Spring energy!

 I had a  fantastic time visiting Waltzing Matilija Nursery on Friday, May 12.  I learned of Troy McGregor from  Gerhard Bock's blog Succulents and More.  I left Livermore at 9 and drove to Berkeley to pick up Sophia & Ivan who were as excited as I was to get to the nursery in Pittsburg.  Someday soon I will have Sophia and Ivan do a guest post or posts!  They are very active visiting gardens in and around Berkeley, and just dig plants.  All kinds, and they know their stuff. A quick peek at their cabinet of specialties before we were off!  *There are plants everywhere in their apartment, they'd do a better job of showing that off so I will let them.  I can't wait for them to have an outdoor garden.

 And 40 minutes later, we made it!  Troy told us this garden in the front is just 2 years old.  I was immediately drawn to the puffy yellow flowers of the Phylica pubescens.  They repeated in a few spots throughout the front and are beautiful.  He didn't have any for sale currently, but that's a good reason for me to go back.

I'm glad I brought a list, I wanted everything!  Sophia found the Acacia aphylla and Banksia praemorsa I wanted immediately.  She was fast.

The other side of the parking lot, that I neglected to get a picture of has many aloes lined up.  Below, I grabbed an agavoides ebony- I didn't have one that color.

 

Hakea, leucodendrons, banksia and protea.  Amazing variety you just don't see.

Alyogyne 'Ruth Bancroft' Hibiscus.  The lavender/blue really stood out, almost bought.  

It was lovely to go see larger sized specimens in the garden, although they really did have good sized plants for sale as well.

Troy adding it all up!  At this point, he asked us how we found him.  When I told him from Gerhard's blog, he said "Gerhard, I love that guy!"  

The haul!

Bottom left: Acacia denticulosa, Banksia praemorsa, Banksia petiolaris, Protea magnifica, and Eremophila racemosa
Top left -Banksia blechnifolia, Acacia aphylla, eucalyptus erythrocorys, Liparia splendens (Mountain Dahlia), Hakea laurina - which you can't see the top in the above picture.  Here it is below... the plant below the Hakea is Eremophila racemosa (Easter egg bush) - I haven't seen one of these before, but the mature plants in his front garden convinced me right away.  

here is a closer look at the flowers, orangey-yellow, changing to pink as they open.  It's quite pretty.

first step, I need to pull all the blue honeywort that has vigorously seeded in the front.  At least this is easy to pull up.  It should pop with all the darker foliage around it.

A few snaps of poppies, before they fade.

The hell strip is filling in.

I will do another post of the planting/placement of the above new plants.  What a fabulous day!  *We also stopped at Flowerland in Berkeley, and The Dry Garden in Oakland.  Below from The Dry Garden is Aloe distans and Aloe africana.  At first, I thought I'd chop the top of the distans off.  But, when I was checking out Richard said "You can let it trail along the ground like a snake".  Oh yes, I like that - every garden needs a snake.  So I will have to find the perfect place for it.

From Flowerland, I thought I was getting the same Chrysocephalum apiculatum that I had ordered from Annie's Annuals, although I was confused because I remembered it as more silver.  Well yes, this is desert flame vs. silver sunburst!  lol my bad. Still, they will be pretty overhanging the wall on the slope.

Aloe plicitilis & Yucca Rostrata from Flowerland, impulse.  All in all, quite a haul!  

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and grandmas out there, including my mom Rosalyn!