New ground for plant lovers

AFTER purchasing Rolling Greens, the for-designers-and-landscapers-only nursery five years ago, Greg Salmeri, below, created a horticultural hothouse that had Beverly Hills housewives pretending they were decorators. “We realized it had gotten silly,” he says, explaining why his 2-acre Culver City spread is now open to the public. Wear sensible shoes -- there are eight greenhouses on a hill -- and check out new arrivals including Vietnamese vessels, left, from $35 to $275, that he prizes for “their mottled mustards and turquoises that look like tortoise shell and Japanese raku.” Specializing in indoor plants and orchid arrangements with rare striped, polka dot and blood red phalaenopsis and the new yellow dwarf oncidium shown here, Rolling Greens’ wares are up to 20% less than many retail nursery prices. 9528 Jefferson Blvd., (310) 559-8656, www.rollinggreensnursery.com