Friday, April 8, 2016

Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria, part two

Yesterday we started our walk through the display gardens at Seaside Gardens, in California. Today we pick it back up...

The always beautiful Bismarckia nobilis, I believe nope, Brahea armata...

Trevesia palmata, aka Snowflake Aralia.

Such fabulous foliage.

Bauhinia x blakeana, aka Hong Kong Orchid Tree. I've seen lots of photos of these flowers on Late to the Garden Party, it was great to see them in person.

Another one of those plants I know as a houseplant...

I got a little carried away taking photos of this pair.

Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Island pine) is a favorite of mine, but sadly not hardy here in Portland.

Just look at those perfect stars...

Multiple shots of the Caryota (fishtail palm) produced one with a Monarch!

Hyophorbe lagenicaulis (bottle palm)??? Nope Rhopalostylis sapida (Nikau Palm), thanks Louis!

Now it's time to walk the nursery...

I'll cut right to the chase and let you know I didn't buy anything, and that's not because I didn't want to.

That pesky business about flying home got in the way – plus I'd already bought a few things.

So many fabulous Agaves!

Agave americana medio picta

And Bromeliads!

And Agaves!

And Leucadendrons...

Seaside Gardens is a wonderful nursery that I highly recommend visiting, if you're in the area.

They even manage to make traditional urns look cutting edge...

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

26 comments:

  1. I simply must visit there! it looks gorgeous! all those agaves to pick from!!!!

    I think the bottle like palm is Rhopalostylis sapida (Nikau Palm) and the bismarkia might actually be a really healthy brahea armata (almost hardy in portland). Stunning palms!!!

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    1. Thanks so much for the corrections Lois, good to know you've still got your palm on.

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  2. Those boxed specimen grevilleas were just incredible. Really, all their plants were. I left with only a couple of 2 inch succulents.

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    1. What!!!? And you were driving...

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    2. Well, I already had a fairly large Wollemi pine taking up most of the back of my car, as well as a banksia, so it already felt a bit claustrophobic.

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  3. How wonderful! I'm in awe of your self-restraint. There is no way I'd be able to visit and not buy things, airline luggage rules notwithstanding!

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  4. Ohhhhhhh Goodness. I want to live there in the nursery and sleep right there nestled up next to the Brahea armata. So many beautiful plants makes my mind short circuit there for a minute -

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    1. I'm sure they wouldn't mind, as long as you helped out around the nursery.

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  5. You're going to turn me into a palm person with all of these beauties! That Norfolk Island pine is so geometric, almost too much so. And how can the plant stock area be so big? The entire place must be bigger than I thought!

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    1. It is quite large, but I think we wandered beyond what's shown on the map...(typical behavior for me, I'm always wandering into off limits areas).

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  6. I tell you, you need to drive down here with a truck!

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  7. The size of the plant containers are so generous. I assume they are pricey but so often the pots are small regardless of price.

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    1. I bet they do some amazing installations.

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  8. You passed up all the agaves! That business with flying is so limiting. Very inspiring overall.

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  9. You know, the Rhopalostylis sapida is native to the same latitude as Eugene (just on the other end of the equator). If someone were so inclined, it might be interesting to attempt to grow some of them in the ground in the Portland area... in a protected microclimate, of course. If one were so inclined...

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  10. Nice tour! I love the pictures of the Araucaria and Caryota (plus monarch).

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  11. Isn't that a great place? I first visited when it first opened and everything in the demonstration garden was about 1 foot tall. They didn't even have plants for sale yet.

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  12. What exquisite torture to be among so many plants, none of which can come home with you.

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  13. After the complete disaster of the Rhododendron sinogrande, I'm backing off zone -pushing. As a result, I'm finding it relaxing to see these fabulous plants without being attacked by the green-eyed monster. It's kinda like the revelation that I could never become a ballerina.

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  14. It's always more fun to see the non-public areas! But in my case, I asked one of the employees about some of the display garden bromeliads and whether they had some, and voilá, it was open sesami. I couldn't resist trying out a Bauhinia x blakeana here in Berkeley, and have been amazed to have it successfully bloom up here too, but at completely different times.It is such a cool nursery, and having such large display gardens on such valuable real estate is a minor miracle.

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  15. Just a note on the Rhopalostylos hardiness for Bigleaves, below 27°F would finish it off. And a bit too large growing ultimately to bring into the house/garage each winter. At those latitudes in New Zealand, they can only grow due to proximity to the sea.

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