather hard to kill -- if you forget to water them for a few weeks even, they will forgive you.

3) Thus, they are great for beginners or anyone else who wants to feel like a great gardener.

4) And as a bonus, they are beautiful plants.

As a result of all of these facts, if you have been keeping up with my blog, you know that I have come to love succulents more and more.  They are weird and wonderful and my garden is slowly filling up with them.

I should mention, this place did not disappoint in the air plant department either.  They had tillandsia in several varieties and sizes as well.  The prices were more than I expected -- $10 for a large tillandsia and $3 for a tiny one -- but hey, I haven't found these air plants anywhere else and they cost more than that online.  (I bought 3 little ones... how could I not?)

So I will definitely be coming back to The Jungle, which in addition to the great selection has a great laid-back vibe, down to the reggae music playing by the cash register.  

Here was my loot for the day:

$22 of happiness

Not bad, huh?  The Jungle is located at 1900 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025.  Here is there website which has a long list of plants they carry, many with descriptions and some with pictures.  Also in the neighborhood are a couple other plant nurseries which have more flowers and what you typically expect to find at a garden center, as well as all of Little Tokyo West where you can eat a great bowl of ramen after your plant shopping.

To all my LA readers, go visit and see what your fancy leads you to!  For all my non-LA readers..... stay warm!!!