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Honey, it’s good for you. This is an updated version of an article I wrote for TERA’s quarterly newsletter. My intention was to wait until the newsletter circulated to publish this, but today is Pollen’s grand-opening so I’d like to share the news with you!

Having spent many years living in and around the Eagle Rock area I can’t recall when this community was a more desirable place to dwell in than it is today. My first memory of Eagle Rock is a vivid one that dates back roughly to just eight years ago when the area was more or less an aversion for many consumers, and less likely than most of it’s surrounding neighborhoods to be sought after as a place to start a home. However, Eagle Rock is emerging from a deep slumber and this blooming community situated on the outskirts of Los Angeles is feeling a shift that comes with the influx of Angelenos who are seeking a desirable quality of life without the hustle and bustle that comes with living in the metropolis of Los Angeles. It is lifestyle conscious citizens like us who care about this community the way we care about our homes. And despite Eagle Rock’s reputation of being the land of auto-body shops, fast-food restaurants and strip malls - the businesses which have helped to solidify the infrastructure of Eagle Rock’s economy for many years - times are changing and people are especially active in seeking to beautify the commercial district. This includes the restoration of historical buildings and landmarks that gives Eagle Rock a very special charm. Business owners are putting these structures to good economic use without sacrificing aesthetics. Local entrepreneurs are placing their interests in Eagle Rock because its history is built upon a strong sense of community, it is bursting with potential for commercial growth and profitable real estate investments, the business district is fertile with a variety of location options for new businesses to sew their seeds, and the quiet streets off the main avenues and boulevards are ideal for home owners to plant their roots.

Since the Colorado Boulevard Specific Plan became law in 1992, the results of this pedestrian friendly goal has heightened the area’s desirability by decreasing the addition of automobile industry businesses and cookie cutter mini-malls. This alone has created a noticeable increase in the overall quality of community life in recent years than ever before. The results of beautifying and multiplying has already encouraged foot traffic along the burgeoning boulevard of Colorado as more people are inspired take a stroll to their local coffee shop and grocer rather than driving the short trip of a few blocks [saving gas and increasing exercise (after all, who couldn't benefit from walking a few extra blocks these days anyway)]. This year’s gas prices may be reason enough to take the foot off the pedal and onto the pavement, but coming soon this fall there will be one more reason for people to be back on Colorado Blvd: in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a new kid on the block and it is Eagle Rock’s first botanical design store, Pollen. This newcomer is guaranteed to have you speed walking to its shop on a regular basis.

Perhaps you’ve seen its inviting earthy brown and sage exterior that sits attractively on the northeast corner of Colorado Blvd and Townsend. It is housed in what was once a pharmacy built in 1923 and has since survived many of Eagle Rock’s original buildings which have suffered different fates at the hands of commercial developers who imagined a more profitable investment for those parcels of land in the fashion of strip malls. Pollen’s storefront, however, states a quiet elegance, mirroring today’s improved Eagle Rock, and owner Craig Powell is determined to offer a service so unique that after speaking with him I will never underestimate the power of botanicals the same way I once did in the seventh grade during Mr. Coffin’s torturously bland course in botany.

This latest addition to Eagle Rock’s community of florists will offer stylish botanical arrangements and botanical inspired edible goods without high-fashion prices. In a day and age where the middle-class is a dying breed I asked Powell how he plans to share his botanical art in a community with varying household incomes as diverse as the cultures that keep Los Angeles alive. Powell says, this isn’t about ego, this is about creating beautiful flowers and with this he intends to bring Love and beauty to his customers in the most affordable way he can without sacrificing quality for quantity. As far as orchids are concerned, with Trader Joe’s Market in the neighborhood commonly selling Paphiopedilum orchids (aka paph’s) in the $9.99 range he does not intend to compete with local vendors, he simply wants give his clients the opportunity to have orchids that are guaranteed to last at least a few months with basic proper care.

Pollen will carry a worldwide selection of Orchidaceae (orchids) and Nymphaeaceae (water lilies). Powell says, depending on the season, these thoughtfully selected beauties will arrive fresh from its indigenous areas - such as Hawaii, Tahiti, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines - and they will be cared for in a greenhouse built right inside the boutique. With a great deal of love and gentle care, like a parent for their infant, each plant will have the opportunity to adjust to its new environment - with variables such as temperature and humidity [which can easily affect the life of an exotic plant] carefully controlled for. With a laugh Powell confesses, my friends call me a tree hugger. With pride, he embraces this tag like a gift. It is clear that he’s an entrepreneur with a green thumb and he’s ready to help beautify Eagle Rock one botanical arrangement at a time. I am very tempted to share with you the countless ways he is capable of revamping even the most seemingly ordinary orchid into a an architectural fascination. However, let’s just say he’s got his fingers on the pulse of L.A. and he’s ready to do his part in bringing Eagle Rock to the forefront of its lifestyle scene.

Powell humorously points out that L.A. suffers from Me-itis, otherwise known as “me-me-me-me-me”. Having worked in this city long enough this comes from him lightheartedly with an exclamation of seriousness in his eyes that tells a million stories of his twenty-some-odd years of having worked and lived in the heart of Los Angeles. The experiences he has gained through the many capacities served in the service industry - from dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant as a teenage boy to captain and supervisor of the service staff of five governors ball events and eventually graduating to proprietor of two L.A. restaurants - came with front row seats to witnessing the glamourous and high-profile chaos that makes Los Angeles “Los Angeles”. It is no wonder he’s compelled to reach out to Angelenos with breathtaking arrangements of orchids, water lilies, and other exotic plants that offer a symbol of serenity and beauty, joy and love. I’m all about commune and creating new and nifty things, which is the philosophy behind Pollen, and his hope is that the creations to come from Pollen will bring people back to basics with a renewed appreciation for nature and the world we live in.

Pollen is sure to tantalize your every senses with items beyond the array of quality floras and services you can expect to find there. With the many potentials the manufacturing market can play with in the botanicals industry, Powell has extracted several products to compliment any live, work, or play space. I won’t spoil the fun by unleashing a list of botanica-lavish items that will soon be available at Pollen - but for the chef and master entertainer within you here is a morsel of information to whet the appetite. Look for a rich collection of organic soya lotion candles created with the essential oils of fruits and herbs (the wax becomes a lotion), hard to find vintage replicas of wicker candles hand molded and pressed the old-old fashioned way sans the use of sheets, and a delicate line of honey made right in the valley of Napa by the Marshall Family Farm and packed exclusively for Pollen. It was a great pleasure to experience a jar of the delicate Star Thistle honey and delicious fig scented soya candle. A note on the honey: the Star Thistle flavor has an energizing quality with a very fine granular consistency. It is a beautiful deep lemon-custard-like-yellow that pops with brilliance from its hexagonal shaped glass jar. The packaging is simple and elegant with a concise label across the front and sealed with a gilded lid. It is as if Powell handed me a cell right from the tucked away honeycombs from the Napa bee-farm. As soon as I went home I wasn’t far from mimicking Winnie the Pooh - with a jar of honey tucked under my arm and a paw dripping with it’s sweet goodness. It really is that good.

Why the name “Pollen”? Though the answer was obvious I asked away because instinct told me Powell would have a response that would come from the heart. With a thoughtful smile, he articulated that [Pollen] is the hidden gift, with illustrative hand gestures he continued to say, it’s the essence of it all: it propagates, perfumes, and bears fruit…it’s the beginning. Clearly that is just the vision Powell has for this endeavor. He will be the first to offer Eagle Rock a unique, highly stylized, and very personalized botanical service that will bring beauty from his shop to your home, office, and special event. After having gone through months of extensive reconstructive touches Pollen is now in its hatchling phase. She’s like an old beauty with all her pretties taken from her, Powell laments compassionately. This goes to explain the delayed grand opening that was originally set for Mother’s Day this year back in, well, you know, May. However, with the bulk of its heavy reconstructive surgery successfully completed the boutique is ready for it’s opening debut on October 7th, 2006. Pollen online is also up and partially running. After visiting the website I’m certain even the curiosities of those that boast the most feng-shui of Japanese gardens this side of The Huntington Botanical Gardens will peak and people will feel moved to book an appointment with one of Pollen’s design specialists. Now go and discover Pollen for yourselves.

Pollen
1583 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323.550.1555
www.pollenstudio.com

By Catherine (see more of her posts). You can find more of Catherine's writing at her own website Urban Epicurean