111 Confessions of a Seed Starter
July 18, 2026
Botanica Nursery and Gardens
3970 Azalea Avenue, Sebastopol, CA, 95472 • (707) 823-6832
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otanica Nursery and Gardens has been around since 1964 under the name, Azalea Farms. Through the years it has changed ownerships and names, but no matter, I have always wanted to visit.
In our 6 nursery trips to the Sebastopol/Santa Rosa area, AP and I could have stopped at Botanica. And honestly, I don’t know why we never did.
Well maybe I do….
Botanica is known for shade-loving plants—Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Ferns and the like—but who doesn’t have a stick of shade in her yard? AP! What could Botanica offer her to ooh and aah over?
Oohing and aahing over a plant’s beauty is one thing. But with plant-passionate people, there’s also some drooling going on. Your eyes say, “that’s pretty,” but your heart says, “I need that!”
So while there’d probably be no drooling by sun-loving AP, she did reluctantly agree to go with me. We were coming out of Winter and she needed a “fix,” she said.
We found Botanica at the end of a single-lane road in a residential area—which really is not odd. Having visited over 500 nurseries, I never question a nursery location. (Although more than once I’ve wondered, “Is this safe?”)
We arrived right at opening on a cool morning with a marine layer overhead.
The instant I opened the car door, the smell hit me. It smelled like home!
Yes, Readers, here I go again mentioning Northern California’s Humboldt County where I grew up with Sequoias in my backyard and the ocean 15-minutes away.
That smell of old forest plus my kind of cool weather, I was already loving my Botanica experience.
AP? Not so much. Just like her garden, she loves sunny and hot!
Botanica is more than a nursery, it’s also a botanical reserve with trails through a garden forest, lush ferns, flowering shrubs and tall redwoods.
Since this was our first visit, AP and I chose to walk Botanica’s trails before waltzing through it’s plant nursery.
Here are a few photos of just things that caught my eye. I don’t want to spoil the beauties of this place for you too much. You’ll have to plan your own visit!
The nursery itself is one of the not-neat, not-tidy kinds. But who cares when the end result is a living thing.
Oh! The joys of the hunt!
Here’s a nursery photo of a Rhody I bought at Botanica for its chartreuse variegated leaves…
Rhododendron ‘President Roosevelt’
You know how I’m a foliage gal, so the blossoms are just a cherry on top!
President Roosevelt grows up to 5-feet tall and wide and so is considered a compact shrub. When I bought him, I knew just where in my garden he would go: in a black ceramic pot at the understory of a Redwood tree.
Once home, I got the black pot and irrigation line in place before I ran out of time to plant the plant. I told myself, “this weekend, for sure.”
Well, a whole month has passed and President Roosevelt is still not in his pot. Turns out, the place I picked gets no shade until early afternoon. That’s too much direct sun for a Rhody.
So I decided on a different place with perfect shade to filtered sun. But it would put the President too close to another variegated shrub, and I don’t want him to have to share the glory!
So I’m at an impasse—not sure what to do. Okay, I am sure—I’ll sit on it for another month!
Here’s another Rhody I bought for its variegated leaves…
Rhododendron ‘Ponticum’
The blossoms are beautiful! But as I monitor it daily—as I do all my plants—I’m not sure now that I like the leaves. Do their white parts make the plant feel “cold?” I don’t know. There’s something I need to figure out about this plant…or about me.
Sigh. Sometimes gardening can be such an inner journey!
In the meantime, here’s another compact Rhody I got at Botanica…
Rhododendron ‘Cunninghams White’
After mentioning white on leaves that makes a plant feel cold, It seems ironic to say I bought Cunninghams White for its deep green leaves but mainly for its white blossoms!
I LOOOOOVE WHITE in my gardens. But I’m struggling with mixed feelings about Cunninghams White. Where should I put it?
(Readers, I know I have issues, but aren’t they lovely issues to have?!)
Here’s a gorgeous plant AP and I spotted at the same time…
Buxus sempervirens ‘Variegata’
Never in a million years would I have thought it to be a Boxwood, let alone a variegated Boxwood.
Look how it weeps and drips. So beautiful! We both bought one.
Here’s mine…
Okay, yes, it’s a tiny 1-gallon plant that will take 50 years to reach mature growth.
But being patient is NOT one of my issues. I love planting a “little one” and nurturing it along.
As we finished up at Botanica, our sales clerk, Wendy, happened to be the owner. We chit-chatted for awhile, and I asked her, “Aren’t you overwhelmed?” Because I would be as caretaker to a forest garden and botanical reserve plus running a nursery.
She chuckled, “Of course. But I love every minute of it.”
If you’re in the area and make a visit to this place, you’ll know why Wendy loves it.
No spoilers…but Botanica is special.
Even sun-worshipping AP seemed to enjoy her morning in its shade.
