How did gardening first become part of your life together—was it indoor plants, outdoor growing, or both?

Just like our relationship started out with a very small text in 2010 (Brock romantically said “sup bro”), our garden started out very small (and indoors) in 2012. So small, in fact, that our first plant together was a tiny succulent that sat in the window of our 400 square foot apartment in San Francisco — low maintenance and extremely resilient, exactly what two 22-year-olds needed!

How would you describe your gardening style today (intuitive, research-driven, experimental, low-maintenance)?

Call us crazy, but we listen to our plants! Which, in a way, is an experimental approach to gardening. We never pretend as if we know everything about gardening, even indoors (after having had plants inside for 15+ years together). Sometimes it’s about moving a plant to a different place inside or at a different location on our property. This our first time having our own outdoor garden (and in a California canyon, no less, with its own unique advantages and disadvantages). Some plants, like our lavender, love growing on the East side of our property, but not on the West! We’re forever students in the garden, and our plants are our professors, telling us exactly what they want every day.

What role do indoor plants play in your home—more atmosphere, design, airiness, daily joy, all of the above?

All of the above! Our indoor plants are as intrinsic to our interior design as they are to our own self-care. We seek out plants for how they shape a room as well as for how they make us feel. We incorporated a red, almost pink, anthurium into our bedroom design because its red flowers tied directly into the artwork in the room, but also because it sparked joy in both of us the moment we saw it. And we have an asparagus fern sitting right by our bathtub, with its airy, feathery leaves providing a sense of calm as much as a soft texture to the space.

How do you decide which plants belong indoors (and where they’ll thrive)?

As rudimentary as it sounds, a lot of our decisions for indoor plants are based on light levels! A lot of our indoor plants prefer partial or indirect sun.