Trio of siblings bring offbeat Fullerton plant shop to life
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Good morning. It’s Friday, July 22. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you today’s TimesOC newsletter with the latest roundup of news and events.
It was the headline of this L.A. Times story that sucked me in: “Bring your sad plants to the ‘Plant ER’ at this inviting shop and you won’t want to leave.”
Its author, Jessica Benda, a lifestyle and features intern at The Times who studies at Cal State Fullerton, visited the plant store Semilla, owned and operated by siblings Cesar, Carla and Juan Duran. She came away with a delightful description of a most eccentric shop where plants are tended to and sold among interesting artifacts that have special meanings to the Duran family.
“As the trio reclines on navy couches in the shop’s ‘calathea lounge,’ their resemblance is undeniable — curly hair frames their smiling faces, glasses sit on their noses and their laughter rings like the bells on the front door,” Benda writes.
In their shop, according to the writer’s description, the Durans surround themselves — and their customers — with music, family mementos like a toolbox, a vintage sewing machine, a battered typewriter and candles. Then, there’s the pool table. Oh, and plants, lots of plants.
“The tight-knit family creates a lively aura in the shop, hosting unique events for the community,” writes Benda. “During ‘Pot & Sip,’ aspiring plant parents make their own terrariums while drinking wine. Other days, the Durans don white coats and scribble on prescription notepads for the ‘Plant ER,’ where people bring their weakening plants for check-ups.”
Want to learn more about these siblings and their budding enterprise? You can read the complete feature here.
MORE NEWS
— Monster waves and dangerous rip currents were seen along the Orange County coastline this week. “It’s the highest we’ve seen this summer,” said meteorologist Samantha Connolly with the weather service’s San Diego office, which also covers Orange County. Waves in Huntington Beach towered at 9 feet Monday, Connolly told The Times, and remained in the 7- to 8-foot range Tuesday and the swells were expected to continue through yesterday.
— A ribbon-cutting was held Wednesday for Prado, a $23.8-million, 50-unit development on Harbor Boulevard in Fountain Valley that is the first to be dedicated entirely to affordable housing in nearly two decades. It was created for tenants who earn between 30% and 60% of the area’s median income, which, according to the U.S. Census, was $89,924 for the years 2016 through 2020. Rents range from $640 to $1,450 for a one-bedroom apartment, $701 to $1,727 for a two-bedroom unit and $760 to $1,981 for a three-bedroom apartment.
— Days after a string of fights at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, the theme park is requiring that all visitors 17 and younger be accompanied by an adult chaperone on Fridays and Saturdays.
— Santa Ana city officials are studying whether they can classify attacks against street vendors as hate crimes, which could offer additional safeguards for vendors in the predominantly Latino city. City Councilman Jonathan Ryan Hernandez, 29, made the proposal this week to his council colleagues. “These aren’t robberies. These people are not having their food stolen; they’re not having their shopping carts taken from them,” Hernandez
said. “They’re getting beaten up and spit at, and then these people are walking away.” The council directed staff to research the legality of Hernandez’s proposal.
— A decade after the Anaheim riots took place, my colleague Gabriel San Román, taking advantage of a recent transparency law to look at the complete backstory, gives full context to the melee in the summer of 2012.
— With the Uvalde, Texas school mass shooting still fresh in parents’ minds, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District has organized a series of forums where stakeholders — parents and educators alike — can gather together to make suggestions to improve safety measures and security protocols at the NMUSD campuses. The first two such forums were held this week. The upcoming forums will be held at Costa Mesa High School on July 26 and at Corona del Mar High School on July 27. Both forums are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and end at 7 p.m. For more information visit nmusd.us/safety.
— A proposal to ask voters to impose a 2% gate tax on Disneyland and the Honda Center faced heated debate and ultimately failed Tuesday to get enough votes from the Anaheim City Council to gain a spot on the November ballot, reports Hugo Martín. A daily ticket to Disneyland ranges from $104 to $164, depending on the
day of the week. A 2% gate tax would have added $2.08 to $3.28 per ticket. If placed on the ballot and approved by voters the measure would have provided an additional $55 million to $82 million to the city’s general fund coffers annually, according to estimates.
LIFE & LEISURE
— Have you visited the new American Ninja Warrior Adventure Park at the Main Place Mall in Santa Ana? Me neither. But its obstacle course, as described in Michael McKnight’s feature story that offers tips on how to tackle the venue’s challenges, sounds amazing — and difficult. To get you started, McKnight’s No. 1 tip is to watch the NBC show that inspired the family-friendly park so you’ll get a taste of what lies ahead.
— This feature story by my colleague Sarah Mosqueda appealed to my sweet tooth. It’s all about the Baked Dessert Bar operated by Abby Declaro, whose pastry chef mother influenced her. Declaro left her job as a nurse and took up baking professionally once word spread among neighbors that she made great cakes for parties. She now has shops in the District at Tustin Legacy, Rancho Cucamonga-Victoria Gardens and Chino Hills. She serves up cakes, cupcakes, mini cupcakes and cookies in popular Filipino flavors like ube, buko pandan (young coconut and vanilla-esque pandan leaf) and turon (deep-fried banana spring roll) as well as traditional flavors like red velvet, carrot cake and cookie butter.
SPORTS
— World Team Tennis canceled its 2022 season, the league announced Wednesday, which means the Orange County Breakers will not get a chance to defend their 2021 championship title this year. “With the 2021 season finishing up in late November and the damage that COVID caused to our franchises, we decided against rushing to host a 2022 season so our teams can get healthy as we look to relaunch in the summer of 2023,” stated Eric Davidson, Laguna Beach resident and WTT chairman.
— Corona del Mar High School rising senior football player David Rasor has announced his intentions to attend UC Davis, according to a report by my colleague Andrew Turner. Rasor is the third Sea Kings quarterback to earn the chance to take snaps at the Division 1 level in college while coming out of a Corona del Mar program run by head coach Dan O’Shea and associate head coach and offensive coordinator Kevin Hettig. Rasor follows in the footsteps of brothers Chase Garbers (Cal) and Ethan Garbers (UCLA).
CALENDAR THIS
— Tomorrow morning the weekly farmers market in Laguna Beach opens at 8 a.m. and runs until noon. It’s held in Lumberyard Parking Lot 12, 521 Forest Ave. More than 40 vendors and farmers are represented. Pick up some coffee at one of Laguna’s independent coffee shops and browse the market’s offerings.
— Huntington Beach Art Center is featuring this summer an exhibition titled “Childhood Classics: 100 Years of Children’s Book Illustration” from the Art Kandy Collection. The free event, which opened earlier this month and features more than 140 original works, runs through Saturday, Aug. 20. The Art Center is located at 538 Main St., Huntington Beach. The hours are noon to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, noon to 8 p.m on Thursdays, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information call (714) 374-1650 or email artcenterstaff@surfcity-hb.org.
KEEP IN TOUCH
If you have a memory or story about Orange County, I would love to read it (please keep your submission to 100 words or less).
I’d appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send your memory of life in O.C., news tips or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.
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