San Francisco stumps

Marina District

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Japantown

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Seating for one in Japantown

This chair was spotted in Japantown last weekend. The stump seems to be taller than most tree stumps found on the streets of San Francisco. The chair has a back, high armrests and is slightly elevated from the ground. It received some attention from a few passersby but no one curious enough to sit in it except for me. It is functional for a small and petite adult or a child but it was a bit low to the ground and snug when wearing a long coat. I imagine it doesn’t get much use given its location and the intimate view of an apartment complex’s entrance. It was surprising to see something that often goes unnoticed receive much attention from its maker and from the pedestrians that day. 

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San Francisco’s living walls

About a year ago, I reported a hairy house near the Castro and the Mission Districts in San Francisco. Since then, I’ve seen other exteriors covered in similar plant matter. Not as hairy as last year’s encounter, but striking in a similar manner. Most of these were found in my neighborhood so I’d be curious what I might discover in other parts of the city. Have fun taking a virtual tour of these plant covered buildings or see them in person. I’ve noted the cross streets below. Also, feel free to share any other ones you may come across in your city.

16th St. & South Van Ness St., San Francisco: A mosaic of plants – a work in progress?

Exterior details

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Right through the fence: disruptive plant in San Francisco

 

This fenced-in plant “looks like it wants to escape its enclosure,” writes Megan Mock, who wrote in response to our post on a banana tree invading a bathroom.

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San Francisco: moss grows on a rolling bike

Ever seen an old bicycle, repurposed as a planter, in a quaint grandmother’s garden, with pots of trailing vines attached to every available spot? These little grasses and weeds seem to aspire to the same romantic arrangement. Props to eagle-eyed Ms. Hustrulid, who just spotted this amazing interaction between sidewalk flora and sidewalk paint in San Francisco. For more of her photos, please visit her Instagram feed: @glovecompartment.

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San Francisco sidewalks: steep, lush, vivid, wacky

When the fog lifts from gray San Francisco and Indian summer sun floods the up-and-down streets, the plants and buildings suddenly show their true colors in all their vividness. Some plants are painted on, others are trimmed into submission, while others grow into their own forms, whether creating sidewalk tunnels or two-dimensional trees. Here’s a little photo walk around San Francisco’s Mission and Noe Valley neighborhood back when the sun was shining.

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San Francisco: Ask a Plant Nerd

Real live plant nerds are offering their knowledge to the public at San Francisco’s Mission Community Market every Thursday. Asking a question is free; they also have small, affordable young plants for sale, such as nasturtiums, plectranthus…

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San Francisco: Tree heist

In a recent comment, Phoebe reported: “I was driving to work from San Francisco, grabbed my camera, and took a shot through the windshield… Plants trying to escape from an unmarked white van. I smell a tree heist.”

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San Francisco: Urban slants, urban plants

On the sloping streets of San Francisco, local plants are interacting with the local architecture, growing against all odds. Phoebe Kuo sent in the above photo, reporting, “An intrepid urban plant seeks refuge on a steep San Francisco incline on Hayes Street, facing Alamo Square park (home of the famous Full House ‘painted ladies’), inside a nice, wet rain gutter.” Let’s take a closer look…

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San Francisco: Richmond chronicler captures local plants

Let’s take a little trip around San Francisco with local photographer Melinda Earle. She documents the Richmond neighborhood in series of lovely slice-of-life cell phone shots called The Richmond Chronicles, as well as shooting around town. Every so often, she catches odd juxtapositions of San Francisco’s pastel architecture and squeezed-in plant life, like the one above, at 8th and Balboa. I’m happy to be able to share a few of these plants here.

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