Selling Points

Bright containment

Our neighbors and fellow succulent aficionados, Bruce and Bonnie, held a sale this weekend. Bonnie had the great idea to combine two of her passions — succulents and retro ceramic containers — and sell them to the endless stream of hikers walking past their house toward the Mt. Rubidoux Park path. We stopped by Saturday morning, mistakenly thinking the sale was going on then, and were stunned at the number of mini succulent gardens Bonnie had put together … there were vintage containers of every description and size, all filled with complementary succulents and cacti. I immediately selected two for myself (the green, footed kidney, and the long orange peanut-shaped containers in the photo above) and said we’d be by Sunday morning to pick them up and see how business was going. I also offered to make them a hand-lettered sign in a suitable retro style; something I’ve loved doing since I was a teenager. I dropped it off later …

The next day we came by and the sign looked great, they had an amazing array of mini-gardens on sale and the weather was perfect. Traffic was a touch slow, being Valentine’s Day and all, but I was sure it would pick up as the morning wore on. In the meantime I paid for our selections from the day before, choosing two others, shown above. Aren’t they great? Bonnie did a nice job matching — and contrasting — shapes, colors and sizes of both pot and plant. What a terrific project for using succulent pups and cuttings from the garden, as well as for clearing out collectibles that might be getting out of hand. I haven’t checked in with B&B to see how well they did at their sale, but I did run into them again, still set up, while heading out on my Sunday evening walk. They said they’d replenished the merch several times during the day and met and spoken with tons of people interested in their drought-tolerant landscaping. What a fun way to spend the day, and if they made some money, that’s makes it even better … I’m sure they did well! They mentioned planning a drought-tolerant plant sale for the near future and when they give me the signal I’ll be sure to mention it here. (Plus, I get to do another sign!)