Walking Around Grandfolia’s World of Plants
From Orchids to Palms, Grandfolia Has Spent Nearly 30 Years
Making Sure Plants Thrive in Homes, Offices, and
Commercial Spaces Across the Central Coast
By Tiana Molony | September 11, 2025
Find more Fall 2025 Home & Garden stories here.
Kelly McDonald was practically raised in a greenhouse. “I’ve been going to work since I was like 3 years old,” the 26-year-old recalls. “Some of my earliest memories are being in greenhouses.”
In 1996, his parents, Richard and Brenda McDonald, started their plant service, Grandfolia, in their Santa Barbara backyard. At that time, they only served a few accounts; now, almost 30 years later, they’re a multi-greenhouse operation serving more than 150 clients across Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
On a recent hot July morning, Kelly gave me a tour of Grandfolia’s facilities. He tells me he recently took over the day-to-day operations, gearing up to one day take over the business. For him, the work wasn’t a foregone conclusion but something he grew into.
“It was kind of something where they never really forced me into it,” he says as we walk past 10-foot-tall fiddle-leaf figs. “But it was something that I started doing and fell in love with.”
That love and care for plants is certainly evident at Grandfolia. Here, you’ll find multiple humid greenhouses with a variety of tropical and exotic plants, including snake plants, fiddle-leaf figs, palms, orchids, and pothos plants, among others.
Grandfolia focuses on bringing the outdoors in. While they do offer exterior potted plants, their primary focus is on interiors. They also specialize in providing and maintaining plants for homes and commercial spaces, offering services such as plant rentals, installations, and personalized plant care.
When taking on a client, they consider their preferences but prioritize choosing plants that will thrive in the specific lighting conditions of the space, ensuring the plants are healthy and long-lasting. Sometimes, “it may not be exactly what the client wants,” says McDonald. “But what we aim for is something that’ll live and thrive for years.”
When it comes to indoor plants, McDonald says that there are a few common mistakes people often make — both of which Grandfolia’s services can address.
One mistake is over-fertilization. People often overestimate the amount of fertilizer indoor plants need. “Plants are a lot like humans,” he says. “They get a lot of the nutrients that they need from the soil.”
Another common mistake is over-watering. The best way to tell if your plants need it, he says, is to stick your hand in the soil — if it’s wet, they probably don’t.
I admit that almost every orchid I’ve ever owned has died. That happens to a lot of people, he assures me. “They’re alpines. They’re native to Costa Rica, and they grow in the rainforest at about 4,000 feet. And all their water comes in from the mist layer. So, it’s all just a natural mist.”
In other words, orchids require very little water. “What I always recommend, and what a lot of people recommend, is just an ice cube.”
Like so many of Grandfolia’s plants, orchids aren’t just decoration; they’re a reminder of patience and giving living things exactly what they need to thrive. For McDonald, that’s the heart of the business: not simply keeping plants alive, but helping them — and the people who live with them — flourish.
While Grandfolia isn’t usually open to the public, they are having a plant sale on Saturday, September 27. For updates regarding the sale, visit them on Instagram (@grandfolia) and Facebook (facebook.com/grandfolia).
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