Farewell to Sperling Nursery

Retail businesses come and go but no store closure ever bothers me as much as the loss of a good independent plant nursery.  I still mourn the closure of the Begonia Farms Nursery in 1997 every time I drive by the spot it occupied.  Now the closure of Sperling Nursery in Calabasas, long one of my favorite nurseries and the subject of several posts since I started this blog in December 2012, is imminent.  The nursery hasn't publicly announced its closure date.  Rumor had it that it would be open until September or October but, after announcing a 20% off sale in June, it already looks like this (photos taken by a friend on July 4th):

The nursery elected not to refresh its stock during its final months

Purchases are now 30% off but there's not a lot left

It was a vibrant place to visit whether on a busy weekend or a quiet weekday afternoon.  I spent a lot of time in the area from late 2010 until early 2013 attending to the needs of my stepfather and, subsequently, my mother.  After really bad days I'd often drop by Sperling before getting on the freeway for the long slog home through commuter traffic.  Those visits helped me put things in perspective.

It's hard to see the place as it now looks in my friend's photos.  I like to remember it like this:

Photo taken in March 2014

Photo taken in March of this year

For the number of times I've been there, I've remarkably few photos.  Upon arrival, my focus on plant selection was generally so intense I rarely wasted time with picture-taking.  However, I'm not sure I ever left the place without plants in hand.  Here, in collage format, are a few of the photos I managed to take between 2013 and my last visit in March of this year:

Sperling had a wonderful selection of plants, ranging from drought tolerant Australian natives, to roses, to succulents

While the nursery didn't have demonstration gardens, they arranged pots of seasonal selections near the front entrance to give buyers ideas of what they could do in their own gardens

They always had a wide selection of garden ornaments

And a nice assortment of pots

And lots and lots of succulents

When Sperling closes, the 11-acre space will be occupied by a car dealership, making Calabasas a much less attractive place to visit in my opinion.  Erin of Hope Gardens wrote a more eloquent homage to the nursery (with better photos), which you can find here.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Plant Shopping Extravaganza

As mentioned in my last post, I did some serious plant shopping last weekend.  Although I visited more nurseries and garden centers in a single day on another occasion, I haven't bought as many plants - or spent as much money - in a single day as I did on this trip.  I left the house before 8am and didn't get home until after 6:30pm.  I was spurred on in part by my desire to find plants to fill the space left by the recent removal of a tree in the backyard border and in part by my ongoing search to find plants to fill the remaining blank spots created when we removed our front lawn.  I was also driven by a sense of urgency to get my spring planting done as soon as possible in light of the high temperatures we've already experienced this March.  The only things that kept my spending in check were time constraints and my friend's admonition that her car had only so much room.

Our first stop was Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria.  In addition to offering a great selection of California-friendly plants, it has wonderful demonstration gardens.  The first thing we saw when we got out of the car was a hummingbird flitting among the flowers of Grevillea 'Ned Kelly.'

The hummingbird was not at all intimidated by the fact that 2 women were standing 2 feet away aiming cameras in his direction 

A busload of ladies from the Red Hat Society arrived shortly after my friend and I so I didn't get many pictures of the demonstration gardens during this visit but you can find photos of my November visit to Seaside here.

Views from Seaside's various demonstration gardens

It looked to me as though our earlier heatwave may have already taken a toll on the California poppies' show

As we visited on the second day of spring, Seaside was especially well stocked.

There were some gorgeous plants up front that made my heart flutter but one look at their price tags nearly made my heart stop.  None of these plants came home with me.

Clockwise from upper left, all costing over $100 in nursery pots: large specimens of Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream,' Leucadendron 'Safari Goldstrike,' Leucospermum cordifolium, and a plant I didn't get the name of Leucospermum reflexum (thanks for the ID, Evan!)

I left with 9 plants but there were several others I've had some misgivings about leaving behind.

Clockwise from upper left: Veltheimia bracteata 'Yellow Comet,' Halimium lasianthum, Petrea volubilis, Lonicera japonica 'Mint Crisp,' Boronia megastigma, and Leucadendron 'Jester'

After lunch, we headed back south, getting off the freeway and turning east upon reaching Ventura.  About 15 minutes later in the town of Casita Springs, we found our next target: Australian Native Plants Nursery.  This nursery is generally open only by appointment but my friend had made arrangements for the stop earlier and the gate was open when we arrived.

My friend was immediately entranced by the beautiful purple-flowered shrub next to the entrance, which I recognized as a Prostanthera.

I initially thought this must be Prostanthera linearis but, after checking ANP's website, my guess is that it's the non-variegated form of P. ovalifolia

Meanwhile, I was attracted by a large Acacia on the other side of the gate, as an Acacia was on my list of prospects for my back border.

I didn't ask which Acacia this was as it was too tall for my needs

As this is a true nursery, there weren't many flashy plant displays but there were plants stacked on tables, plants lined up in rows, and plants in hoop houses, some of which were open to visitors and others which were not.

A number of plants caught my eye but were ultimately left behind, at least this time.

Left to right: Hakea petiolaris, Leucadendron discolor, and Grevillea rivularis

Jo, the owner, located all the plants I asked for.  As I was checking out with 5 plants, my friend and I heard a frog croaking at our feet.  We never did see the frog but we did see this:

Grevillea 'Pink Midget,' not currently available

After we squeezed this round of purchases into my friend's car, we were off again, headed to one of my favorite nurseries, Sperling, in Calabasas.  To my knowledge, the property is still for sale but on this early spring day, it was well-stocked and crowded with visitors.  As we'd gotten caught up in a hideous traffic jam on our way south and it was already late afternoon, I didn't linger to take more than a few photos before filling my cart with 21 more plants.

Metal goats appear to be popular!

The succulent in the photo on the far right is Euphorbia xantii (aka Cherry Blossom Euphorbia)

Here's a different view of my purchases.  I managed to get almost all of these in the ground before the current heatwave struck.

The photo on the left shows the entire collection of 35 plants.  The photo on the top right shows Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid,' Helleborus 'Anna's Red, and Leucospermum cordifolium (yellow form); the middle photo shows Ceanothus arboreus, Correa 'Wyn's Wonder,' Dianella tasmanica 'Tasred,' Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame,' Heuchera maxima, Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' and Phomium 'Ed Carmen' (which seems more yellow than the photos I see on-line, possibly due to its youth); and the bottom photo shows Argyranthemum frutescens, Centaurea 'Silver Feather' (which may require more water than the tag led me to believe), Gazania 'New Day Yellow,' Lagurus ovatus (Hare's Tail grass), and Osteosperum 'Zion Copper Amethyst.'  Somewhere in the collection is also a one-gallon container of Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' but even I can't pick it out in my photos (behind the Callistemon maybe).

Hopefully, if the heatwave passes within 2 days as expected, all will survive.  I'll show photos of the plants in the garden when I get a chance.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Am I a plant shopaholic?

The friend I joined on a 6-nursery trek through San Diego County in October and I took another trip last Saturday.  We'd planned to visit 3 or 4 nurseries but only made it to 2, which was entirely my fault.  I spent so long at the first nursery, Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria, we didn't have time to make the other stops we'd planned in Santa Barbara County without sacrificing our plan to swing by Sperling Nursery in Calabasas on the way home.  Still, I managed to fill the trunk and backseat of my friend's car.  In my defense, I do have a lot of area to fill now that our front yard is finally (mostly) ready for planting.  I'll provide an update on the progress my husband and I've made there in the near future but, for now, I thought I'd share the highlights of last Saturday's trip.

I've posted photos of Seaside Gardens before but there's always something new to see.  Half the 3-acre nursery is devoted to a demonstration garden, which is worth a visit all by itself.  I started in the Australian area and meandered through the adjoining South African and Mediterranean areas.

Unspecified variety of Banksia

I'm not a palm aficionado but I stopped in my tracks when I saw this one, which I think must be Bismarckia nobilis

There were several impressive Duranta repens grown as small trees.  This one had a mass of Tagetes lemmonii at its feet.

The garden has a large group of mature Leucadendron, underplanted with Osteospermum

I think most of these were Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' - who knew they could get that big?

Lomandra longifolia, which I've used extensively in my own garden as a grass substitute

The most beautiful mass planting of Russelia equisetiformis I've ever seen anywhere

Next up was the succulent and desert plants area.

The sun was high in the sky so my photos are over-exposed but the view is still glorious

Aloes were in bloom everywhere - I think this one is A. arborescens

Aloe saponaria

Aloe wickensii

Ponytail palms (Beaucarnea recurvata)?

Cotyledon orbiculata (aka Pig's Ear)

Dasylirion longissimum

A mass planting of Kalanchoe (no ID)

I checked out the grasses too.

I loved this low-growing grass, Tripsacum floridana, but it wasn't available for sale

These tall grasses looked wonderful in the sun

There were also lots of interesting plants for sale, including:

Grevillea 'Little Honey'

Grevillea 'Long John,' which is said to be similar to the smaller G. 'Bonfire' I planted in my garden a few months ago

Grevillea 'Ned Kelly' - mine hasn't yet bloomed

Grevillea 'Robyn Gordon,' which is similar to the G. 'Superb' in my garden

I was very tempted by this Phylica pubescens until I saw the $400 price tag

I was on the look-out for Grevillea 'Peaches and Cream,' which Seaside didn't have; however, I managed to pick up a dozen small succulents and a half-dozen other plants before we left.  After lunch, we drove back south and stopped at another of my favorite nurseries, Sperling, in Calabasas.  I didn't take many photos there - I was too busy plant shopping.  In preparing this post, I discovered that the Sperling property is up for sale, a prospect that I've feared since I heard that the founder had passed away.  I'm very afraid that the 10+ acre property could be sold to a developer, which will be deeply disappointing as this is a truly great nursery.

I did make a quick round of the gift shop, a place I rarely get to when visiting Sperling

If I didn't have my husband hard at work laying paving stones in our front yard, I'd ask him to make me a replica of these wooden deer

And I took note of a new collection of small-sized Agave specimens, 2 of which came home with me

That's it for Saturday's jaunt, which lightened my pocketbook but produced a haul of 35 plants (not including 4 my friend sent home with me).  Since Saturday, I've spent all my free moments planting but still have a lot left to get in the ground ahead of the rain storm forecasters are predicting for early next week.  I'll share photos of some of the new additions soon.


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