Friday, September 27, 2024

Destination Garden Center

During peak garden seasons, I usually end up at my local garden center at least once every week or two.  Summer is not a peak gardening period; however, fall is the best time to work in the garden in coastal Southern California.  Although it's entirely possible that we'll have periodic heat spells for a time yet and we're unlikely to see any measurable rain until November, the shorter days and cooler nights make it less problematic to start planting.  When a friend and I made arrangements to meet for lunch in Orange County this week, she suggested the the Farmhouse restaurant at Roger's Gardens and I was agreeable (as she suspected I would be).  It gave me an opportunity to check out the inventory at one of SoCal's largest garden centers.  According to my records, I haven't visited Roger's Gardens since November 2022.  I'm not sure how that happened!  In any case, a visit was long overdue.

Halloween decorations are big business at Roger's so I wasn't surprised to see a focus on pumpkins and holiday decor.  I'll wait until October to cover the latter but it's not too early to talk about pumpkins.

This is a view of the main entrance

As soon as I walked in I saw a plethora of succulent-topped pumpkins.  They were pricey, as you may note on the tags attached to the 3 shown in closeups.

Pumpkins have displaced the seasonal plants that usually dominate the areas shown here

There's nowhere else I know of to find a wider selection of pumpkin varieties, however.  But even the "naked" pumpkins cost a pretty penny.


Roger's has themed gardens spread throughout its grounds, although I noted that a few were awaiting replanting.

The bird and butterfly garden is a little bare behind that mosaic

Vertical garden space covered in succulents

A small waterfall emptying into a pond

They've updated this waterwise garden since my last visit.  It's heavy on Mangaves and Westringia 'Morning Light'.

This is another, less flashy waterwise garden space

I think this is the only time I've seen this demonstration garden without plants in the 20+ years I've visited.  They seem to be in the process of setting up the miniature train that's a central feature of the Christmas holiday display.  The year-end holiday decorations are due to be revealed in early October.


I checked out a wide variety of plant displays.

These obviously aren't plants but they caught my attention.  Our backyard fountain was out of commission for a time in July and August and we were considering replacements but I couldn't find anything I liked at the time and my husband managed to repair the one we have.  If we do replace it at some point, I'd like something simple and streamlined like those shown here.

I was actually more interested in some indoor plants than most of the outdoor plants I saw during this visit

The container plants are attractive but I prefer to put together my own combinations

Roger's has expanded its succulent plant collection over the years.  The 'Sun Glow' Agaves shown on the right practically screamed at me but at $300 I tuned them out.

Overhead view of the lower area of the garden center


Surprisingly, I didn't find any shrubs or perennials I couldn't live without to fill the empty spots in my garden, although I spotted a few things to consider further after lunch with my friend.  I headed to the Farmhouse to meet up with her.

Views of the Farmhouse from the outside.  The seating is in an open air setting, perfect for a 3 hour lunch!


I rarely leave a garden center empty-handed and this visit was no exception.  Nothing I purchased was anything I "needed" but then that seldom makes a difference.

I purchased 5 plants.  The orchid was a splurge.  Clockwise from the upper left: Asplenium 'Hurricane', Celosia 'Twisted Yellow', Helianthus 'Sunfinity', a 6-pack of Nasturtium 'Alaska', and an Oncidium.  The fern, Celosia, and orchid all found a home in my lath house.


Finally, here are shots I took in the parking lot and along the beds bordering the street.

This stretch of plants along the driveway entrance was simple but very attractive.  Aloes, Westringia ('Morning Light' again) and Lantana dominate the space but there were some Leucadendrons backing up those plants.

I was surprised at how much I liked the orange pumpkins dotting what I recall was red-flowered Vinca (left).  Phormiums and Leucadendrons dotted the parking medians (right).

The area surrounding the gazebo was packed with large succulents the last time I visited but there are clearly new plans for planting the area.  I didn't take time to survey the area there or along the street but I was struck once again by the widespread use of Westringia.  I also noted what I think was Chondropetalum. Lomandra, and the repetitious use of Agave attenuata 'Ray of Light'.


I may try to make another trip to Roger's in early November in the hope they'll have restocked their plant shelves but, once the Christmas trees arrive arrive before Thanksgiving, plant shopping will come to an abrupt stop until the holiday season is over.

My thoughts are with all those in the path of Hurricane Helene this weekend.  Stay safe!



All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party


20 comments:

  1. Those are some HEFTY price tags. I love your new oncidium, the petals are beautifully shaped. That looks like an absolutely perfect long lunch spot, have a great weekend!

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    1. I've decorated pumpkins with succulent cuttings from my garden in the past. I was thinking maybe I should setup a little storefront in my driveway with my own creations for a fraction of the price! (Not really but, yes, some prices seemed utterly out-of-sight to me.)

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  2. What a wonderful place to meet for lunch, but seriously, $300? Good lord, that's a lotta money...

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    1. As much as I'd really like to have an Agave 'Sun Glow' in my garden I wouldn't pay that price for one that large under any circumstances. A smaller plant with a longer lifespan and a much lower pricetag would be more appealing by far.

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  3. Haven't been to Roger's for quite a long time. Liking Plant Depot in SJC much more these days.

    Interesting tho to see your photos, read your comments, and see what's changed. Hope you had a lovely lunch!

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    1. I've never been to Plant Depot. There was a small garden center in Redondo Beach by that name (or a very similar name) at one time but it appears to be gone and also has no apparent relationship with the store in SJC. Maybe we can visit it together one day.

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  4. I have fond memories of Rogers from the olden days when I used to do spy missions with staff from the garden center I worked at in San Diego-back when you could get in and out of San Diego without encountering a giant traffic jam ! And when my BIL's lived in HB we often went on Fuchsia shopping expeditions-they had a great selection. I've never seen Snow Glow for sale anywhere either up here or down yonder. I guess rarity commands a price.

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    1. I was a bit disappointed by the plant selection at Roger's on this occasion but perhaps that has something to do with both our recent extended heatwave and the upcoming holidays - there was more empty space on plant tables than I'm used to seeing. Both Halloween and Christmas have become huge money-makers for Roger's, possibly eclipsing the emphasis on plants.

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  5. My eyes are perhaps getting bad, but $150 for some cheap succulents glued on top of a pumpkin!!! Seriously??? Whoa, what did that cost in real life, maybe $10-20 tops even with today's crazy inflation prices... We paid $15 for a small five garden fresh tomatoes earlier this summer. Can't grow them ourselves (still too cold at night despite the record heat) and we were craving fresh salsa without using the plastic store-bought tomatoes, so we were stuck. I feel like we are in bizarro world. Ok, rant over. Interesting Asplenium 'Hurricane' - really cool!

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    1. You missed the $200 succulent-dressed pumpkin (upper right), Jerry ;) I was pretty incredulous about the price tags on all of them.

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  6. Love the mosaic in the butterfly garden...it's glorious! I'm not quite ready to think about Halloween yet, because we've had warmer than normal September weather. It's been perfect--in the 70s and 80s for most of the month. Love it. But soon, we'll get that cold snap and it will be time to decorate and plan for the ghosts and goblins. ;-) That looks like a fun place, but yes, the prices look high for some of the merchandise.

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    1. Prices on the Halloween decor made the succulent-decorated pumpkins look cheap, Beth! I'll show off the photos I took of some of those once we get into October.

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  7. Three hundred dollars seems a little steep for the agave. Is it something new and unusual? Once the holidays approach that's all the garden centers seem to focus on. Halloween isn't as big here but Christmas stuff is already rolling in. Looks like an excellent place for lunch.

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    1. Agave 'Sun Glow' has been around for at least 5 years but has never been widely available and all I've seen have been in large pots; however, $300 still seemed steep to me, Elaine. It's a hybrid. Maybe it's hard to propagate true to form.

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  8. Bel centro giardinaggio, curato e pulito! Molte piante qui non ce la farebbero ma mi piacciono comunque i tuoi acquisti!

    Ti auguro un buon autunno che qui è già fresco.

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    1. It is a great garden center, if a little pricey, Gabriel ;)

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  9. Wow, all the Agave ovatifolia are gone from in front of the gazebo?

    And the prices for pumpkins! OMG!! At first I thought it was a joke. But it's Rogers after all.

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    1. I was startled by the area surrounding the gazebo but then I haven't been to Roger's in almost 2 years. Someone must have a very different vision in mind for planting that area. I'm curious about what the plan is. And I hope the employees got to take home the mature agaves that used to be there!

      Even knowing how Roger's prices decorative containers and the like, I have to say I was taken aback by the price tags on the succulent-covered pumpkins. Hopefully, that means they factored in a significant labor cost paid to their staff!

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  10. Rogers is my favorite nursery you feature, they always have interesting and healthy plants, but I'm sure I'd faint at the prices! The orchid you bought is lovely. 🥰 Eliza

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    1. I was surprised by some of the prices and I should be used to them by now, Eliza. The fact that the cost of 2 decorated pumpkins were equivalent to the price of one Agave 'Snow Glow' says something about Roger's overall pricing strategy if only I could figure out what...

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