They're on a very busy street (6 lanes worth of traffic), but still have a sweet little display garden out front.
As you enter it's container madness!
Funny most of the glazed pots were under shade cloth, while most of the plants were not.
I saw these Pachypodium shortly after Alan had posted about his blooming...
They were gorgeous!
Agave bracteosa (5gal for $90)
I've never seen one with such a tight "up-do" in the center...(must be trying to shade the newly emerging leaves?)...
So many boxed Cactus!
The label said Cardboard palm, what a sad name.
Cycas circinalis (it was huge, with a huge price tag of $525).
Yucca rostrata ($425)
Agave bovicornuta? (couldn't find a label)
Aloe ramosissima (25gal, $500)
Furcraea sellowiana
Lest you think it was all spikes and thorns they had leafy plants too...
Like this Caesalpinia pulcherrima.
There was a humongous bird house in the center of the nursery.
Some of them looked great, while it was obvious others weren't doing so well. I'm not going to share the sad photos.
Hey guess what, birds bite!
Yep.
Agave geminiflora
Love the little blue guys with their arms up in the air.
This is not a happy Agave parryi.
Agave colorata, in the front.
Agave weberi, look ma...no teeth!
Did I mention there were plenty of Agaves?
Agave pygmae, quite attractive...
I think that's Agave desmettiana 'Quicksilver'...
Agave Ferdinand-Regis
No label, I think it's Agave gypsophila?
And now for something completely different.
Completely.
And not in a good way.
You were warned...
It seemed painted to match their odd metal flower sculptures. Ugh.
If you must have "garden art" maybe just stick to the rusted metal?
Weather Diary, February 2: Hi 39, Low 32/ Precip trace
All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
I love how the pots of Agaves etc. show you how it would look if you used it as a "ground cover" plant. Really, we have to tell nursery owners to stop this painted stuff.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine if they were actually planted like that? Ha! What a mess of spikes that would be in about a year.
DeleteI wonder if the pots are shaded so customers, and workers, don't burn themselves on the pots. Bleh, the painted aloe...
ReplyDeleteYa, that's what I figured (the shade on the pots).
DeleteThank you for the bit of sunshine. I wonder about the birds, maybe they rescue some and that's why they looked like they weren't faring well? Just my hopeful thinking. The painted plant, that's just silly.
ReplyDeleteI like your positive spin on the birds, and I'm going with that.
DeleteWere you tempted by the Now Hiring sign? I might want to stay there for a while for the employee discount on those big prices for those big plants. (Understandable as I've hauled a couple of large agaves around and it ain't no picnic.) Plants are natural beauties requiring no makeup!
ReplyDeleteHa, no. I needed to come home and rescue Lila from the dog hotel (this was while Andrew was in China).
DeleteWow! Looks like a perfect nursery! I have to travel many miles to visit one anything like this ! Heaven!
ReplyDeleteWell in all fairness I traveled many miles too, by air!
DeleteIck, I just almost choked on the sharp intake of breath when I saw that painted Aloe. I've never heard of 'Quicksilver,' it reminds me of 'Joe Hoak.' I saw a bunch of similar ones planted at Disneyland and thought they were 'Joe,' but maybe they were this one.
ReplyDelete'Quicksilver' is very similar to 'Joe' only it's an exclusive of another Phoenix area nursery (photographs on this old post: http://www.thedangergarden.com/2011/11/little-suffering-builds-character-visit.html). 'Quicksilver' is whiter/more silver than 'Joe'...you're right though, the angle that I took the photo is does have more of a yellow tinge, reminiscent of 'Joe'...it was only when I got closer that I could see its true colors. I suspect what you saw was indeed 'Joe' - he gets around much more!
DeleteBig plants, big price tags. Still a nice place to visit. Did you buy anything?
ReplyDeleteNope...no way to get them home!
DeleteLove many of the plants, but the prices are sky high. In general, I thought Phoenix nurseries were shockingly expensive. Tucson is a bit cheaper. Still, a 5-gallon agave in desert country should be no more than $30, esp. a very common species.
ReplyDeleteThat painted aloe was something else!
This is located just a few blocks from that Home Depot I visited which we also thought was high. I visited another place, Summer Winds, which was actually pretty great. Then another Moon Valley, which was pricey. Somewhere in there I got tired of taking pictures.
DeleteI love the rusted metal agave sculpture - and that 'Quicksilver'.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to love it, but it needed a little movement. It was so ramrod straight! As for that 'Quicksilver'...yes please!
DeleteThe Aloe ramosissima is an extremely slow grower. Those might be 10 or 20 year old plants. As Einstein proved in the Gary Larson cartoon, T = $. But yeah, Agaves on the pricey side.
ReplyDeleteAgave pygmae is a beautiful small Agave--the 'Dragon Toes' selection that was being sold a couple of years ago--mine has matured to a really beautiful plant.
Still, nice place to spend some time looking.
The Aloe ramosissima was such a thick chunky little thing, I really liked it. Maybe it's not quite so unique when it's a smaller size? (maybe that's why I've never taken a shine to it before)
DeleteThis entire post made me smile--except for the painted Aloe, that's sad. But the porcelain pots are so pretty stacked up together. And all the plants ... and the sunshine! Very nice.
ReplyDeleteYes the sunshine...I miss it!
DeleteVery fun garden center. The Pachypodium flowers really are gorgeous. Bit of a downer about the birds.
ReplyDeleteI like Tamara's wish above, about the birds - that they're actually rescued and recovering.
DeleteI think those enormous, pricey plants are for a different clientele anyway, namely the landscape contractors, who can probably afford $500 for a big plant and feel it's worth it. Not that I know, of course... It's also why I visited Moon Valley once and never bothered going back. But why worry? I picked up two (tiny but nice) Echinocactus grusonii at Summerwinds today... ;-) Love that Quicksilver!
ReplyDeleteYa I figured plants of those sizes required professionals to move and install! Summerwinds had an amazing selection of small and 1-g plants. It was hard not to leave with several.
DeleteThe name alone is enough to entice an avid gardener and plant collector. Glad to see inside didn't disappoint!
ReplyDeleteSo much good stuff!
Delete