Whether you’re into artisanal presentations of plants or prefer them to just stand idly in the background, you can find something new and different at Long Beach’s Peacock & Co. At the small East Village space, which it shares with clothing store Anneise, owner Stephanie Saharopulos curates, designs and crafts assortments, potted displays and botanical wares. New plants come in weekly—Saharopulos scours nurseries in Los Angeles’ flower district regularly—and range from rubber trees to succulents to pothos, all housed in funky ceramic pots, on hanging macrame shelves or wooden crates, and other decorative presentations.
For Saharopulos, house plants don’t just serve as simple decoration; they can change moods and bring happiness to the owner. Before she and Anneise designer Kimberly Latham opened their space in 2014, Saharopulos was an event coordinator and DJ, working with Latham to bring events to the East Village. Saharopulos let go of her event-coordinating company, Peacock Social, to focus on her new passion for interior objects. As demand for her plants grew, so did Saharopulos’ interest in gardening, thus converting Peacock & Co. into a retailer in botanical goods.
“I didn’t know I had a green thumb until I was growing this business,” Saharopulos explains. “[Gardening became] like a natural thing for me: The more I did it, the more I just started loving plants, getting my hands dirty and really understanding plants and how they’re living things and they just bring beauty.”
Saharopulos’ passion for everything plant-related is contagious, and she is always up for giving customers advice and tips. All the varieties available here are “starter plants,” so even the most novice gardeners can turn their living space into the greenhouse of their dreams.
Peacock & Co., 440 E. First St., Long Beach; www.wearepeacockandco.com. Open Tues.-Sun., noon-5 p.m.
Aimee Murillo is calendar editor and frequently covers film and previously contributed to the OCW’s long-running fashion column, Trendzilla. Don’t ask her what her favorite movie is unless you want to hear her lengthy defense of Showgirls.