I 'm Sheri Burke, plant lover, and let me say that if there is a plant nursery on my daily path of errands, I stop. If there is a nursery on my path to my BFF’s house, I stop. If there is a nursery on my path to visit family, I stop.

This stop-for-every-nursery path of mine led me to the idea of making yearly trips with my Aunt Patti (just as crazy about all things plants as I am) with no objective except to visit nurseries and public gardens. We pick a general destination, let’s say Oregon. We make a list of all the nurseries on our path, depending upon which freeway we decide to travel. And we head out!

I drive, Aunt Patti navigates. And we have a rule: she has her side of the vehicle, I have mine, and the two cannot encroach on the other without paying rent or a free plant. We take food and drink with us because stopping somewhere to eat means less time at a nursery!

Only after we have been thrown out of the last nursery for the day do we start looking for a hotel. Luckily, we have not had to sleep in the car. We love living on the edge. So come along and enjoy with us our journey of plant nursery joy!

First Visit?

JUST A SUGGESTION! Begin with post 01 Dragonfly Farm. Find my archives here.

April 15, 2022

55 Robby’s Nursery & Calico Gardens

On the day Aunt Patti and I visited Robby’s Nursery in Bakersfield, holy moley was it HOT!!! But even 105-degree temps cannot hold us back from a nursery visit. She and I may look like crap in that kind of heat, but we’re not in a beauty contest—the plants are!! Gawd, are we two crazy women…
April 1, 2022

54 Anderson’s La Costa Nursery

When we arrived at Anderson's La Costa Nursery, Aunt Patti and I just sat in the car for a bit. The marine layer was beginning to burn off and it appeared to be another gorgeous day in SoCal. (I grew up in NorCal—Eureka—where you can wait months for the sun to peek through!) We were parched and needed a snack because we'd already visited two large and eclectic nurseries that morning (both fantastic!), and it was still only 10AM!
January 21, 2022

50 Talini’s Nursery

Talini's is located in a wealthy neighborhood of East Sacramento known as the "Fab Forties." The homes there (on numbered streets in the 40s) range from tiny and charming to large and stunning—suburban mansions of all sizes and classic architectural styles. They all sit on big lots along tree-lined streets. And within walking distance are excellent restaurants and boutique shops. Just park your car and take a stroll, making sure to include Talini’s which is just as charming and boutique-ish as the rest of the "Fab Forties!"
December 10, 2021

48 Roger’s Gardens

I might as well tell you right up front that you'll find very high-end products at Roger's Gardens—all with matching very (very!) high prices. But it is an absolutely stunning showplace that fills other nurseries with envy! Which is why "The Real Housewives of Orange County" shop there. And if you don’t know this reality TV show, you live under a rock!
November 23, 2021

47 High-Hand Nursery

High-Hand Nursery in Loomis is a "destination" nursery if ever there was one! It's not full-service—does not carry every annual or every perennial for every season. But it is a very Zen-like nursery where the instant I walk in, the outside world disappears. I go immediately into a "zone" where my creative instincts and plant-love take over and I can't be held responsible for my actions. It's absolutely beautiful!!!
October 15, 2021

45 Plant Delights Nursery

Plant Delights Nursery's website is one of my top online plant-addictions. They open their actual nursery and gardens to the public only a couple weekends each year and it's on my bucket list to take AP and go! Can you imagine driving a U-haul from California to North Carolina and stopping at every nursery on our path and how many plants would be lovingly jammed into that U-haul by the end of our trip?
September 17, 2021

43 Alena Jean’s

I rate Half Moon Bay's Alena Jean's Nursery in my TOP 5 charming boutique-ish-style nurseries of all time. You never know what treasures you are gonna' find there!!! Owner, Alena Jean, stocks only 1 or 2 of each plant which 1) allows great variety in a small space and 2) keeps you meandering through, wanting to see everything as you pass the rustic barn (main shop) and into a beautiful and eclectic yard. The whole place is put together by Alena Jean and most likely her landscape designer dad whose taste for the unique and colorful is so...up...my...alley!
September 3, 2021

42 Green Thumb Nursery

Green Thumb is a chain of SoCal nurseries which I give high ratings to for living up to their name—their plants are always very very healthy! If I were based in SoCal, I would absolutely purchase all my plants there, and for my customers as well. Green Thumb does line their plants up in rows which creates ZERO wow factor. But for a nursery on the scale of ("Super Garden Center!") Green Thumb, I let it pass.
August 20, 2021

41 Miss Viola Rides

Hello Readers! I just got back from a SoCal nursery trip with Aunt Patti where we visited 33 nurseries in 4 days. Starting at 7 in the morning, driving all day from nursery to nursery, giving each one a thorough Miss Viola Waltzing right up until the last nursery closes at 6 in the evening—I tell you it is exhausting! AP and I crashed in our beds by 8 every night. But gawd, if that doesn't sound like fun to you, then let me just say: IT WAS!!!!!

Sheri Lynn Burke

My journey began as a small child watching and helping my mom in the garden. Years later, I bought a home, had those kids, had an ugly landscape and thought, "I can do better." So for the next 10 years, thousands (and thousands) of dollars went to plants. But I became a serial killer as 80% of them died. "Screw this!" I said. I had an eye for design but didn't know how to keep the damn plants alive! I procrastinated for 5 years ('cuz I wanted more death) and then became a certified Master Gardener. Four years and three pieces of paper later, I got a Horticulture degree. No longer a serial killer, I'm now a landscape designer and contractor with my own business. I had to train this green thumb that I got from my mother. But, Mom, I owe it all to you!

 
April 15, 2022

55 Robby’s Nursery & Calico Gardens

On the day Aunt Patti and I visited Robby’s Nursery in Bakersfield, holy moley was it HOT!!! But even 105-degree temps cannot hold us back from a nursery visit. She and I may look like crap in that kind of heat, but we’re not in a beauty contest—the plants are!! Gawd, are we two crazy women…
April 1, 2022

54 Anderson’s La Costa Nursery

When we arrived at Anderson's La Costa Nursery, Aunt Patti and I just sat in the car for a bit. The marine layer was beginning to burn off and it appeared to be another gorgeous day in SoCal. (I grew up in NorCal—Eureka—where you can wait months for the sun to peek through!) We were parched and needed a snack because we'd already visited two large and eclectic nurseries that morning (both fantastic!), and it was still only 10AM!
January 21, 2022

50 Talini’s Nursery

Talini's is located in a wealthy neighborhood of East Sacramento known as the "Fab Forties." The homes there (on numbered streets in the 40s) range from tiny and charming to large and stunning—suburban mansions of all sizes and classic architectural styles. They all sit on big lots along tree-lined streets. And within walking distance are excellent restaurants and boutique shops. Just park your car and take a stroll, making sure to include Talini’s which is just as charming and boutique-ish as the rest of the "Fab Forties!"
December 10, 2021

48 Roger’s Gardens

I might as well tell you right up front that you'll find very high-end products at Roger's Gardens—all with matching very (very!) high prices. But it is an absolutely stunning showplace that fills other nurseries with envy! Which is why "The Real Housewives of Orange County" shop there. And if you don’t know this reality TV show, you live under a rock!
November 23, 2021

47 High-Hand Nursery

High-Hand Nursery in Loomis is a "destination" nursery if ever there was one! It's not full-service—does not carry every annual or every perennial for every season. But it is a very Zen-like nursery where the instant I walk in, the outside world disappears. I go immediately into a "zone" where my creative instincts and plant-love take over and I can't be held responsible for my actions. It's absolutely beautiful!!!
October 15, 2021

45 Plant Delights Nursery

Plant Delights Nursery's website is one of my top online plant-addictions. They open their actual nursery and gardens to the public only a couple weekends each year and it's on my bucket list to take AP and go! Can you imagine driving a U-haul from California to North Carolina and stopping at every nursery on our path and how many plants would be lovingly jammed into that U-haul by the end of our trip?
September 17, 2021

43 Alena Jean’s

I rate Half Moon Bay's Alena Jean's Nursery in my TOP 5 charming boutique-ish-style nurseries of all time. You never know what treasures you are gonna' find there!!! Owner, Alena Jean, stocks only 1 or 2 of each plant which 1) allows great variety in a small space and 2) keeps you meandering through, wanting to see everything as you pass the rustic barn (main shop) and into a beautiful and eclectic yard. The whole place is put together by Alena Jean and most likely her landscape designer dad whose taste for the unique and colorful is so...up...my...alley!
September 3, 2021

42 Green Thumb Nursery

Green Thumb is a chain of SoCal nurseries which I give high ratings to for living up to their name—their plants are always very very healthy! If I were based in SoCal, I would absolutely purchase all my plants there, and for my customers as well. Green Thumb does line their plants up in rows which creates ZERO wow factor. But for a nursery on the scale of ("Super Garden Center!") Green Thumb, I let it pass.
August 20, 2021

41 Miss Viola Rides

Hello Readers! I just got back from a SoCal nursery trip with Aunt Patti where we visited 33 nurseries in 4 days. Starting at 7 in the morning, driving all day from nursery to nursery, giving each one a thorough Miss Viola Waltzing right up until the last nursery closes at 6 in the evening—I tell you it is exhausting! AP and I crashed in our beds by 8 every night. But gawd, if that doesn't sound like fun to you, then let me just say: IT WAS!!!!!