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Arts & Culture

A GROWING PASSION: Green Roofs

NOAA Sustainable Fisheries green roof garden. The design of the new building incorporates many sustainable strategies such as elaborate water retention systems, recycled materials, and vegetated roofs planted with California coastal plantings in an effort to restore the endangered native ecology on the building rooftops.
Courtesy of AGP Productions, LLC
NOAA Sustainable Fisheries green roof garden. The design of the new building incorporates many sustainable strategies such as elaborate water retention systems, recycled materials, and vegetated roofs planted with California coastal plantings in an effort to restore the endangered native ecology on the building rooftops.

Stream now with KPBS+ / Watch Thursday, May 28, 2026 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS TV

We take for granted that plants grow beneath our feet. But what about plants that grow over our heads? Green roofs were once a novelty.

Host Nan Sterman explores the green roof garden at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, Calif. This 1.5-acre green roof sits atop the second floor, lush with drought-resistant vegetation with a beautiful view for south-facing patients.
Courtesy of AGP Productions, LLC
Host Nan Sterman explores the green roof garden at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, Calif. This 1.5-acre green roof sits atop the second floor, lush with drought-resistant vegetation with a beautiful view for south-facing patients.

Today, they are gaining popularity thanks to their ability to capture runoff and keep it from polluting beaches and bays, to moderate temperatures inside the buildings they top, reduce atmospheric heating, and offer a beautiful, interesting, even healing alternative to an expanse of glaring, bare rooftop.

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NOAA Sustainable Fisheries green roof.
Courtesy of AGP Productions, LLC
NOAA Sustainable Fisheries green roof.

On this episode, we visit green roofs large and small, across the county, in commercial settings, a hospital, private home and even a green roof that is part of an art installation on a university campus.

Do Ho Suh’s Fallen Star is the 18th permanent sculpture commissioned by UCSD’s Stuart Collection. The roof garden is part of his design and the whole creates a space with panoramic views for small groups to gather and readjust.
Courtesy of AGP Productions, LLC
Do Ho Suh’s Fallen Star is the 18th permanent sculpture commissioned by UCSD’s Stuart Collection. The roof garden is part of his design and the whole creates a space with panoramic views for small groups to gather and readjust.

Watch On Your Schedule: Episodes of A GROWING PASSION are available to stream with KPBS+, a new free streaming video app designed for ease and enjoyment everywhere you watch including Roku, smart TVs and mobile devices. It’s locally curated for San Diego by the KPBS programming team. With a clean and intuitive design, discovering and enjoying KPBS and PBS content on-demand has never been easier.

You can also tune in live to watch our four TV channels in real time: KPBS, KPBS 2, Create, KPBS Kids 24/7. We also added a new channel - FNX (First Nation Experience). Your KPBS Passport member benefit works on KPBS+ too! You’ll have access to even more great shows when you simply log in with your KPBS Passport account.

About The Series: A GROWING PASSION is a lifestyle program that explores San Diego County’s agriculture and horticulture activities as an expression of this growing earth-friendly movement. From backyard food production to major horticultural growers, from low water landscapes to sustainable practices around the home and in the garden, we tell stories about the natural and man-made landscapes that shape the social, cultural, environmental and economic interests of our community. We celebrate how San Diego grows. The series is hosted by Nan Sterman.

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