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Notable Nurseries
Episode 1
B etween Christmas and New Years, when I’m bored and stuck in the house because it’s raining and I have a cold, what do I do?
I count nurseries I’ve visited. Don’t you?
In the past 10 years, AP and I visited over 200 nurseries.
Yep, that’s me and AP—Aunt Patti for any newbie readers out there.
Two-hundred-plus is a lot of nurseries! But I’ve visited more than 100 more by myself or with my hubby or BFF. That makes well over 300 individual nurseries I’ve been to!
Some of them rate very high and deserve an entire blog post here. Some rate very low—a waste of time—and don’t deserve a mention.
Then there are nurseries that rate high and do deserve a mention but not an entire post.
Post #102 is “Episode One” of those Notable Nurseries that in my (perfect) judgement are visit-worthy but not ready for the full blog post treatment!
Yup, it’s the start of another binge-worthy series of reads from your favorite Plant Nursery Maven—which is like an expert but with a bit of obsessive prima-donna mixed in. (Ok, I’ll take that!)
Sunshine Gardens
155 Quail Gardens Drive
Encinitas, CA
Sometimes I am leery of nurseries located in very nice neighborhoods. They tend to be “neat and tidy” and VERY boring. Not this one!
Even though this nursery is now closed (after 50 years in business), these photos still inspire me and show how fun and interesting a nursery can be.
Before we even parked, we knew it was going to be a very eclectic nursery—my favorite type.
Once we got out of the car and saw inside…holy crap, we knew it was a great day already!
At the entrance, separating the In and Out, stood a 15-foot terra cotta pot of gorgeous succulents.
This just hinted at the beauty and surprises yet to come! Here are some highlights…
There are plenty of ordinary nurseries that have live animals—a chicken, a dog or cat. No ordinary nursery, Sunshine Gardens featured no ordinary animals!
Who’s Richard? Here he is, snoozing on the job…
Sunshine Gardens closed to make way for a 140-unit apartment complex. So sad.
Fernwood Gardens
12090 Fernwood Drive
Madera, CA
Unfortunately this nursery is also gone now. But I remember how the place made us feel like we had stepped into the Wild, Wild, West.
But OMG, it was 110-degrees the day we visited. It was so damn hot, even the plants were crying for relief: “Take me, take me, take me!”
If you live where it’s hot, I recommend you let one of these plants convince you to take it home…
Caesalpinia pulcherrima (Red Bird of Paradise)
Stunning! Give me a good orange-flowering plant any day.
And give me an eclectic nursery like this one with a little of this and that. Love, love, love! Even if it was so hot we could only suffer a 20-minute walkthrough, we saw plenty we liked.
I was so tempted to grab this house plant…
I’ve tried over and over to successfully grow that plant….probably killed 5 or more of them in 20 years.
I had one in my house that started to look bad so I threw it outside and forgot about it—which means I refused to talk to it.
But lo and behold, it survived and is happy as hell out there. Now I talk to it all the time.
You know how I love garden art. If only I’d had my van back then, I would have grabbed me up one of these…
And that’s a wrap for Episode One!
Happy New Year to you all!
In 2025 I’ll try to get as many posts out to you as I can. I’ve got way too many floating around, clogging up my head!
Until the next one finds its way out, Happy Gardening, Friends!
