57 Plant and Pottery Outlet
May 13, 2022
59 Got Pot?
June 10, 2022
Alden Lane Nursery
981 Alden Lane, Livermore, CA 94550 • (925) 447-0280
Website • Facebook • Instagram
I
am speechless! Shocking, I know, but blame (or thank) Alden Lane Nursery which is truly a jaw-dropping destination nursery! When that woman in your phone says, “You have arrived at your destination,” Alden’s is what she means. You need no other destination.
When AP and I first arrived we drove in and then back out of the “employees only” parking area (for kicks and giggles lets blame me this time). When finally we figured out where the damn public entrance was and saw the front of the nursery for the first time, I thought, “Is this someone’s home? If not, I’m going to move in.”
Alden’s sits among gorgeous century-old oak trees. Take a look at this long long branch growing low…stretching almost from one side of the photo to the other.
It just keeps going and going on its own with no support! Not sure I’d want to be that woman standing under it. LOL. At least she’s smiling and looking right at me as I’m taking the picture. (Is this lady photo bombing me?)
Well that’s Alden’s for you. Speechless, and you can’t stop smiling.
Before you enter through the front arches, there is a plethora of garden art.
Even ignoring the gnomes you can spend serious money before you even make it to the plants!
Map in hand—which you absolutely need because you do not want to miss seeing anything—we walked through the arches into the nursery proper and I had to stop right there for—it seemed—entire minutes just standing and staring, taking it all in.
Holy crap, it’s lovely.
When I recovered, I turned to the right which is my norm. AP usually follows along at first then we disperse and meet up later though often we yell at each other across the way to “come here!”
We never made it to the house plants, but we did make it to here and here and…
Alden’s also has a huge assortment of pots…
…all available for the low price of, well, if you want my meager two-cents opinion, I thought they were all a bit pricey.
I am NOT a fan of the “ombre look” on pots (or on anything if I really have to say it), but LOVE LOVE LOVE these pots with yellow, green and touches of blue.
But NOT for FIVE-HUNDRED DOLLARS$$$!!! Holy crap! Why!? No way they’re big or thick enough to demand that kind of money!
But I kept browsing and, lucky me, ran across cobalt blue pots at 50% off. I love cobalt blue, and I couldn’t resist!
I bought all 3 matching pots which now sit temporarily at the lamp post next to my She Shed (see post #49)…
…which by the way is STILL not painted even though I wait—oh so patiently—for that man (you know who you are) to get it done. But apparently it’s “too windy” every single day he is home from work. Mmm-hmm. And I know a perfect place to put a weather vane.
I bought that Ginkgo biloba ‘Mariken’ in the top pot at Alden’s too. It’s a dwarf somewhat weepy tree that in 10 years might reach 2-feet high and 2-feet wide. At full maturity (if I’m lucky) it might be a nice 3 by 8.
At checkout, a lovely older employee said how lucky I am to have chosen this particular Ginkgo. It is very rare and is known to have been cultivated from a witches’ broom found growing on a species tree in Holland. Just amazing!
And that, My Readers, is why I travel. To find the unique and the rare. I have an eye if not always the wallet for it, and I’m damn proud of that. Even when I can’t afford the rare, I still love to search and discover it.
The pot in front (above) is housing the Casuarina glauca ‘Cousin It’ (Prostrate Swamp Oak) I bought at Robby’s until I can find the perfect pot for it.
I’ve mentioned how rare this plant is, but a while back while waltzing through Summerwinds in Cupertino, I turned a corner and there it was! I find it in a chain garden store?? Here’s proof…
I know I’m supposed to be smitten speechless by Alden’s, but now that I’ve brought up Summerwinds, my brain won’t let it go until I share this absolutely gorgeous pink Heather I stumbled across there…
Erica ventricosa (Italian Heather)
I am not one to get all giddy over Heathers because—due to winter temperatures—I’ve killed every single one I’ve ever tried to grow. Well I could hardly tear myself away from this one! Those thick plump blossoms and pretty white/pink colors! Lucky my natural plant-mercy intervened and kept me from taking it home to certain death.
Now back to Alden’s and a plant that won’t suffer death by coming home with me: this Euphorbia…
Euphorbia lathyrus (Gopher Spurge)
You know how much I love Euphorbias! I had to have this one if only for its uniqueness.
In spite of it’s name, did you know it’s only a myth that Euphorbias repel gophers? (I know, Readers, it makes me sad, too.) I’ve got a gopher right now reeking havoc and in spite of my many Euphorbias (over 10 varieties!) the damn thing shows no signs of being repelled. So, because I have no natural gopher-mercy, it’s TIME TO KILL! In fact me and my ‘lil gardening friend Sue (Hi!) are serial killers. We take pictures of our kills to share with each other. So satisfying!
On the way out of Alden’s of course there’s a gift store filled with knick-knacks to clutter the mind. There’s also a lawncare section featuring a flying “mow and blow” kid with a floating push mower.
Why don’t you see many kids out mowing lawns and weeding like back in the day? I swear they’re all allergic. Or so I’ve heard…from my own kids. Being the die-hard optimist that I am though, I have hopes that my grandkids will take after me.
(Better than sitting in a bar.)
I guess you know by now that being struck speechless with me actually means I got plenty to say. Thank gawd for places like Alden Lane Nursery that keep my mouth on the good side of language!
