Bi-annual plant shopping trip to Carpinteria & Santa Barbara

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

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)

South African Garden featuring Leucadendron 'Ebony' with Protea neriifolia (left) with a closeup of the Protea bloom and Leucadendron 'Jester' on the right

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)

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.

2 of about 10 sales displays organized by categories

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.

Terra Sol always has interesting decorative items but many aren't readily affordable

Flashy Celosia and a vigorous pink-flowered Thunbergia alata

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.

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

A long-delayed nursery trip (part 1)

A friend and I'd planned to visit our favorite nurseries in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties back in February.  We rescheduled several times when one atmospheric river after another interfered with our plans.  Last Saturday we finally got our chance to get on the road.  We only made it to two of our three usual stops this time (with a nice lunch break in between).  Our first stop was Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria.  I'll cover it in this post.

The attraction of Seaside is two-fold.  Not only does it have a great range of plants, many of which I've never found in the Los Angeles and Orange Counties garden centers I visit more often, but it also has a series of wonderful display gardens.  (You can view the map here.)

I spent more time in the display gardens than I spent in the nursery on this visit.  I'll share my tour, area by area.

Cottage Garden

Glare was an issue when taking photos all day but we enjoyed blue skies and sunshine.  It started out on the cool side but warmed up considerably during the course of the afternoon.  The Cottage Garden was mostly green but there were splashes of color here and there.

Clockwise from the upper left: what I think was a Dianella, a mass of Leucanthemum vulgare, Phlomis fruticosa just coming into bloom, Rosa banksiae 'Alba Plena' (including a closeup), and the Salvia collection just starting to produce buds

California Native Garden

A little wild but always a joy to see California poppies

Clockwise from the upper left: Verbena lilacina 'De La Mina' with poppies, more poppies, Plantago lanceolata (not actually native to California but naturalized all over the US), and Heuchera maxima.  The Ceanothus were in bloom too but I didn't get a good photo.

Grassland

Most of the grasses had been cut back

The area included a bench made from a tree and a few noID flowering shrubs

A gigantic mass of Echium candicans sits along one edge of the Grasslands area

Succulent Garden

One of my favorite views of the Succulent Garden

A mound of Aeonium behaving as it does in my garden when left to its own devices (left) and Portulacaria afra, aka elephant bush (right)

Clockwise from the left: noID Agaves in bloom, A. vilmoriniana, and noID Mangave

Most Aloes were done blooming with the Aloe ferox on the left being a notable exception

Xanthorrhoea preissii, aka Western Australian grass tree (left) and Cyphostemma juttae, aka wild grape, just breaking dormancy (right)

South African Garden

The first thing I noticed upon entering the South African Garden were the Leucospermums.  The red-orange one is 'Sunrise'.  The yellow one may be 'High Gold'.

Leucadendron 'Jester' on the left and 2 shots of L. 'Ebony' on the right

There was one fresh pink bloom on Protea 'Pick Ice' but even the dried blooms were attractive

The blooms of Dombeya wallichii (left) had also dried but remained in place.  Polygala fruticosa is shown with fresh blooms on the right.

Chondropetalum, aka Cape rush.  It looks bigger than the dwarf C. tectorum.

A restio, possibly Rhodocoma capensis.  I've mixed feelings about this plant but its stems were looking very flashy in the sun.

Central-South American Garden

Clockwise from the upper left: variegated Agave americana, a noID Dyckia, 2 other noID bromeliads, Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer', and Fuchsia arborescens, aka tree fuchsia

Australian Garden

With time running out, I didn't give the Australian Garden its due.  Clockwise from the left: noID Acacias, noID shrub, and Prostanthera ovalifolia in bloom

Asian Garden

I always liked the fresh red foliage of Photina x fraseri but I'd never seen the plant in bloom.  I love it!

Of course I didn't ignore the nursery.

Views of the plants for sale in various areas

Some of the plants that drew my attention included, clockwise from the upper left: Asplenium antiquum 'Hurricane' (fern), Callistemon viminalis 'Red Alert', Leucadendron laxum, and Phormium 'Duet' and 'Sundowner'.

I brought home a Leucadendron laxum and three other plants from Seaside.  I'll show these and my purchases from our second stop, Terra Sol Garden Center, in my next post.  For now, here's a glance at the trunk of my car when I got home.

We had a great day but it took me over 2 hours just to get home from my friend's house in the San Fernando Valley.  LA freeways can be a nightmare.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

A beautiful day - to shop for plants!

A friend and I spent a beautiful Saturday driving up the coast.  We stopped in Carpinteria to visit Seaside Gardens and had lunch on an outdoor patio at a nearby restaurant before driving up to Terra Sol Garden Center in Santa Barbara.  I can't honestly say I "needed" any new plants but when has that ever stopped a plant addict?

I try to get to Seaside Gardens at least twice a year, generally in spring and fall.  Seaside combines a well-stocked nursery with demonstration gardens featuring plants from different areas of the world.  The latter show visitors how certain plants can be combined to create a landscape, while also educating buyers on what they can expect as these plants mature.  Reading a plant tag prior to a purchase is always helpful but seeing a plant in a garden setting is a useful reality check.

Although it's feeling like spring in coastal Southern California, this visit in late February is earlier than most of my semi-annual visits.  Given that fact, as well as our low rainfall, the demonstration gardens weren't as colorful as they've been during previous spring visits but they were still nice to see.  Let me take you on an abbreviated tour, starting with the Cottage Garden and ending at the entrance to the Australian Garden.

Spring definitely wasn't yet in high gear in the Cottage Garden but this Rosa banksaie 'Alba Plena' was in full bloom

The Grasslands had received a good chop.  This prompted me to begin cutting back my own ornamental grasses this week.

I saw only a handful of California poppies in bloom but a Ceanothus and a western redbud (Cercis occidentalis) were flowering in the California Natives area

The Echiums were just starting to develop buds in the Mediterranean Garden

Some Aloes are were in bloom in the Succulent Garden but the area was relatively subdued

Another shot of the Succulent Garden

The South African Garden may have been the most colorful.  Clockwise from the upper left: Freesias, Leucospermum 'Sunrise' (much larger than my own specimen!), Leucadendron 'Jester', a huge mass of Polygala fruticosa, Osteospermum, and Leucadendron 'Ebony'.

This Fuchsia arborescens in the Central-South American Garden shows just how big this plant can get.  I have one in a large pot.  I've been told they can be grown in containers but seeing one this large suggests that could be more difficult than I assumed.

Acacia (noID) growing in the Australian Garden

Now, on to the nursery area.

There were a lot of possibilities to explore

Here are some plants I checked out but didn't buy:

Clockwise from the upper left: Begonia luxurians (I have one but it hasn't bloomed), noID Magnolia, noID Mammillaria, Penstemon 'Dark Towers', Pericallis 'Magic Salmon', pale yellow Ranunculus, Senna phyllodinea, and Yucca 'Bright Star'.   I keep looking for a deal on a Yucca to replace the one I lost but I don't consider $110 a deal.

After lunch, we headed sixteen miles further north to Terra Sol Garden Center.  I didn't take many photos, partly because it's much smaller than Seaside and partly because I'd forgotten to bring my regular camera with me on this trip.  All photos in this post were taken with my new phone, which I've only just begun to tinker with.  It's a substantial upgrade from my iPhone 5s, which I was forced to replace because my service carrier has phased out 3G coverage.

Terra Sol has a broad selection of succulents in a range of sizes.  I didn't see a label on the cactus on the upper right but I remembered that Loree of danger garden had commented on a similar plant in a post regarding her November visit, which aided me in identifying it as Hildewintera corademononis.  (The specimen Loree saw was $399.  This one was $470.)  The interesting plant on the lower right is Myrtillo geometrizans 'Crested Elite' (going for $35 in a 4-inch pot).

I spent more time than usual checking out the decorative garden art.  As much as I admired  the Buddhas, particularly the multi-faced one shown in the right column, they're priced well outside my budget.

I'd admired the face sculptures shown on the right during a prior trip but, when it comes down to it, I'd rather spend my disposable funds on plants

Despite the face that I didn't "need" any plants, here's what I came home with:

My Seaside haul included Ceanothus 'Carmel Creeper', Mangave 'Navajo Princess', 2 new-to-me Osteospermums in the '4D' series, and Philotheca myoporoides 'Profusion'

My Terra Sol purchases included Aeonium 'Mardi Gras', Echeveria agavoides, and Mangave 'Red Wing' (or at least those are my best guesses on IDs as all of them were unlabeled)

Before I headed home, my friend also gifted me with a selection of California native plants but I'll cover them in a separate post.  All in all, it was a very nice day, offering brief respite from the horror  of events unfolding in Ukraine.

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party