Statement Trees
Entrances · registration · anchors
Olive trees, ficus, and palms from six to twelve feet tall. These are the showpieces guests remember.
6–12 ft · ceramic or woven planters
Plant rentals · Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
Plants for your Fort Mason event, at pavilion scale.
The Preserve rents plants for expos, galas, and conferences at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. These are big, honest, high-ceilinged pavilions on the water — rooms that reward plants with real presence and punish anything undersized. We plan delivery around your load-in window, install to your floor plan, and strike on schedule.
Fully insured · COIs provided
Projects from $3,000 to $100K+
On the northern waterfront
Our shop in San JoseWhere every rental plant is chosen and styled.
Past clients include
The work
A look at our recent work.
Every photo here is real: our plants at Bay Area events, staged homes, and our own shop. No stock photos.
As seen on Complex
Steph Curry filmed here.
When Complex filmed Steph Curry for an episode of 360 With Speedy, they shot the whole conversation inside our shop. We like to think that says something about how the place looks.
Watch the episode
Complex · 360 With Speedy
Full service, start to finish
What we take care of.
Fort Mason is a historic campus with pier-side access and finite load-in time. Our job is to fit inside your window so the plants are simply there, looking right, when doors open.
No. 1
Delivery & install
We schedule against your confirmed load-in window, use the pavilion's direct drive-in access where the building allows it, and place every plant to your floor plan.
No. 2
On-site styling
We walk the floor with you before doors and adjust anything that reads small once the room is fully built out.
No. 3
Pickup & teardown
We strike inside your move-out window, including overnight strikes when the campus turns around for the next show.
No. 4
Insured & papered
Fully insured, with Certificates of Insurance sent to Fort Mason and your production company ahead of load-in, in the format they require.
The collections
Organized the way you plan a space.
We group our plants by what they do for a room, not by botanical name. Mix and match, and we'll help you put the look together.
Lush Tropicals
Booths · lounges · bars
Monstera, bird of paradise, and kentia palms that make a plain booth or lounge feel warm and inviting.
2–7 ft · grouped 3–9 per vignetteStage & Keynote
Mainstage · panels · press walls
Arrangements that frame your speakers nicely on stage and on camera, without stealing focus.
Custom per stage plot & shot listLounge & Staging Accents
Tables · soft seating · open houses
Ferns, succulents, and trailing pothos in matching pots. The finishing touches for a lounge or a staged home.
Tabletop–3 ft · vessel-matched sets
The buildings
Spaces we green at Fort Mason.
A thirteen-acre National Historic Landmark campus on San Francisco's northern waterfront, with venues running from small galleries to a fifty-thousand-square-foot pavilion.
Festival PavilionThe big one — roughly 50,000 square feet over the Bay, with Golden Gate and Alcatraz views. Expo aisles, registration statements, lounge clusters, and mainstage framing built for full-show scale.
Herbst PavilionThe other large hall, long a home for fairs, fashion shows, and arts events. Open span, high ceilings, and a floor that takes a bold plant scheme well.
Gallery 308The restored machine shop — exposed steel, big windows, and waterfront light. Dinners, receptions, and launches where a few sculptural plants do more than many small ones.
The Firehouse & General's ResidenceSmaller historic rooms for dinners, board meetings, and receptions. Scale down the material, not the intent.
Cowell & Southside TheatersStage framing and lobby greenery for programs, premieres, and award nights.
Outdoor & pier-side areasArrival moments, cocktail hours, and photo spots along the waterfront. We spec material that holds up in bay wind rather than material that only works indoors.
Also nearby
Palace of Fine ArtsThe PresidioMarina GreenGolden Gate ClubGhirardelli Square& the northern waterfront
Rooms this big need plants with real presence.
The most common mistake at Fort Mason is ordering plants sized for a normal room. Under a pavilion ceiling, a scattering of small pots disappears — you need height, mass, and deliberate placement at the points guests actually stand. We plan the scheme around arrival, bar lines, photo walls, and stage edges, and every order is planned by the same people who style it on the day.
The process
How it works, in four steps.
Tell us about the event
Dates, which building, and the look you want. A floor plan and your production schedule let us quote against real load-in times rather than guessing.
Get a proposal
An itemized proposal with photos of the actual plants, suggested placements, and one clear price.
We install & style
Our crew works your load-in window and fine-tunes the room with you before doors open.
We pick everything up
We strike inside your move-out window, day or night. The plants go back into rotation, not a dumpster.
Who we serve
Who we work with at Fort Mason.
Expo & Show Organizers
Aisle anchors, registration greenery, and lounge clusters across a full pavilion floor — delivered to your production schedule and struck on time.
Gala & Nonprofit Committees
Entries, auction rooms, and stage framing that photograph well and read from the back of a very large room.
Agencies & Producers
You own the show file; we're one clean line in it. Proposal with photos of the actual plants, confirmed load-in windows, one invoice.
Corporate Event Teams
Summits, launches, and holiday parties on the waterfront — greenery that survives a full day of doors and still looks right at the last toast.
Good to know
Fort Mason questions.
What planners and producers ask us about working events on the campus.
Do you deliver to Fort Mason Center?
Yes. We deliver across the Fort Mason campus — Festival Pavilion, Herbst Pavilion, Gallery 308, the theaters, and the smaller historic rooms — scheduled to your confirmed load-in window. Delivery is billed by scope, and we confirm the window against your production schedule before we quote.
How big does the plant order need to be for Festival Pavilion?
Bigger than most people expect. Festival Pavilion is roughly 50,000 square feet with a very high ceiling, so plants sized for a normal ballroom read as clutter. We'd rather place fewer, taller, more sculptural pieces at the moments that matter — arrival, bars, photo walls, stage edge — than spread small material thinly across the floor. Send the floor plan and we'll show you where the money actually works.
Can you work the campus load-in window and an overnight strike?
Yes — that's normal here. Fort Mason turns buildings around between shows, so load-in windows are firm and strike is often overnight. Send your production schedule with your request and we'll plan delivery and teardown against the real times.
Can you provide a Certificate of Insurance for Fort Mason?
Yes. We're fully insured and send COIs directly to Fort Mason and your production company ahead of load-in, with whatever additional-insured language is required. Send us the requirements and we'll handle the paperwork.
What does plant rental cost for a Fort Mason event?
Pricing is per plant, and one rental price covers your event for up to three days. There's a $3,000 minimum per event, and delivery is billed separately based on your window and the size of the install. Gallery 308 and the smaller rooms typically start at our $3,000 minimum; full-pavilion and multi-space programs can scale beyond $100,000.
Will plants hold up outdoors on the waterfront?
If we spec for it, yes. Bay wind at Fort Mason is the reason we choose different material outdoors than in — sturdier plants, heavier planters, and lower profiles in the exposed spots. Tell us which areas are outdoors and we'll plan for it rather than discovering it on the day.
Will the plants last a multi-day show without watering?
Yes. We spec hardy material for pavilion light, water and groom everything before it leaves the shop, and one rental price covers up to three days. We don't staff on-site watering during events; for longer runs, ask about a mid-show refresh visit.
How far ahead should we book for Fort Mason?
Four to six weeks is ideal, and the pavilions book out earliest for the big spring and fall show weeks. If your date is sooner than that, ask anyway — we'll tell you straight away what's possible.
What if a plant gets damaged mid-event?
We swap it. We keep healthy backups in rotation at our shop and schedule replacements around your event hours.
How do deposits and payment work?
A 50% deposit up front so we can source the exact plants and planters your event needs, and the remaining 50% one week before the event. Events fewer than 20 calendar days away are paid in full at booking, since sourcing and scheduling start immediately. No payment is taken before you've seen and approved the proposal.
Still wondering something? Just ask →
Nothing here is disposable. Every plant comes home to our shop, recovers, and goes back out again.
Renting is reusing. One ficus can appear at dozens of events over its lifetime, and nothing ends up in a dumpster when yours is over.
Get in touch
Tell us about
Tell us about
the event.
A gallery dinner or a full pavilion — fill out the form or email us directly and we'll reply with next steps and a proposal timeline.
Heads up: we have an order minimum of $3,000 per event.Prefer email?
friends@shopthepreserve.com