87 Succulent Gardens
August 11, 2023
89 Eleven Plant Stories from My Garden
September 8, 2023
Garden’s By The Sea
1500 N. Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas, CA
W e found Garden’s By The Sea tucked behind some buildings off the main road and down a narrow side street. With no clear signs telling you exactly where to turn in, you’ve got to be a good navigator to find it which, in our experience, requires multiple U-turns. And I promise it was NOT my lead foot (in this case) that made us fly by too fast to turn in!
These U-turns are the kind where you have to drive a mile out of your way before you can even turn. Okay…so do this 4 times!
By the second U-turn I was so annoyed I almost gave up and drove into the donut shop we passed going back and forth.
When we completed enough U-turns and finally drove into the lot, we couldn’t see much because the nursery itself was hidden behind walls and fences.
A good indicator of a great nursery is one where the plants and products spill out into the driveway. But when you can’t see much from the outside, you don’t know what you’re going to get, and your hopes are bound to have their doubts.
But when AP and I parked and entered Garden’s By The Sea, our doubts disappeared at the sight of lush beautiful displays of plants and garden art all around us. OMG, it was fabulous!
Doing my usual 360-degree turn to get a view and decide where to go next, I noticed that most of the hardscape—display tables, shelves, arbors, fencing, pots—were all white!
Genius! This allows the plants and garden art to really pop. And I thought, “Well done, Garden’s By The Sea!”
We looked around a little more…
And then BAM, the perfect sale sign EVER!
Look at those discounts! My big regret remembering that day is that I didn’t have my big work van on that trip. If I had, it would have been filled to the brim with discounted pots.
And you all know how I love BLUE pots!!!!
And you know how much AP loves her succulents—as these are HER photos (shocking, I know).
It was love at first sight when AP and I saw these lady head pots!…
We loved them so much we each bought one.
For this post I asked AP to send me a pic of her head. Like me, for the photo she hurried and shoved a plant in it—which of course was a succulent.
I shoved a Lewisia in mine…
I still have not found the perfect “hair” plant for her…or should the plant resemble a hat instead? Hmmmm.
As you near the end of the nursery—you know that area at the far far back of nurseries where hidden gems are often on sale—well there was a sign speaking to all Grandmas.
Need I say more 🙂
We took our heads up to the checkout, and I got talking with the saleslady about All Things Plants and our travels visiting nurseries. When I told her about my blog she said she would subscribe.
So…nice lady who sold us our heads…did you?
Usually when I finalize a nursery post, I pop onto the nursery’s website and have a look. I’m sad to report, Readers, that since our visit there, this one has permanently closed.
It’s sad, but now no one will ever have to endure multiple U-turns to get there.
Even if it’s gone, Garden’s By The Sea Nursery was too wonderful not to post this. It will be remembered by these photos (and more you can find on Google) and by plant lovers like me who appreciate the creativity and fresh ideas they find at really good nurseries like this one.
Thanks for inspiring us, Garden’s By The Sea!
