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.

July 2, 2021

38 Berkeley Horticultural Nursery

Every time Aunt Patti and I go to Annie’s Annuals & Perennials (AA&P), we also go to Berkeley Horticultural Nursery (BHN) just 20 minutes away (on a good traffic day). And when we go to AA&P and BHN we stop at WN too (Westbrae Nursery) because it's just a few blocks from BHN. Me and AP—we do get around!
June 4, 2021

36 My Seedentary Life

In 2005 Mike and I made the huge decision to build our dream home on our property and tear down the old one. With that decision, he had the nerve to tell me we would have to focus our money and energy on the build such that I would have to stop buying plants. I damn near had a heart attack!
April 23, 2021

33 Putting the “B” in Euphoria

My #4 favorite plant, the Euphorbia, has come into blossoming season with flower stalks uncurling to show off their beauty. All Euphorbias are show stoppers, but Euphorbia characias 'Dwarf'—Aunt Patti and I each bought one at Annies years ago—gets top billing in my book.
April 9, 2021

32 Cottage Gardens

What a gem of a nursery! We visit Cottage Gardens once a year at least. It’s small and well laid out, sits on top of a hill in a perfect growing climate, and it stocks a great selection of plant varieties—but not so many that it overwhelms—most of them grown by Cottage Gardens itself.

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!