East Bay Nursery
2332 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702 • (510) 845-6490
I t was on a day trip to the Bay Area last year when AP and I first stumbled upon East Bay Nursery.
What?! Hadn’t we already visited every single nursery in Berkeley by now? How did this one escape our itinerary? It’s been in business since 1942!
After AP and I visit a new nursery, I immediately begin drafting a blog post about it in my head where I file it away “for later.”
Well I turn 60 this year (don’t go blabbing that around!) and my brain files are getting mixed up. A whole year and I haven’t blogged about this fantastic place?
Never mind. The point is, AP and I were thrilled to find it and we’ve gone again since. And I gotta’ say, all nursery buildings should be as pretty as East Bay Nursery’s…
Is that not inviting?
By the way, that woman in white who’s checking out the half-price pots? Yup, it’s a rare AP sighting!
Let’s have a look inside. You’re going to wish you were there. Just sayin’.
Nice, but let’s go over to my favorite thing: foliage, aka EVERGREENS!!!
I sometimes say that visiting a great nursery is better than sex, and well, foliage can really do it for me. Thank you, East Bay Nursery.
It also excites me to find plants that are NEW on the market!!! (“You saw them first right here.”)
My heart beats for gold foliage, and chartreuse foliage, and yellow foliage!
If you’re looking for Lomandra and can’t make it to Bay Area Nursery, Green Acres Nurseries in the Sacramento area now have them. Prices are a tad expensive, if you ask me, but gas from here to Berkeley and back ‘aint cheap either.
For Lomandra, I would suggest a mass planting on a slope or in place of a lawn. A border of Lomandra with perennials flowering behind would make a pretty picture!
This is pretty too…
Alyogyne huegelii ‘White Swan’ (White Flowering Blue Hibiscus)
Why say “Blue” in the common name? Plant looks green to me. I could research it to find out (because I have so much time for that) but I’m happy enough just being annoyed by it.
Anyway, I have never seen white flowers for this particular genus. Lovely!
Here’s another lovely thing that came home with me from East Bay Nursery…
Taxus c. ‘Dwarf Bright Gold’ (Yew Dwarf Gold English Yew)
I cannot resist a Yew of that color. This Gold Yew is my 5th one…or 6th. I could go out and count, but why? (Just be happy for me.)
It grows to a nice 4 by 4-feet and keeps its gorgeous chartreuse color all year long. You have to give it some afternoon shade though if you live in heat.
I bought this very unusual bronzy-gold Hebe knowing it would make a nice addition to any container.
Hebe ‘James Stirling’
Yeah, but it’s dead now. Lasted maybe 3 months. I don’t do well with Hebes. Why do I keep trying?
I’m not big on Alstroemerias, but I could not pass up the vibrant flowers on this one…
Alstroemeria ‘Inticancha Indian Summer’
I put it in the same container as the Hebe and the Dwarf Gold Yew, and the combination was stunning…well, until death came for the Hebe.
I stuck an extra Geum ‘Petticoat’s Peach’ in the dead Hebe’s place, but the Alstroemeria has taken over and you can barely see the Geum here…
When I found this tall, narrow gold Yew, I really wanted to buy it…
Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Korean Gold’ (Korean Gold Plum Yew)
But I told myself I shouldn’t buy it because…well…I do need to be selective. (Haha! Do I really?)
On second thought now, maybe I DID buy it. Oh, good lord, I need to go out and find where I put it!
Here’s a rare plant I bought on our very first visit to East Bay Nursery…
Hunnermania fumariifolia (Mexican Tulip Poppy)
I figured it would not survive my winter, but you know how I am about RARE plants, and I said to myself, “Hell, why not give it a try?!”
So winter came and went and, shock-a-roo! It survived!
It grows to 3 by 3-feet, flowers best in full sun, and those beauties are 12-inches across!
I also found this Sisyrinchium at East Bay. Here’s how its flowers look when at their best…
Sisyrinchium striatum ‘Aunt May’ (Variegated Argentine Grass)
It’s an evergreen, clumping perennial that has grass-like growth (similar to variegated Iris). It spreads to 12 inches.
When I got it home I put it in a raised bed in my holding area.
It’s there because I want to propagate it (shhhhh…) for later use.
Okay, now, I would not have given this Thymus a second thought…
Thymus pulegioides ‘Foxley’ (Variegated Broadleaf Thyme)
…but AP went nuts over it, and I thought, “What the hell—why spoil her moment?” So I bought one too. It is rather sweet.
Before ending our visit at East Bay Nursery, I had a moment of my own with a stupid Azalea. I couldn’t decide whether to buy it or not.
It’s embarrassing how many times I put it on my cart and then took it off again. It ended up ON my cart but cost me $54.95!
Azalea Exbury Hybrid ‘Cannon’s Double’
No surprise what drew me to put it on my cart in the first place. Those bright green leaves tipped with hints of orange-red-maroon. (In fall, the orange-red-maroon takes completely over.) And those gorgeous clusters of double flowers in shades of yellow, white, orange and pink that you can’t take your eyes off.
So it’s fabulous, but I did NOT need ANOTHER stupid Azalea! Especially one that grows to 8-feet tall and wide.
So off my cart it came. But how could I pass up all that beauty?
My head went back and forth, and the Azaelia went on and off the cart—until the poor thing probably got whiplash—and I felt like the damn plant was making ME stupid!
AP stood there watching the whole thing and finally said, “Just put it on the cart and let’s go.”
So I did.
It’s exhausting, Readers, when you fall for a plant that you know you don’t need but something inside you refuses to “Just Say No,” and a little fight scene breaks out in your head. Exhausting!
By the time we walked out, AP and I were starving. We’d had a nice adventure at East Bay Nursery and after loading up the van we felt almost too weak to get in and drive to our next destination, Annies Annuals & Perennials.
Then right across the street we spotted a place to eat.
Who wouldn’t want to eat at a place called, “Food Garden!?”
We both got the burritos to-go—which were huge. Then while I drove us to Annies, AP ate hers. “You’re going to find this interesting,” she said after a few bites.
And I did. You expect burritos to have Mexican spices, but these had Indian spices. Interesting and delicious! I ate every last bite of mine while waltzing around Annies.
Does life get any better than eating good food while you’re shopping for plants at a great nursery?
It almost makes spending time with the grandkids come in second.
Nah…
