A friend and I made our bi-annual plant shopping trip to Carpinteria and Santa Barbara last weekend after it was postponed weeks ago due to unpleasantly hot temperatures. The sun was intense in cloudless skies so I'm afraid my photos were relatively poor on this occasion. Unlike Los Angeles County, both areas also received very little rain from Tropical Storm Hilary in September and the dry conditions were evident, especially at Seaside Gardens.
Defying the bright light, I still took photos of portions of the demonstration gardens at Seaside
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| Top row: Tropical (Vireya) Rhododendron in the Asian Garden (left) and noID Salvia in the cottage Garden (right) Bottom row: Echium candicans in the Grasslands area on my recent visit (left), when they're looking sad, and back in March (right) |
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| South African Garden featuring Leucadendron 'Ebony' with Protea neriifolia (left) with a closeup of the Protea bloom and Leucadendron 'Jester' on the right |
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| Various views of the large Succulent Garden, including a Yucca 'Bright Star' with a trunk (upper right) and a very large clump of blooming agaves, possibly Agave 'Blue Flame' (lower right) |
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| Tropical Garden with Russelia equisetiformis in front and massive Fuchsia arborescens in the background |
As usual, I spent more time perusing the plants offered for sale.
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| 2 of about 10 sales displays organized by categories |
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| Plants I looked at closely but dismissed for various reasons, clockwise from the upper left: Chorisia speciosa (very expensive and could grow 60 feet tall), Cryptomeria japonica 'Spiralis' (needs regular water and not clearly suitable to my zone), Eucalyptus 'Moon Lagoon' (combustible oil in plant not good for high fire risk areas), Stipa ichu (I forgot to add it to my cart!), and Yucca baccata (pricey but I regret not bringing one home) |
After lunch, we headed a bit further north to Terra Sol Garden Center.
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| Terra Sol always has interesting decorative items but many aren't readily affordable |
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| Flashy Celosia and a vigorous pink-flowered Thunbergia alata |
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| I wanted to remove the weed in the middle of that Abromeitiella brevifolia (left) but, at that price, I didn't dare touching it. The Adenium (right) wasn't priced as high as its neighboring plant but still too rich for me when I've killed one (maybe 2) before. |
Fortunately, as she's a more assertive driver, my friend takes responsibility for the northern stretch of our trip from her home in the San Fernando Valley. My homeward bound trip from her house south to the peninsula takes between an hour and a half and two hours depending upon late afternoon traffic. It was on the lower end of the spectrum, which was great. I had plenty of time to unload my car before it got dark and my husband rang the dinner bell.
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| I'll have more on my purchases later this week, when I've hopefully gotten at least some of them planted |
All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
The orange blooms of that tropical Rhododendron are so enticing. Although there are many Rhodies in the Seattle area, they are the hardy ones, not the tropical varieties and, of course, one wants what one can't have :-D
ReplyDeleteI thought I was the only one inclined to (covertly) pull weeds out of pots while visiting a nursery...
Chavli
My fingers itch whenever I pass a weed, especially when it mars a plant or landscape, Chavli - I generally manage to avoid picking out neighbors' weeds (and it's not like I don't have plenty of my own to focus on).
DeleteFlora Grubbs Gardens in Marina Del Rey had some Vireya Rhododendrons I left behind during my last visit. If they still have some on my next visit, I won't leave without one. I can't grow the Rhododendrons you can up your way.
How fun to go with a friend, especially with the drive. I visited Terra Sol one time - I loved it, but yeah a bit pricey.
ReplyDeleteI usually stay away from the decor items and the rarer succulents at Terra Sol to focus on their seasonal bedding plants, which are usually priced better and more varied than those in my local garden centers. Seaside has a great range of plants too but a lot of those I most covet are often in large containers and cost a pretty penny.
DeleteThat sounds like the perfect day out Kris - good company, garden visiting and plant buying opportunities. What a well timed arrival back home 😂
ReplyDeleteIt's a long drive round trip but definitely worth our usually 2x/year jaunts, Anna.
DeleteFun! I am glad you got out and about to visit these two great nurseries. I was reliving my last visit (2021) with you as I looked at your photos.
ReplyDeleteThey are great nurseries. It's too bad there isn't a bullet train to take me there and back more often.
DeleteSweet! Shopping trips, especially for plants, are delightful. Enjoy your new beauties!
ReplyDeleteOf course, I didn't manage to get anything that was on my "list" and thus spent a good day contemplating where my new treasures should go.
DeleteOh how fun with a nursery romp! That vireya rhodie is fabulous! For some reason, I never realized you can grow those where you are. Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteTwo of my favorite nurseries in one fell swoop! It looks like you timed your visit perfectly--the demonstration gardens at Seaside look fantastic!
ReplyDeleteYucca baccata would be an awesome addition to your garden. They're unusually on the inexpensive side so keep looking.
Seaside's demonstration gardens looked better back in March but then, in late summer with dry conditions, you've got to give them credit! I'll keep looking for that Yucca.
DeleteI looked at the tropical Rhododendrons at Flora Grubb when we visited--didn't quite know where to place one. They were interesting, though not cheap. Looks like you got quite a few plants--so the long drive must have been worth it. If nothing else you had a friend to chat with on the way there. Looking forward to see what you got. Dudleya there maybe? :)
ReplyDeleteI actually spent less on this plant shopping trip to Carpinteria and Santa Barbara than I usually do. I'd hoped to find a semi-affordable Protea (Seaside had 'Pink Ice' in 5-gallon containers) and Pyrrosia at Seaside and fresh Osteospermums at Terra Sol but I was disappointed in that respect. Am I imagining it or have nurseries dropped plants that were popular in prior years? I haven't seen Centaurea 'Silver Feather', Didelta 'Silver Strands' or double-petaled Osteospermums anywhere.
DeleteI was surprised to see Echium had naturalized in various areas around San Francisco when I visited last week. I found it a little uncomfortably warm at 81-84F after having gotten used to the fall weather up here in Oregon.
ReplyDeleteI suspect my area would be even more uncomfortably warm, Jerry. I've heard that LA may resemble Baja California in another 25 years.
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