Looking for plants, in Thousand Oaks, CA

I wrote a quick post after our unplanned trip to California in January, but I only teased at the things we saw. Today I'll finally start sharing the fun photos. First up, palms at Starbucks in Thousand Oaks. Do I know what they are? Nope. But you guys, it was mid-January and I was sitting outside enjoying coffee surrounded by these adorable palm meets cycad meets fern creatures...

We decided to visit the nearby Conejo Valley Botanic Garden and see how things were going there, I've enjoyed my past visits (here and here).

Sadly they were closed. Seems the rain that fell in the first week of January may have done some damage.

I was bummed. I mean it had been dry for four days and they were still closed!

Since that plan was foiled I searched online for area nurseries and we set off for someplace called Natures Best Nursery... (the sign still says tree farm, but online they aren't so specific).

It was not to be.

Maybe that was okay though, as I don't need to shop with rattlesnakes.

Oh! Proof of snakes!

We decided to abandon the idea of looking for plants and set off for the Chumash Indian Museum (Andrew's desired stop that day), however on the way I saw this sign...

...it led us to California Bonsai Studio. I'm not really a bonsai fan, but hey, finally there were plants! That's the Agave americana clump we pulled a couple pups from (part of my plant haul).

The nursery/studio.

If I remember correctly this one is Portulacaria afra.

The fellow we chatted with, Colin Purcell, was one of those folks who can easily make his passion, your passion. He was a great bonsai ambassador.

Andrew and he chatted while I wandered and took photos. This rock planted with what I think is a form of Huernia definitely inspired me to think differently about how I'll plant up my mother-in-law's Stapelia I brought home from the trip.

This Selenicereus undatus had soaked up so much of the recent rain they'd had that it looked like it was about to burst.

Oh my, that's a project.

More Agave americana...

There had been blooms.

And many seeds...

Next stop, the Chumash Indian Museum. This cup made from the vertebra of a sword fish looked a lot like a miniature Willy Guhl hourglass planter (as seen at The Tropics, Inc. in Los Angeles).

Growing outside the museum, sugar bush, Rhus ovata.

Our next stop had us trekking across the brambles toward a stream that Andrew wanted to show me. Andrew in shoes with socks, me in flip flops. I stopped when my feet and ankles started to burn, then itch. Beautiful, but painful. We didn't make it to the stream.

Final stop of the day, Camarillo Nursery.

Lots of palms...

And blooming aloes.

The nursery was large, and we walked all the way to the end. Well, I suppose I could have gone a little further had I been willing to crawl through that hole.

Spiky! Ceiba speciosa I believe.

Look at those picturesque mountains in the distance.

Agave pumila

Agave horrida

Blooming Mangave (against the pole)

Pedilanthus bracteatus (tall slipper plant)

Orthophytum magalhaesii

My last photos from Thousand Oaks are these of ferns at our hotel. Someone was painting the front of the building and had cut back the plantings.  I'd never noticed the fern creeping along the ground, even though we've stayed here several times.

I wonder if it might be Nephrolepis cordifolia? Anyone know?

The Bit at the End

Since I referenced the Willy Guhl hourglass planters I lusted after when I visited The Tropics, Inc. I thought I'd link to a blog post on Martha's recent visit and the good things she saw there, find that here.

—   —   —

To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note: these are sent from a third party, their annoying ads are beyond my control. 

All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.