Friday, November 5, 2021

Before the Christmas tree takeover...

In late November, just before Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US, Christmas trees are trucked into some of my favorite garden centers in large numbers.  In many cases, that means that wide areas are cleared of garden plants for the duration of the holiday season to make room.  Although few if any nurseries or garden centers in my part of the country close during the winter months, the plant selection available in December and January can be very limited.  As the cool period leading into our short winter rainy season is generally the best time of the year to plant, this is frustrating to say the least.

I decided to get as much plant shopping done in the next few weeks as possible to spare myself that frustration.  I visited two of my favorite nurseries to the the north in early October with a friend.  This week I targeted Deep Roots, a garden center in Manhattan Beach, about half an hour away from my home.  I used to drop in there regularly after lunch with friends but, for a variety of reasons, I haven't visited since early in 2019.  I'd almost forgotten how much I appreciated their selection of plants.

With apologies for the quality of the photos, which were taken with my soon-to-be-retired 3G phone, here are some photos to give you an idea of what attracted my attention:

This is variegated Agapanthus 'Gold Strike'.  According to the tag, the compact plants produce picotee blue and bluish-white flowers.

Banksia ericfolia 'Compact Form' still gets too big to find a place in my garden

I already have one Correa 'Ivory Bells' in my garden but I was tempted to get another

This is a variegated Fuchsia thymifolia

I've no idea what this is.  I didn't see labels on any of the plants and I never got around to asking.  It made me think of a restio but I couldn't find anything like it online.  A commentator identified this as Pennisetum glaucus 'Jade Princess'

This is the first "red" Plectranthus (P. hilliardiae) I've ever seen

A noID bromeliad, a Vriesea I assume, with a price that was just a little too much for me

Lots of choices among Tillandsias, a few with developing blooms

This Yucca 'Bright Star' had a short trunk, making me wonder if I should have left mine alone instead of cutting it to the ground


I was tempted by some of the plants shown above but most were in large pots and were priced to reflect that.   I checked the sale tables for smaller plants.

Lots of plants in one-gallon and 4-inch pots but nothing I had to have





In light of our ongoing drought, it's probably not surprising that I focused on the succulent selection.

The succulents occupy a large portion of the north side of the garden center

Left to right: Furcraea sellowa var marginata, F. foetida 'Variegata', and a mix of Mangaves

Clockwise from the upper left: Agave potatorum 'Kichiokan', Aloe maculata, a variety of small Aloes and Haworthia, what I believe is Pilosocereus azureus, and a plant that might be Rhipsalis.  Many plants were unlabeled.


When I went to check out, I was told that all the outdoor plants were 50% off!  I'm still not sure why I didn't go back and gather a few of those plants in the big pots but maybe I'll find time to swing by again before everything's tucked away to make room for the Christmas trees.

I bought the Pilosocereus, 3 Aloe 'Moondance', Haworthia 'Savanna', H. limifolia (aka fairy's washboard), and 2 noID Crassulas

The Aloe 'Moondance' and the Crassulas went into the area I replanted with Aloe 'Moonglow' last week.  I'm considering a couple of different spots for the Pilosocereus.


On the way home, I swung by another garden center in Redondo Beach, close to my former home, but I found it's now open on a limited schedule so that was a bust.  However, yesterday I met a friend for lunch and decided that a quick stop by Elwood Nursery across the street was in order, since I don't think I've visited there since early in 2020.

I brought home a few things but this Cyclamen 'Djix' with its distinctive flowers was the most interesting


On my way home, I also dropped in at Armstrong Garden Center in Torrance to pick up a special order I'd placed for two flats of creeping thyme.  I've visited this store regularly throughout the pandemic but, whenever I visit, I feel it necessary to stroll all the aisles to see if there's anything new I "need."  In addition to my 'Elfin' thyme, I brought home a few other things, including these:

I've long complained that our garden centers never get in any interesting Chrysanthemums.  This C. indicum 'Rainbow Circus' broke that trend.

I'd eyed Didelta 'Silver Strand' at Seaside Gardens last month but forgot to pick it up on my way to check out so I couldn't pass this one up.  One online source claims the succulent subshrub is "indestructible" in the face of summer heat.


It looks like I'll be plenty busy this weekend!  I hope you enjoy your weekend too.


All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party




24 comments:

  1. The yellow leaf grass is Pennisetum glaucum 'Jade Princess' in the 6th photo.

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    1. Thank you for the ID! When I first saw it, I wondered if it was a grass but I dismissed that possibility. It's attractive but as I read it wants ample moisture and it's an annual, I guess it's off my list.

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  2. The Didelta has been great here, yes indeed even in the summer heat, and if you accidentally break off a stem when you plant it, you might find they root very easily.

    Those look like good nurseries. 50% off, hooray for you!

    Banksia ericfolia was pretty meh. Mine--I pulled it.

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    1. I'd like to try the shorter Banksia spinulosa 'Schnapper Point', which of course I didn't decide to buy when it was available...

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  3. I can see why these beautiful plants captured your attention. :) We have quite a few garden centers that stay open year-round, but of course they cell potted and house plants until next spring, when the outdoor garden and seedling stock are sold again. Thanks for sharing the beauty of your selections and their placement. :)

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    1. The stock of landscape plants is always lower here during the winter months but they never disappear - although some garden centers do "hide" their stock to give Christmas trees space.

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  4. Nice haul, Kris. I esp. like the bluish Philocereus. At 50% off, I think I'd definitely head back to that nursery!
    Have fun planting. :)

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    1. I've looked at the Pilosocereus before but the plants were always in large pots with hefty prices. Even though I thought many of the regular prices looked high relative to the garden center closer to my home, the price on that one seemed reasonable - even before the surprise 50% price reduction! I carried the pot around my garden considering different options on where to plant it - it's mature size is 12 feet - and I've settled on 2 possibilities.

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    1. I do too! Most of the Chrysanthemums offered for sale here are very uninteresting but these have pizzazz!

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  6. I do love a nursery visit post! All outdoor plants 50% off? You showed amazing restraint. I covet that plant that might be Rhipsalis...

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    1. I swear there was no advance notice of that 50% off sale. There's nothing on their website about a sale and I saw no signs posted. Maybe, that was Santa Claus manning the checkout register! But it's more likely that they just want to clear the sale space before the Christmas trees arrive.

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  7. These end of season heavy discount sales are so rare here-pretty much limited to nurseries that sell Christmas trees. The garden center at my company only does a 30% off for one week in October. Going to look into that Didelta-hope it's frost tolerant.

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    1. I've yet to see any description of Didelta that addresses its cold/frost tolerance, Kathy; however, I did notice that some sites describe it as a summer-fall "annual," which suggests that it's probably not frost tolerant.

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  8. Nursery visits are the BEST!
    Variegated Agapanthus 'Gold Strike' is so cool even without flowers, but I'm a sucker for variegation. Furcraea sellowa var marginata, also caught my eye, even though I don't usually go for spiky, I find this a rather elegant looking plant.

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    1. I REALLY should have gone back for that Agapanthus. It was top on my list of favorites among the plants I left behind. Maybe I'll make it back there yet. I was struck by the Furcraea sellowa too but it was quite vicious - it'd make a great barrier protection plant, though!

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  9. 50% off!! I've never bumped into such good luck. That rhipsalis lookalike might be Lepismium cruciforme. I completely agree with your disapproval of the holiday tree takeover of nurseries -- it really does preempt a good part of fall planting time.

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    1. What was weird is that there wasn't anything I saw advertising a 50% off sale, Denise! I occasionally see end-of-season 50% reductions on individual plants at Rogers but the checkout guy (who just may be Santa Claus) said it applied to all outdoor plants.

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  10. What fun! I think the photos are great, and how wonderful to get the discount. Enjoy!

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    1. Sales and discounts always give plant shopping a little boost!

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  11. Oh that was definitely a wise move Kris to do some plant shopping before the invasion of the Christmas trees begins. Our last garden centre visit was in the second week of October - no real Christmas trees but artificial ones, tree decorations, lights, cards and other seasonal paraphernalia was evident in profusion. We headed straight outside for the plants 😂

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    1. Yes, at least one large garden center here opens its Christmas "boutique" right after Halloween. And they open their Halloween area at the beginning of August! It's a little much for me too.

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  12. Didelta grows on the dunes near the beach so should be very happy with your kinder climate.

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