Laguna’s Johnny Appleseed of Creative Ideas
By Gina Dostler
Ruben Flores recently received the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce’s spirit of Laguna award for best green enterprise. The award befits him. Flores bubbles with creative ideas and jumps into community activities with a botanical bent. His Laguna Nursery blossoms with fun ventures such as local garden tours as well as serving as a concert venue, surrounding performers and audiences with gorgeous foliage. He also has served for two years as president of the Chamber’s Beautification Council, where he strives to keep alive the dream of the late Harry Lawrence.
Q: Congratulations on your award. What were you judged on?
A: It was mostly for the nursery and what I do with it. Laguna Nursery is not just a place that sells plants and accessories. I expand the concept of what a nursery does and envelope it into the community on many different levels. I’m involved with organic gardening in South Laguna. But I’ve also joined forces with the Laguna Outreach for Community Arts (LOCA), where I do art classes that involve botanicals.
Q: Use botanicals in what way?
A: I start by leading the class for the first 15 minutes before handing it over to the instructor. For instance, one of my talks involved leaves I selected and the plant or tree’s importance to Laguna. I had the students focus on how one is round, another maple shaped so they see the design of Mother Nature. Then the project was to pound copper into that specific leaf shape. Each lesson is botanically based and then interpreted in some form of art. There are a series of 12 classes that we lead, expanding the green concept of the living world into the art world. That is basically why I won the award.
Q: You are very enterprising. How many awards have you won?
A: Actually a lot, 164 to be exact. I keep busy.
Q: Tell me a little about the tours you give?
A: Every other weekend we do a tour outside of the nursery. I wanted to get people intimately in touch with the garden life in Laguna. So I organize a carpool to a neighborhood I pick out beforehand and then we all get out and walk around to see the amazing things we miss while driving. We’ll meet people out in their yards and ask if we can see their gardens and everyone is always happy to have us come in. One couple was listening to us while we were walking and asked us about their tree. We ended up as an audience to an aria sung by the mother and son, who were opera singers. Another individual invited us into her home and we found out she was a painter from Italy with incredible pieces of art. It’s always an adventure on the tours. We never know what’s going to come up.
Q: You’re also president of the Laguna Beach Beautification Council and have already implemented a reorganization and new mission of the council.
A: I’m into my second year as president and it’s working out really, really well. The organization has been around for over 50 years but lost steam about five years ago when the reigning “father” Harry Lawrence of the council fell ill and passed away last year. I picked up the helm while he was still alive and got in his head to understand what his future ambitions were for this organization. I’ve been taking it forward ever since, along with a group of people helping me out at the helm.
Q: What is it and how is it rolling out?
A: It reorganized as its own 501c3 nonprofit entity and rededicated itself to its mission of “Clean Quaint Culture.” I currently attend City Council meetings but it wasn’t always that way. Nine months ago the council had decided to chop down the 60-year-old ficus trees in the city that made a lot of people literally cry. I was upset, wrote letters to all the papers and pretty much made a big fuss about it. I mean how could you do this and not tell the townspeople about it? As president of the Laguna Beach Beautification Council, I now represent the people at the meetings and the council consults with us on how to proceed on changes to the city. We’re the watchdogs and that’s a good thing.
Q: What is your current favorite project?
A: One thing that is really important to me is the ocean and parks so I am currently involved with what I call the street ends such as Ruby Street and Oak Street. There are basically little parks where the street ends at the beach. About seven years ago the Laguna Beach Beautification Council started to do the little parks, and we have five more left to finish. So I’m making sure this doesn’t fall out of the City Council’s viewing and that the project gets completed. But I have another one on the agenda that I’m itching to get completed.
Q: And that is?
A: I want a “Tree City USA” sign in Laguna Beach. I can’t believe we don’t have one. I was driving down Corona del Mar one day and saw the sign and it bothered me that we don’t have one. So I brought it up to the City Council. Basically we have to plant a few varieties of trees and a promise to plant so many every year, the amount to depend on the size of the town. And then we have to have a tree maintenance program intact. We actually have 90% of the requirements already so it’s just a matter of a few other details and applying. I guarantee you there will be a Tree City USA sign in Laguna.
Q: You were at the Academy Awards last Sunday. Care to reveal why?
A: Laguna Nursery has rented many articles to the film industry. My friend Nelson Coates, a production designer for the motion picture industry and voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, had tickets. The production crew for “The Guilt Trip” with Barbra Streisand borrowed 15 pieces of our items for the movie. I even ended up in a scene playing slots next to Barbra. Between takes I told her I have Barbra Streisand Hybrid Tea Roses. She asked me how much I paid for them and I said $20. She nudged me and said she can get ‘em for $18. She’s really quite funny. But OMG, it was so awesome at the Oscars. Everyone was friendly. Right in front of me was Idina Menzel and I got to walk in with Laguna resident Bette Midler. It was a great experience.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Ruben Flores
Laguna Nursery
California Landscape Designer
& Horticulturist
1370 South Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
949-494-5200
lagunanursery@aol.com
www.lagunanursery.net
