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.

June 9, 2025

105 The Greenery

AP and I had been visiting nurseries all along the route to The Greenery, and by now we were starving. So after parking, we sat in the van, ogling what we could see inside the nursery and ate our lunch. The place looked gorgeous and made us so giddy with anticipation, we choked down our food without tasting it.
April 25, 2025

104 Bauman’s Farm & Garden

Even after visiting over 100 nurseries in Oregon, I had never heard of Bauman’s until last year when a fellow master gardener sent me photos from the place. I immediately sent the photos to AP, wanting to know how in the hell we missed this fabulous nursery. Needless to say, we added it to our June 2024 Oregon trip as a “Must Visit!”
February 28, 2025

103 The Ripple Effect of Landscape Projects

While I wait for the Spring to finally get here, I’ve been thinking about past landscape projects that, in one way or another, caused ripple effects I’ve had to deal with. Landscape projects involve Live Nature, and you’re responsible for that life. Thing is, life changes, grows, dies off, or evolves, and sometimes makes you crazy and exhausts you with extra work.
January 17, 2025

102 Notable Nurseries, Episode 1

Between Christmas and New Years, when I’m bored and stuck in the house because it’s raining and I have a cold, what do I do? I count nurseries I’ve visited. Don’t you? Of the 300-plus nurseries I've been to, here's a couple of notable post-worthy ones—though maybe not full-post worthy. Nothing's wrong with sharing the spotlight!
July 17, 2024

100 Northwest Garden Nursery

Can you believe my 100th blog post is here! Many kudos to all of you readers who have tolerated me for so long on this adventure. We’ve shared plenty of laughs and eye-rolls, but I hope my posts have helped fertilize your plant passion. For this milestone post, I share a garden visit that brought me to tears.
August 21, 2020

10 Pierson’s Building Center

We are heading (speeding) north along Highway 101 toward my hometown, Eureka. Approaching the town of Percy, I turn to Aunt Patti and say, "You have to be really careful on this stretch because the CHPs always hang out here." Just as I turn back, wouldn’t you know it, there's one of them now...
July 29, 2020

07 Absolute Home & Garden

Heading out from Emerisa Gardens and on to our next adventure, Aunt Patti and I were chit-chatting and, since I'm always driving (whizzing by at top speed), the corner of our eyes barely caught something interesting on the left as we passed. "Was that garden art!?"
July 21, 2020

06 Emerisa Gardens Nursery

One thing I love about traveling to nurseries (other than the obvious!) is that they are located in areas you would not otherwise visit. Emerisa Gardens Nursery is out "in the fields" and as usual we are driving along asking ourselves "where in the hell is the nursery?"

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!

June 9, 2025

105 The Greenery

AP and I had been visiting nurseries all along the route to The Greenery, and by now we were starving. So after parking, we sat in the van, ogling what we could see inside the nursery and ate our lunch. The place looked gorgeous and made us so giddy with anticipation, we choked down our food without tasting it.
April 25, 2025

104 Bauman’s Farm & Garden

Even after visiting over 100 nurseries in Oregon, I had never heard of Bauman’s until last year when a fellow master gardener sent me photos from the place. I immediately sent the photos to AP, wanting to know how in the hell we missed this fabulous nursery. Needless to say, we added it to our June 2024 Oregon trip as a “Must Visit!”
February 28, 2025

103 The Ripple Effect of Landscape Projects

While I wait for the Spring to finally get here, I’ve been thinking about past landscape projects that, in one way or another, caused ripple effects I’ve had to deal with. Landscape projects involve Live Nature, and you’re responsible for that life. Thing is, life changes, grows, dies off, or evolves, and sometimes makes you crazy and exhausts you with extra work.
January 17, 2025

102 Notable Nurseries, Episode 1

Between Christmas and New Years, when I’m bored and stuck in the house because it’s raining and I have a cold, what do I do? I count nurseries I’ve visited. Don’t you? Of the 300-plus nurseries I've been to, here's a couple of notable post-worthy ones—though maybe not full-post worthy. Nothing's wrong with sharing the spotlight!
July 17, 2024

100 Northwest Garden Nursery

Can you believe my 100th blog post is here! Many kudos to all of you readers who have tolerated me for so long on this adventure. We’ve shared plenty of laughs and eye-rolls, but I hope my posts have helped fertilize your plant passion. For this milestone post, I share a garden visit that brought me to tears.
August 21, 2020

10 Pierson’s Building Center

We are heading (speeding) north along Highway 101 toward my hometown, Eureka. Approaching the town of Percy, I turn to Aunt Patti and say, "You have to be really careful on this stretch because the CHPs always hang out here." Just as I turn back, wouldn’t you know it, there's one of them now...
July 29, 2020

07 Absolute Home & Garden

Heading out from Emerisa Gardens and on to our next adventure, Aunt Patti and I were chit-chatting and, since I'm always driving (whizzing by at top speed), the corner of our eyes barely caught something interesting on the left as we passed. "Was that garden art!?"
July 21, 2020

06 Emerisa Gardens Nursery

One thing I love about traveling to nurseries (other than the obvious!) is that they are located in areas you would not otherwise visit. Emerisa Gardens Nursery is out "in the fields" and as usual we are driving along asking ourselves "where in the hell is the nursery?"