A friend and I made our Spring sojourn to our favorite garden centers in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties last Saturday. I've posted on all of them before but there's always something new to see or admire so I'm sharing the highlights of those visits.
Our first stop was
Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria. We were greeted by the resident cat.
![]() |
| We woke him from his nap but he was very polite about it |
I make it a habit to stroll through the demonstration gardens to see what's looking good before I make any decisions on plant purchases.
![]() |
| Rosa banksiae 'Alba' was in full bloom in the cottage garden |
![]() |
| The California poppies were just getting started in the California native garden |
![]() |
| The dry creek bed was bone dry |
![]() |
| The Echiums were perhaps a week or two away from taking off |
![]() |
| As usual, the succulent garden looked great |
![]() |
| I didn't get a good shot here but the combination of Agave 'Blue Flame'and Euphorbia milii was wonderful |
![]() |
| Osteospermums had taken over the Mediterranean garden |
![]() |
| Fuchsia arborescens was in full bloom in the Central/South American garden |
I made the rounds of the sale tables.
![]() |
| I made a bee line for the Grevillea table as I was on the look out for 'Moonlight'. At long last, now that I was no longer looking for it, I also found reasonably priced Yucca 'Bright Stars'in among the succulents. |
![]() |
| I was intrigued by this new-to-me Melaleuca incana but, at $120 for the pot and with no idea where I'd put it, I left it and Yucca 'Bright Star' behind |
As usual, I spent most of my money at Seaside but, on this occasion, my purchases actually included one plant that had been on my shopping list,
Grevillea 'Moonlight'. I picked it up in a 1-gallon container and it'll probably be a year or more before it blooms but, after killing my first one, I'm hoping I've found the right spot for this one.
![]() |
| 'Moonlight' gets taller than any of my other Grevilleas but I'm going to try to keep it pruned to an 8-foot height |
After a lunch break, we stopped at
Island View Nursery, which is perhaps a mile from Seaside. When we were there in October, we discovered that they were under new ownership and expanding their greenhouses, purportedly with the intent of developing a significantly larger collection of bromeliads. That was still a work in progress. The plant inventory hadn't changed much.
![]() |
| My only photo from Island View |
Our last stop this trip was
Terra Sol in Goleta, not far from the UC Santa Barbara campus. It's much smaller than Seaside but it always has a nice selection of healthy plants. And, on this visit, I found another of the plants on my shopping list.
![]() |
| They have a nice selection of succulents but, this time I didn't buy any of those, although I did check out the pots. The trailing jade plant (Kleinia petraea) in the pot on the upper left impressed me. If only mine developed that rosy color. |
My friend came home with two small succulents. I came home with 18 plants.
![]() |
| This is my Seaside haul. On the left are Justicia rizzinii, Grevillea 'Moonlight' and Eriophyllum lanatum 'Siskiyou'. On the right are Begonia luxuriens (a gamble as it may struggle to survive even in my shade house), Plectranthus argentatus, and Fuchsia 'Autamnale'. |
![]() |
| My lone purchase from Island View was another noID Rex Begonia |
![]() |
| From Terra Sol, I took home, on the left, Stachys lavandulifolius and ornamental clover Trifolium repens 'Red Stripes'(2 plants) and, on the right, Gazania 'White Flame' (8 plants) |
I consider that a productive trip, especially as I checked both
Grevillea 'Moonlight' and
Gazania 'White Flame' off my shopping list. More remarkable still, I've already got all my purchases planted in the garden or their assigned pots in my shade house. The prospects for rain that weekend aren't all that good, ranging from a 20% chance early Saturday morning to a 40% chance during the early morning hours on Sunday but the odds are better for Monday through Tuesday. Hopefully, my new plants will benefit from a good soak - eventually.
Best wishes for a peaceful weekend.
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
