98 It’s Coming…
March 8, 2024
Nursery Hop, Skip & Jump
S pring has sprung and AP and I are just itching to get to a nursery—any nursery, does not matter if it’s near or far!
Okay, okay, I do go to nurseries 2 or 3 times a week but not for myself. So it’s a different mindset. (Though sometimes I let my motto kick in and buy: “one for you, one for me.”)
To scratch our nursery itch, AP and I decided recently to visit some nurseries in the Santa Rosa and Sebastopol area where there are so many nurseries it really is just a “hop, skip and a jump” from one to the other.
We decided to go on a Tuesday, so AP thought to make sure the nurseries would be open—and thank gawd she did. These days, some close on Mondays and on Tuesdays.
WHY, people?! The plants don’t need an extra day off. And there are people here with serious itches that require accessible nurseries! For Plant sakes, we had to skip a few good ones. Which annoys me to no end!
The first nursery on our list was King’s Nursery in Santa Rosa. It’s been in operation since 1896.
Prior to arriving, AP asked, “Have we been to King’s?”
I said, “Yes, remember? We ate our Chipotle burritos there while shopping.”
She remembered because it’s always a great day when you eat while shopping for plants. (Add a cupcake to the end of the day, and it’s the best day ever!)
That was back in 2017. I bought a Dianthus there which is generally grown for florists as a cut flower for arrangements.
Dianthus barbatus ‘Green Ball’ (Sweet William)
Well mine did not grow as tall as in the photo. Quite frankly at summer’s end, it did not make me want to shout “Wow…so glad I bought this for my garden!”
Anyway, it’s a hardy annual—or tender perennial—so it’s dead now. As you know—nothing “tender” survives my place.
As you walk into King’s, the full sun perennials are up front on the left, roses on the right, and a row of beautiful annuals and perennials is planted along the side fences.
In the back are shade plants, pots, succulents and other things that catch your eye or make you go, “What is this?”
!?!?!?
I must say, King’s has a terrific assortment of pots with interesting textures and patterns that I haven’t seen anywhere else.
Of course I was tempted to buy a few. But, seriously, do I need another pot to add to my collection? (Oh, no, of COURSE NOT!)
AP struggled with a decision to buy this pot, priced at $160 and comes in several colors…
A pot like that would hold a huge assortment of AP’s succulents that she’s trying to get out of small pots and into larger ones—which is something we potted-plant-people often have to grapple with.
In the end she passed it up.
For it’s golden color, I COULDN’T pass THIS up…
Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Golden Mop’
I knew just where to put it, too.
Remember the black pot I replaced with that humongous pewter one which my husband helped me put into place? Look at it now…
Love love love the color! Nothing like yellow hues to brighten a shady spot.
The mature size of Golden Mop is 5 feet. But it will take 10 years to reach just 2 feet! So I think I’m good keeping it in this size pot for a long while.
Not often do I come across a climbing hydrangea in a nursery.
I had 2 climbing hydrangea’s but 1 died, and I may know why: it had some gopher activity near its roots. But that gopher has since been chopped in half so my remaining hydrangea should be fine. For now…
After King’s, we hopped over to Emerisa Nursery, another place we’d visited before.
But it’s early in the season and they hardly had any inventory. Emerisa’s could have closed on Tuesdays and I wouldn’t have complained. I left with nothing.
AP bought something though…hmmm…what was it? Could it have been a succulent!?!?
Next, we skipped over to Harmony Farm Supply & Nursery—a first-time visit for us.
Well it would fit perfectly because I’m smart and put the pot’s interior measurements in the Notes app on my phone. Heh, heh!
Now I just need to come up with the perfect plant, shrub or tree to put in that pot.
After Harmony, we jumped to Pond & Garden, another place we’d visited before.
Pond & Garden
6225 Stony Point Rd, Cotati, CA 94931 • (707) 792-9141
I had high hopes of finding me some new conifers. But we got there and …”Nope, have that one already. No, got that one too. And that one…and…”
Left empty-handed.
Our last hop, skip and jump was our annual visit to Cottage Gardens.
Then we came upon these “sculptures”…
AP asked me, “Are these made out of carpet?”
I looked closer and, holy crap, they’re made out of artificial turf! Who knew this was a thing?
Someone must have been bored, had some left over turf and asked themselves, “What can I do with these scraps?”
Their next question should have been “Who would be stupid enough to buy them?”
But, gawd, I’m still wondering if I am stupid enough…becuase if you ask me, they might be cool…
Kinda’…
