We were treated to a beautiful, sunny day after the famous San Francisco fog lifted. After a much needed stop at Peet’s Coffee, we headed to Cactus Jungle, the first stop on our Bay Area Retail Day. A charming, urban nursery with a focus on xeriscape in the heart of Berkeley.
A couple of favorites
Cleistocactus jujuyensis
Pachycereus pringlei Love all the silver textures.
The next stop was The Dry Garden, another Berkeley xeriscape treasure. This nursery, about the length of a city block, housed an amazing array of agaves, aloes, tillansdias and more. It was a treat to peek inside his special Cactus house.
The owner, Richard Ward, was kind enough to meet us for a special showing.
These beauties welcomed us at the gate.
Tibouchina urvilleana. It was such a hit in our trial garden last year, it was like seeing an old friend.
John Neeway found these grafted Cactus.
Agave applanata ‘Cream Spike’ in butter and silver tones. Sigh…
Then, to the other side of the tracks…literally. Annie’s Annuals is twenty minutes north of Berkley in Richmond.
The nursery is a non-sequitor, it’s a thriving, retail and mail order business smack in the middle of a large industrial areal. It’s a barebones, yard type of nursery. The staff is busy pulling mail orders, but the signage is so detailed you are still compelled to buy plants.
Vibrantly blue blooming Delphinium. We were a little surprised that it was blooming this early, even for California, especially since none of the other Delph’s were blooming. Was it forced?
Agrostemma ‘Milas’ in bloom. A luminous lavender that caught our attention across the yard.
We thought this was a great idea, it seems obvious to nursery folks. But it’s probably helpful for new gardeners.
Across a couple of bridges and into San Francisco, our next stop was Flora Grubb Gardens.
Flora Grubb is always a treat–cutting-edge plants, garden furniture and supplies, all so artfully merchandised.
It’s wonderful to walk onto the lot and be immediately dwarfed by giant palms and hanging displays.
Our group settled comfortably into the heated concrete outdoor furniture.
An unusual find: Euphorbia ‘Coral Crested.’
Our last stop, Living Green Design, just a few blocks away from Flora Grubb. A designer’s dream: a giant warehouse full of treasurers from the Far East, which opens onto a nursery lot full of some of the most unique pottery & statuary we’ve seen in a long time.
Can anyone identify this species of Aloe?
One of the surprising features of Living Green Design, is the displays puncutated by wonders of the natural world.
Towering philodendrons, enormous suspended whale vertabrae and huge chunks of crystal slabs.
Do you think you could make this broken pottery mosaic vase yourself?
Think again!
Melinda Ramage, from Vassey Nursery, was enthralled with this giant, real seed pod.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s adventures. Follow us on Facebook (new name, under Petula Plants!) and on Instagram.