Sunday, November 10, 2013

Reaching Critical Mass

Even by my own standards, I've spent a lot of time at plant nurseries and garden centers over the past couple of months.  This weekend, a friend and I made our previously delayed trip up north to Carpinteria to shop 2 of our favorite nurseries there, Island View and Seaside Gardens.  I posted on both back in early April so I won't cover either one in any great detail in this post.  (You can find coverage of the earlier visit here.)

Both nurseries had lots and lots of rusty metal stuff for sale, of which the following are just a small sample.










Island View Nursery is still emphasizing succulents and indoor plants.  They had some beautiful bromeliads but they were pricey.






However, the prices on the smaller succulents were good by local standards.  The 4-inch pots were priced at $3.25 each and the 2-inch pots were $1.50 each.  They had a good selection, although nothing really unusual.




I picked up 3 ferns and a few succulents.

My Island View purchases, 3 mother ferns (Alpenium bulbiferum) and assorted unlabeled succulents



At Seaside Gardens, I took a look around the demonstration gardens before making any plant purchase decisions.  Whereas California poppies and flowering succulents made the biggest statements at the time of our April visit, on this occasion grasses, Salvias, Tagetes lemmonii and Leucadendron dominated the landscape.



Salvia 'Purple Magesty'  (unfortunately unavailable for purchase)

Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon daisy)





Here's what I took home from Seaside this trip:

Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' (available in a 1-gallon size!), Phormium 'Tiny Tiger', Dampiera trigona 'Purple Wire', Sollya heterophylla (an Australian native I grew years ago and have rarely seen since) and a solar gazing ball (it was 1/2 price)


I also stopped back at the Marina Del Rey Garden Center on my way home from my friend's house to pick up some more Alternanthera tenella I wasn't able to find elsewhere plus some other items I felt I "needed."

Alternanthera tenella 'Crinkle Red', Salvia 'Wendy's Wish', and assorted unlabeled succulents


And I haven't even mentioned the side trip I took to Roger's Gardens on my way to another appointment last week, or my trip to Armstrong to pick up general supplies.  The good news is that I'm reaching critical mass in my backyard border, the new side yard area, and my dry garden.  However, I haven't done much of anything with the front border, the vegetable garden, the garden beds on the other side of the house, the slope...

18 comments:

  1. Critical mass! :) I think I'm beginning to reach that in my garden, too! Love the rusty stuff, and all the different plants you picked up.

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    1. Of course, as soon as we reach critical mass, we can always decide on a new design direction, starting the process all over again ;) ...

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  2. It is interesting how we "need' these plants! Your post reminded me I need to buy more California poppy seeds to throw in my pots. They bloom in the spring here and then I pull them. But they remind me of CA so much. :o)

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    1. The need is almost visceral, isn't it? I'm afraid I've got a collector's mindset.

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  3. Nice haul there! And that swathe of Salvia, wow!

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    1. That blue Salvia was everywhere! It was taller than I am in places (and I'm not short).

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  4. What a good bunch of plants you came home with! You go girl. I'm kind of obsessed with that huge Leucadendron image,

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    1. I have to admit that the size of the Leucadendron at Seaside intimidated me a bit. I have 4 now and if any of them grow anywhere near that big, I'm going to need to do serious remodeling of my garden beds.

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  5. Critical mass is a good way of putting it. It seems we can all find room for one more though if it's something we think we need.

    Congratulations on winning a prize in the book giveaway! At least I think that was you.

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    1. I still haven't heard from the sponsor, Shirley, but, yes, it does appear that I was one of the winners. Yay!

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  6. How much for a rusty metal pig and can I get one with wings?

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    1. Believe it or not, Eric, they did have a rusty metal pig with wings. It was painted in bright shades of orange, yellow and green. I didn't check on the price but don't count on getting it for Christmas.

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    1. Yes, and my picture doesn't come near to giving it justice!

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  8. Yea for plant shopping! You got some fun things and it sounds like you want to do even more shopping for your other areas. You actually have space to buy for. How cool is that?

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    1. That's the benefit of having a "new" house, Peter. If I factor in the grass I still plan to remove/reduce, I actually could actually continue buying new plants for quite a long time; however, I could put us in the poor house before I finish if I continue at the current rate.

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  9. Can we ever have too many :) I love plant shopping - I never give room for them a thought. You've some beauties there Kris - how we covet what we can't have ;)

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    1. All too true, Angie. Although we have a mild climate that allows year-round gardening, there are still things I'd like to grow that wouldn't last a nanosecond here. Like herbaceous peonies!

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