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!

We rent a small SUV. 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.

December 15, 2023

95 Bright Star Babies

In my Aunt Patti's front yard are some Bright Star Yuccas that have been growing babies over the past year. Not long ago AP texted me to say the babies were ready to cut from their mothers and did I want them. Of course I wanted them! In this blog I often mention Bright Stars—lovely things—and if you don’t have any yet at your place, well...Reader, I can’t understand why not. Don't you like beauty in your garden?
September 22, 2023

90 Solana Succulents

If you love love love succulents and cacti and want to get poked, prodded and pricked by a thousand spiny things, then Good Lord Almighty, this nursery is for you! The amount of inventory here is overwhelming—AP was beside and beyond herself—though some of it I’m certain has been there since Solana Succulents opened way back in 1992.
August 11, 2023

87 Succulent Gardens

Succulent Gardens was second on our list. We left our hotel at 7:30am headed for the first nursery on the day's list, Ortegas Nursery. As sometimes happens, we got there and did a drive-by for first impressions and quickly decided...well let’s just say Ortegas turned out to be a “YEAH, NO!” and I immediately made a quick U-turn on a very narrow gravel road to get out of there!
December 2, 2022

71 Conifer Crazy Again

I hope after reading my blog post #25 you went "Conifer Crazy" and ran out and bought some conifers for your yard. This happened to me a few weeks ago when I texted AP to say I needed a day away at some nurseries. She was up for it of course because she and I are like that. So we took off and headed to Berkeley, then to San Raphael, Petaluma, Cotati, and then Sonoma. We did all this in one day of course because...she and I are like that!
November 5, 2021

46 Darling Daphne

I don’t even know where to begin explaining why I love Daphnes so absolutely much that it has become a bit of an obsession issue with me. Maybe because they're evergreen? Are drought tolerant and come in many sizes? Have fantastic foliage and fragrant flowers that bloom in winter? Or because the damn deer won't eat them?!
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!

 
December 15, 2023

95 Bright Star Babies

In my Aunt Patti's front yard are some Bright Star Yuccas that have been growing babies over the past year. Not long ago AP texted me to say the babies were ready to cut from their mothers and did I want them. Of course I wanted them! In this blog I often mention Bright Stars—lovely things—and if you don’t have any yet at your place, well...Reader, I can’t understand why not. Don't you like beauty in your garden?
September 22, 2023

90 Solana Succulents

If you love love love succulents and cacti and want to get poked, prodded and pricked by a thousand spiny things, then Good Lord Almighty, this nursery is for you! The amount of inventory here is overwhelming—AP was beside and beyond herself—though some of it I’m certain has been there since Solana Succulents opened way back in 1992.
August 11, 2023

87 Succulent Gardens

Succulent Gardens was second on our list. We left our hotel at 7:30am headed for the first nursery on the day's list, Ortegas Nursery. As sometimes happens, we got there and did a drive-by for first impressions and quickly decided...well let’s just say Ortegas turned out to be a “YEAH, NO!” and I immediately made a quick U-turn on a very narrow gravel road to get out of there!
December 2, 2022

71 Conifer Crazy Again

I hope after reading my blog post #25 you went "Conifer Crazy" and ran out and bought some conifers for your yard. This happened to me a few weeks ago when I texted AP to say I needed a day away at some nurseries. She was up for it of course because she and I are like that. So we took off and headed to Berkeley, then to San Raphael, Petaluma, Cotati, and then Sonoma. We did all this in one day of course because...she and I are like that!
November 5, 2021

46 Darling Daphne

I don’t even know where to begin explaining why I love Daphnes so absolutely much that it has become a bit of an obsession issue with me. Maybe because they're evergreen? Are drought tolerant and come in many sizes? Have fantastic foliage and fragrant flowers that bloom in winter? Or because the damn deer won't eat them?!
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!!!!!