Editor’s Note: I’m sorry to report that this is the final installment of the Far Out Flora column in the Ocean Beach Bulletin. Matti and Megan have been with us since we launched the Bulletin’s website in September, and exploring the possibilities of gardening in the special conditions of Ocean Beach neighborhoods with them has been a true pleasure. And chin up, seaside gardeners: As Matti and Megan note, they will continue to write their own gardening blog, and we hope you’ll visit them there. – Tom Prete

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We’re sad to say, but this will be our last post here for the Ocean Beach Bulletin. We’ve enjoyed sharing our thoughts on gardening with you, and you can still follow your OB gardening buddies at FarOutFlora.com. But before we go, we wanted to share some of those lovely patches filling the cracks out here in the Outside Lands. Here are a couple of our favorites that motivated us to green up our living space.

Aloe plicatilis on Lower Great Highway.

We definitely can’t say this is the best garden in all San Francisco, but it was one of the first that made us stop the car and walk around more, looking at gardens. Man, that Aloe plicatilis in the center is sweet.

Thirty-sixth Avenue sidewalk garden.

This is a cool sidewalk strip close to 36th Avenue near the zoo. I spoke to one of the owners for awhile and he told me the block is actively working with the City to ditch some concrete and plant. Though he didn’t say, I believe it’s part of a program through the Surfrider Foundation SF called Plant Don’t Pave.

Succulent container garden.

Then there’s always the “plant a bunch of containers” garden approach. Great way to make some extra garden space.

Flowering garden with princess flower.

We tend to gravitate toward succulents, but this “let’s grow herbaceous stuff that flowers” style caught our eye.

La Playa garden.

Our old fave standby: the community garden down on Judah and La Playa. No space in your own yard, but still want to get your hands dirty? There are a lot of these gardens around, and usually they need some extra help from volunteers.

Far Out Flora's garden.

We were inspired, and have been working on our garden ever since – a little chunk of it seen above. So there you have it. See you around the ‘hood. Matti and Megan – Far Out Flora

We (Matti and Megan) live in San Francisco near Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. Plants are awesome. We like to do interesting things with them. Succulents, bromeliads, carnivores and other unusual plants are our favorites. Both of us graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with art degrees. Matti and Megan both work for plant places here in the Bay Area. We’re originally from the great state of Wisconsin. Before moving to San Francisco we lived in Madison off Willy Street. Our dog, Max, is too smart for his own good. He makes us check out beaches all over the coast. Keep track of more of our garden adventures: We blog at FarOutFlora.com.