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

Nursery trip (part 2) and new plants

Our second nursery stop last Saturday was Terra Sol Garden Center in Santa Barbara County.  It's much smaller than Seaside Gardens and doesn't have any display gardens but I've always found it to be a great resource for new plants.  I don't think I've ever left that garden center empty-handed, often spending more there than I do at Seaside.  (You can view my earlier post on Seaside here.)

Views of plants for sale

I was surprised at how much this plant looked like the Acacia 'Cousin Itt' I grow in my garden.  It's 'Itts' bigger brother, Acacia cognata, aka river wattle.  The flowers are just like those currently peppering my "little river wattle".

Plants I noticed but didn't purchase included, clockwise from the upper left, Pilea peperomioides in flower, Pyrrosia (?) in a hanging basket, and Veltheimia.  I came very close to buying a Veltheimia as I've admired the flowering bulbs a neighbor has scattered through her street-side succulent bed but I planted 2 of these bulbs years ago and, even given this year's rain, they haven't bloomed in recent memory.

Terra Sol offers a lot of garden decor items and a many pots outfitted to serve as fountains

Statues, especially Buddhas, are plentiful, if pricey

 

The garden center has a well-rounded selection of small-to-large succulents, and it frequently has succulents you don't commonly see elsewhere.

This Hildewintera colademononis, aka monkey tail cactus, was one of the rarer specimens on display on this visit.  (You can see it in flower here.)

While Terra Sol doesn't have landscape displays, it has a lot of containers planted with succulents.  Some of these were for sale but the larger ones are provided as inspiration.  The bottom photos are 2 sides of the same fountain-style planter.

 

So what did I bring home from this trip?

This was my haul from Terra Sol, shown below in my garden

My biggest investment was the 2-gallon Leucosperum cordifolium 'California Sunshine' shown in the upper left, which currently looks very small in the spot I selected for it (formerly occupied by an 8-foot tall Duranta).  Clockwise from the top right are: Carex 'Feather Falls', Anemone coronaria 'Mistral Bordeaux', Gasteria morombe, and Sedum 'Cape Blanco'.

 

And, for the record, here's what I took home from Seaside Gardens.

Prior to planting

Top row: Lophomyrtus x ralphii 'Little Star', including foliage closeup
Bottom row: Leucadendron laxum (still unplanted), Cuphea 'Starlight' (also sold as 'Starfire Pink'), and Coprosma 'Evening Glow'

As it turned out, we timed our trip well.  The skies opened up once more on Wednesday and again on Thursday.  It was dry and sunny all afternoon yesterday even though gray storm clouds hovered in the background.  There's a slight chance of rain again on Monday but at present it looks like it'll pass us by.  Another forecasting agency suggests that there's currently a 58 percent chance of yet another storm a week from today but I'm not convinced of that prospect at present.

Yesterday morning's view of Angel's Gate, the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles, from my back garden

  

Best wishes for a pleasant weekend, in the garden or not.  I stopped by my local garden center Thursday afternoon to pick up things to fill in around recent plantings and serve as groundcovers in bare spots so I'll be busy for awhile at least.

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

Plant shopping!

The weekend before last, a friend and I headed north to visit two of our favorite plant nurseries.  As my friend wanted to connect with her nephew and his fiancee while they were in town for a wedding, we drove directly to Santa Barbara first, spending a little time with them at the Terra Sol Garden Center before stopping for lunch at a nearby restaurant offering outdoor seating.

I didn't dilly-dally at Terra Sol.  My focus was on locating plants to fill the many empty spots in my garden so I snapped only a few photos.

This Passiflora vine was too large to even consider hauling home

Terra Sol isn't big but it's always packed with good quality plants at reasonable prices

A nice display featuring Cordyline, Coprosma, Agastache, Plectranthus (coleus) and Pelargoniums

The shade plant area featured 2 arresting sculptural pieces

And of course I had to say hello to the friendly garden cat

After leaving my friend's nephew and his fiancee following lunch, my tour of Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria was  somewhat more leisurely, although my focus was still on plants to fit the needs of my garden. 

I always make at least 2 rounds of the sale tables to ensure I don't miss anything

Seaside had a garden cat too

After I made my plant selections, there was time to check out Seaside's demonstration gardens, starting with the Cottage Garden.

The Buddlejas and Salvias were going a good job of attracting butterflies.  We spotted both Monarchs and Gulf Fritillaries.

Although there were butterflies all over, this was the best photo I managed to catch

After a very long dry season, most of the garden spaces, including the Grassland area, were subdued

The Echiums in the Mediterranean Garden finished blooming long ago

The Succulent Garden always looks good, even without floral color

The Leucadendrons provided spots of color in the South African Garden.  As in my own garden, the Osteospermums were just beginning to bounce back in response to cooler conditions.

We were surprised to see a few Lotus still in bloom in the Asian Garden's pond

I bought plants at both garden centers but I'll share my purchases later this week.  In the meantime, here are some plants I didn't buy but did stop to think about.

If I thought Banksia spinulosa 'Schnapper's Point' (upper left) would be happy in a pot I'd have bought it but it really needs a lot of room.  I was surprised to see the Pyrrosia lingua 'Ogon Nishiki' (upper right) labeled as drought tolerant but I've been disappointed by drought-tolerant ferns before.  Two Tibouchina heteromalla (lower right) died in my current garden years before drought conditions reached their current state.  I mainly sighed over Yucca 'Bright Star' (lower left) - smaller than the specimen I recently cut to the ground in the hope it'll regenerate, this one was priced at $110.

I've spent much of my time the past week working in my garden.  Most of the 3 cubic yards of mulch I had dumped in the driveway two weeks ago has been distributed, with just a little held back in reserve.  I've continued to dig out plants that didn't weather conditions well over the past year.  As our temperatures have cooled, I've taken some cuttings and I've begun installing my new purchases.  I even have an order of plants scheduled for delivery by mail on Friday.  Fall is a very busy season here!

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party