Bromeliads and Succulents

I've been shopping for more Agave 'Blue Glow' to add to a bed I'm planning to renovate.  In addition to the beauty it adds in every setting, I think it may be an effective raccoon deterrent - and I've certainly tried everything else.  The problem is that the price of these popular plants have soared into the stratosphere.  At one time, I was able to get  a small plant for $10 but recently the lowest price I've seen was $35.  After considering pulling plants from other areas to fulfill my current purpose, I decided to pay another visit to the Marina Del Rey Garden Center, where I originally found the plants for $10.

This garden center has definitely gotten the message that Southern California gardeners need drought tolerant plants.  Although they've always had a nice selection of succulents in a range of sizes, they seem to have more every time I visit.  They've also added a lot of bromeliads to the mix.  The price of bromeliads usually makes me choke and I can't say that the Marina garden center's prices are low but they do have a large variety.

The new emphasis on bromeliads struck me as soon as I pulled into the parking lot.

Display garden fronting the parking lot (I can't account for the pink flamingos)

There were more in the main section of the nursery.

The succulents are nearby.

Most of the 4-inch pots are $5, which means I can quickly get in trouble in this section

These variegated Agave attenuata were on special

They've always had containers planted with succulents for sale and display but there seemed to be more of them when I visited this time.

I brought home 3 Agave 'Blue Glow,' purchased for $17 a piece.  Oh, and a bromeliad.

No ID provided with purchase Possibly Aechmea fosteriana (Thanks again for the ID rosekraft!)

All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

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...

Twofer Nursery Trek

This weekend, a friend and I had plans to visit a couple of nurseries in Carpinteria, a coastal California community more than 100 miles north of where I live.  For various reasons, we delayed that trip until mid-November; however, we did make it to one of my favorite nurseries.   Sprawling over 11 acres in Calabasas, Sperling Nursery isn't fancy but it's always well-stocked with a diverse collection of plants, including California natives and a seemingly ever-expanding selection of succulents.  When I was visiting the San Fernando Valley one or more times a week to see my stepfather, who passed away in 2011, and my mother, who passed away earlier this year, I would often pay a visit to the nursery before getting on the freeway to head home as a way of centering myself.  I haven't been there often since March of this year.

The nursery has always had a friendly, family atmosphere, probably because it's family-owned and operated.  The staff, even those who work the check-out counter, know plants.  Founded in 1971 as a sod outlet by Joe Sperling on one acre of land in what was then a largely undeveloped area, it was expanded it to 11 acres in the late seventies, creating a full-service nursery.  When I pulled up the nursery's website, I discovered that Mr. Sperling passed away in August.  I sincerely hope Sperling will continue as an independent nursery - I still remember what happened to my beloved Begonia Farms Nursery when the founding patriarch died and the land was sold to a developer.  Calabasas has been growing at a wild pace for decades so I'm sure there will be pressure on the family to sell.

It was sunny and hot in Calabasas.  That didn't stop me from thoroughly checking out the plant stock but I'm afraid that it did negatively impact the quality of my photographs.  Sperling doesn't have demonstration planting beds but there are always nice collections of pots arranged near the entrance to show possible planting schemes.

Succulent prices have sky-rocketed in the last few years, here and everywhere, but Sperling offers a nice selection.

Aloe plicatilis (Fan Aloe) could be be yours for $200

This large Aloe ferox was offered for $400

More than any other nursery I can think of, Sperling always entices me to buy garden ornaments I don't need.  I somehow managed to avoid such purchases on this trip, although I was tempted.  (I didn't even set foot in the gift shop.)

I've admired this cast iron crow before but he goes for $120

This little frog might look nice with the orange plants off the patio in the side yard

I have a peculiar affection for gargoyles and dragons

This photo screened onto wood planks was interesting but I didn't even bother to look for a price

My friend was attracted to this rhino pot containing an interesting succulent (but she resisted too).

I was tempted by a beautiful Grevillea.  I passed on it because I couldn't think where to put it but I'm still kicking myself.  Maybe I need to move other plants to make room for it?

Grevillea 'Superb'

Here's what I did bring home:

Tulbaghia violacea, Aster frikartii 'Monch,' Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Little Spire,' and Allium 'Graceful' bulbs

I was happy enough with my Sperling purchases - they'll fill some empty spaces in my back and side yard borders -  but I have to admit that they weren't that exciting.  So, after leaving my friend in the Valley, I decided to stop at another of my favorite independent garden centers on my way home.  Marina Del Rey Garden Center is conveniently located right off the freeway, not far from the ocean.  I once worked nearby and I've been going there for years, although it's a little more out of the way for me now.  It generally offers a good selection of plants but the staff doesn't always seem as well-informed as I'd like to find.

The garden center had a Halloween pumpkin patch and jumper/bouncey house thing going for kids.  I skirted around that and headed straight for the small-sized perennials.

Alternanthera tenella 'Crinkle Red'

Pennisetum setaceum 'Cherry Sparkler' 

Salvia 'Wendy's Wish'

Solanum xantii

I took a stroll through the larger plants in the back.

Lots of Leucadendron

Lots of Phormium and Cordyline

Lots and lots of Salvia

A garden cat who just wanted to be left alone

I spent a lot of time perusing the center's wide selection of succulents.

A very large Agave 'Blue Glow' with multiple pups (yours for $140)

Unlabeled succulents - some kind of Kalanchoe?

I searched out help to get the name of this small tree-sized succulent.  The horticulturist told me it was called 'Copper Leaf' but  she didn't have the species name and it wasn't Acalypha wilkesiana.

I passed on most of the uber-expensive succulents but I did splurge on a large Agave 'Blue Glow' even though the center offered budget-friendly $10 plants in 4-inch pots.  Here's what I took home:

Agave 'Blue Glow,' Alternanthera tenella 'Crinkle Red,' and 3 small assorted unlabeled succulents

All things considered, it was a good shopping day.