62 My Waiting List
July 22, 2022
64 Good Things Come in Twos
August 19, 2022
Grass Farm’s Garden Accents
11155 Lena Ave, Gilroy, CA 95020 • (408) 846-4555
Website
N o need to have sex on the day you visit Grass Farm’s Garden Accents. There is pleasure at every turn! (OMG, I crack myself up sometimes. Before posting I have to edit myself 10 times because I write what’s in my head and let’s just say my head isn’t always reader-appropriate!)
As far as the eye can see—right from the freeway—rows and rows of pottery…
See those clouds? Ahhh, it was a beautiful 70-degree day back in spring. (Miss those days.)
The freeway exit for this place takes you on that overpass from blog post #56 which you’ll remember AP and I crossed over multiple times before finding that damn Mexican restaurant (haha) food truck.
Turns out the burritos were 5-star and that we would need the nourishment before our “better than sex” experience at Garden Accents!
I trusted that AP had navigated us to the right address—but in spite of that sign—when we drove into the gravel parking lot of a building that at first looked like a manufacturing facility of some kind, and with cars whizzing past on the freeway just yards away, I almost wondered, was this the right place?
But no, in all our visits to nurseries, we’ve learned not to judge one by its exterior!
Once we parked and got a glimpse at some of Garden Accent’s interior, we were glad we hadn’t done a drive-by and headed off to the next nursery on our list.
We parked right in front of this lovely lady…
I still think she should have come home with me.
Behind her stood these 3 fellows…
I texted that picture of them to my BFF Evelyn, saying “bronze statues for Chas.” She replied, “Don’t even…!!!” Chas would have put those soldiers up-close and center in her yard, and they are soooo NOT Evelyn’s cup of tea!
But I did see something I knew was MY cup of tea!
Duh! I needed that sign to come home with me so all my guests would know—in case they didn’t—that the new shed on our property is not just ANY shed. It’s a She Shed. I’m the She, and the Shed is MINE. LOL
As you enter Garden Accent’s gate you feel like an anxious squirrel–”which way do I go?!” Because you look at the long walkway and see loveliness all the way down. Garden art, statutes, plants, pots, fountains, display gardens.
Holy crap it is beautiful!
AP and I went to the left because we didn’t need restrooms at that moment and we always save the gift shop for last.
Want plants? They got plants!
Love that sign. Short and sweet.
And they got all kinds of plants…
Which is near where I found this lovely thing…
Leucospermum ‘Veldfire’ (Pincushion)
LOVE themed gardens. Don’t you?
Then there’s THIS theme…
Succulents! AP was beside herself.
But I was beside myself over this…
You know how I LOVE screens and I wanted to snatch this hummingbird screen right up. But I refuse to pay retail for a screen, and this one was $360.
Nope. Sadly I walked away and then found some stuff that someone (not me) is gonna’ LOVE and will want to take home with them.
Then this huge sign caught my eye and made my heart start to palpitate with joy.
I went toward it and, lo and behold, guess what I found? My hummingbird screen! It was exactly the same but this one had a broken leg.
Well I immediately thought of my handy dandy husband who can fix anything and who’s an excellent welder. And at 50% off, I snatched that hummingbird screen right up after all!
Professional Nursery Shopper tip: Always check the bargain area!
At home I set my hummingbird among the timber bamboo as you pass by. It fills up a void in that spot.
Beauty AND function! Because shopping is not about just buying stuff you like. If you’re creative about your needs, every purchase has a reason and a place.
OMG I love love loved this face…
It’s huge and very heavy and would be beautiful on an exterior wall—say, behind our pool bar.
It was 50% off too, and I had a place for it, but it had a chip high on the nose. Hmmm. I stood there looking and trying to figure how Mike could fix that so it wouldn’t show.
Hmmm. Bummer. Had to walk away. And onto the pots.
This place has pots and pots and pots! Some, displayed in groupings…
I walked quickly past this grouping. Purple and white are NOT a good color combo!
But I slowed way down for this…
In the first place, I LOVE white. Then I looked more closely and saw that the smaller pots were formed on one side to fit snugly against the big one. OMG! Genius!!!!!!!!!!!
The tag said $650, and I stood there staring at them for the longest time. Buy? Or not buy? It wasn’t the price…because when I fall for something I’ve never seen that’s this amazing and perfect, I feel like I must have it.
The real question in my mind was where were they needed? Where would I put these white pots? Gawd, it’s hard being me, because like I said, things need a reason and a place. And I wasn’t coming up with one.
I yelled for AP–”Come here!”—and we spent 10 minutes or more discussing those pots. She even wanted them herself. But there was only one set and I told her “Well, I’ve got the van, you don’t.” That ended it. She left.
I know, a bit mean. On our trips she gets half the van for her stuff.
But she can be a little mean herself. Like at every nursery, if an employee comes to her and asks if she needs help, she always points to where I am and says, “Her, over there. She writes a blog. Go see her.” Then I have to take the time to deal with a “helpful” staff person because I’m too nice to just wave them off.
Well she did it at Garden Accents, causing me to act all nice and engaging with employee “Dave” (nice man, actually) who wanted to know all about our travels and my blog. He was full of information about Garden Accents and made sure to tell me all about its offerings so I could give a good report in my blog.
He needn’t have worried.
Since it seemed he was with me to stay, I asked Dave what he knew about the white pots.
He said they were new to the retail market (of course…I got an eye for “new”) and very rare (of course…I got an eye for “rare”). But he couldn’t tell me where I needed them at my place. And by then I’d spent too much time with those pots and I felt ready to move on.
In the end, they did not come home with me. Now it’s 3 months later that I’m writing this and I am still thinking about those damn white pots!!!
I have other photos from that day and this one is me thinking about the pots…
Saved the gift shop for the end, so if you really must…
Though I have to say, Garden Accents has a beautiful gift shop and not all of it is crap. I actually saw things which would have come home with me if I’d had a reason!
Saw this there and it brings tears of joy…
I hope you feel the same.
