Seaside Gardens was one of our stops last December when we visited Southern California. What a classy operation they are! A beautiful display garden (map below), fabulous plants and very helpful and interesting employees. I chatted quite a bit with the fellow working that day, we agreed gardeners always want what they can't have. I was there loving the succulents, Leucadendrons, Banksia, etc...and when he learned I was from Oregon his eyes got all starry as he talked about Dahlias...
We'll start this visit the same way we did in person, by walking through the display gardens. As always I got a little over-excited and started zipping back and forth whenever something caught my eye. Banksia paludosa...
So fabulous!
Sad tree fern, at least it's still serving a purpose.
Myoporum parvifolium
The sign for this one said Banksia marginata, but I don't think that can be right?
Leucadendron NOID
Protea longifolia
This was fun to see, as the day before we'd visited Jo's nursery Australian Native Plants.
Andrew and I had the whole garden to ourselves...
A "lawn" of Carex praegracilis...
This visit was the first time Andrew noted the charms of the Restios, they had some lovely large specimens.
Wowsa! Now that's an Echium! Can you imagine how gorgeous it must be covered in blooms?
Agave gypsophila
Kalanchoe luciae (I believe)
Echeveria agavoides 'Lipstick'
Cotyledon orbiculata, common name Pig's Ear...
With this splendid Callistemon it's time to wrap up part one. We'll be back tomorrow with the end of the display garden and a look at the plants for sale!
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Stunning, isn't it? I have fond memories of our visit in April 2015, my first and only time.
ReplyDeleteThe demonstration garden is like a miniature botanical garden, showcasing all the plants that thrive in Santa Barbara's über-mild climate.
"miniature botanical garden"...yes. I know this sounds like heresy but as we were walking and here I felt somewhat happy that I'd chosen a different set of gardens/nurseries this trip. The Huntington will always be at the top of the list but I don't have to visit it every time I'm in SoCal.
DeleteThe display garden is huge! I know the power of a good display garden to sell plants, but this one is a surprisingly large percentage of their space. Looking at them from a satellite view on a map, they are *surrounded* by greenhouses. "Wow" for both the place and their surroundings!
ReplyDeleteYes..."wow" sums it up quite well!
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed your visit. Seaside has been in the top 3 of my favorite SoCal garden centers/nurseries since I discovered it, which has to be at least a decade ago. I was just there again 2 weeks ago. Even though it's about a 2.5 hour drive for me now, it's worth visiting at least 2x a year.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you buy?
DeleteIncredible! Thanks for the tour & adding fuel to the California plant lust fire!
ReplyDeleteIt's not hard to do...that fire is always simmering.
DeleteI am so overdue for another visit here. I'll be within a couple hours drive later this month and I might just have to consider it !
ReplyDeleteDo it!
DeleteI'm definitely glad I decided to visit on the way back to NorCal. It was still early and I was feeling a bit foggy, I feel like I missed a few things from looking at your photos. Guess I'll have to go back.
ReplyDeleteDarn. Buy anything?
DeleteBeautiful! I'll have to sneak in a visit next time I'm in the area...
ReplyDeleteYou will not be disappointed.
DeleteJust woke up to the second morning in a row with a dusting of snow on the ground, so it is cheering to see such sunny warm gardens.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know how you deal with that.
DeleteWow! I've gotta go there some day. Thanks for sharing such spectacular photos!
ReplyDeletedang, it's like an alien planet full of living sculpture!
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ReplyDeleteWhere is this place? If we go to the LA area again next Christmas, I'll have to see if I can convince Judy to go - looks fabulous.
ReplyDeleteIn Carpinteria, north of LA...it's gorgeous up there, a great drive!
DeleteWhat an outstanding display garden! And to have it all to yourselves...
ReplyDeleteI loved seeing all the amazing Australian plants and succulents, but what I enjoyed seeing most in this post was actually the Carex lawn. I want to do something like that, either in my parents' garden or in my own garden someday, and it's great to see an example with one of the species I've found in my research.
I always hankered for space travel...visiting other planets. This is the next best thing 9probably better).
ReplyDelete