San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Unique home, garden shop thriving in Ocean Beach
Lush flora fills the space at Botanica Home and Garden, a unique shop and garden center in Ocean Beach.
“I always grew up in the garden in New England, out in the woods,” said store owner and co-founder Caitlin Brooks. “It's always been a big part of my life, being out in nature .. It's always been a fascination for me.”
A true botanist at heart, Brooks said she looked for gigs at greenhouses as a distraction from the lab while she was studying astrophysics in college in Florida. After moving to San Diego, she worked in nurseries including Weidners' Gardens in Encinitas.
In 2014, Brooks launched a project
Botanica Home and Garden botanicahomeandgarden.com
called Coyote Creative, becoming a fixture at local markets in Ocean Beach and Los Angeles, selling plants, macrame, planters and other plant accessories. The business was such a success that an even bigger venture followed.
She and her husband, James Ellis White, launched Botanica Home and Garden in 2017.
The Ocean Beach store, at 1909 Cable Street, features interior decor, plants, ceramics, accessories and more recently, vintage clothing.
“We gained a lot of traction (doing the pop-up markets) and sort of jumped in and got this big store space (that has) done really well since then,” Brooks said.
With a thriving outdoor garden center, the shop carries a variety of plants from different regions in the world that are grown in California.
Succulents, houseplants, air plants and cacti are all part of the store's blossoming inventory, as are striking species and varieties like Monstera Thai Constellation and Pink Princess philodendron.
The shop also features handmade products from Anvil Metal and White's line of original ceramics.
Follow the store on Instagram @botanica_home.