Visits and acquisitions

 I'm back from San Diego.  Whew - Olivia is moved in to her new apartment near SDSU.  It was wonderful to spend the trip down with her.  On the way home I made a few stops.  Thank you to Gerhard @ Succulentsandmore for nursery recommendations.  I thought I'd share a few photos I took that day. 

First stop was Solana Succulents, beautiful nursery on a beautiful street! A specialty nursery in Solana Beach owned by Jeff Moore.  He's the co-author of some pretty cool books (with Jeremy Spath of Hidden Agave. I met Jeff, who was so gracious and friendly. He shared that our very own Gerhard proofread said books!  I had no idea.  Jeff had a Farallon Gardens sweatshirt hanging on the back of his chair, small world!

My biggest mistake the whole trip was not buying more here.  I'll admit to still being a bit emotional after saying goodbye to Olivia. And not knowing what the drive ahead of me entailed.  I was frazzled, not my usual self - it definitely affected my choices.  No worry, I'll be back.

Everything so perfect and well kept.  Ah, gorgeous!

A very cool Alluadia, he said he's have cuttings soon.  There was an Alluadia montagnacii near the front desk that I would have purchased - it was already sold 😫. *I found some cuttings on ebay.

The entire day I was stressed about time, and hitting LA traffic.  I needn't have worried so much.  The next day, Friday when I traveled home - that's when traffic turned to complete nightmare.

On to  Oasis  Water Efficient Gardens in Escondido.  This place was massive. 

There were rows of hoophouse greenhouse structures going on as far as the eye could see. 

It was HOT, I'm used to hot but it was also quite humid which I am not used to.

I quickly texted Gerhard some photos of agaves, but they were things he already has. 

The prices were good and I'd definitely visit again.  But I didn't find things that were unusual.   Could be the time of year. I liked this simple mammillaria planting bed with rusty camel.

Fun side note.  I don't know if you've seen or heard of Laura Eubanks, Design for Serenity she has loads of video on Youtube.  Considerable dry garden makeovers in the San Diego area.  Her daughter Hannah was shopping at Oasis when I was there. 

 Off to my next stop,  Desert Theatre in Escondido.  I had set up an appointment with Brandon Bullard a few days prior. He said look around and give me a call when you're done.  I was left to roam all on my own. Thankfully the location was higher up and a little breeze was blowing. 

Most of the plants were BIG.

When did he start growing this stuff?  Ha ha ha, I couldn't have lifted this if I had to.  14' high I'm guessing, and pretty much growing in ground. Several of his large Aloe ferox were blooming, strange time of year?  

Super cool, felt like on top of the world up there!  Pachypodium lamarei blooming.

Again, when was this potted? Ha ha, the pot has almost disappeared into the ground. 

I put a few things aside, but generally to move these specimens I would need a truck and Ivan to help.  I gave Brandon a jingle.  He pulled up in his golf cart and asked if I had a minute to go to the "other side" of street to see the rest of the property.  Traffic be damned, I wanted to see it.  Of course I do, and off we went. Somehow I captured his face in the mirror. 

I tried to snap photos as we were rolling along.  He said he planted things in grids when he got started.  And where plants

get dug up and sold, he replants. 

He said some "rich guys" had recently found him and have been sourcing choice plants.  Good for him!  One story was about someone with the initials JB, his corporation rhymes with "Hamazon".  Buying some spectacularly huge dragon trees.  Anyway, Brandon is a super friendly character.  I'd love to go back. 

And just a couple from the last stop, Waterwise Botanicals.  I'm not sure if I was feeling more relaxed, but I felt at home here.  A huge place for sure, but laid out in a way that made sense. They were growing up the hill on one side of the property.

Not certain, but I think this mound is a Laura Eubanks creation.  Nice!

Huge Plumeria blooming!

Lots of agaves, I walked to the very end of the bedding rows. 

The prices were good, but for the most part I didn't see many things I wanted to add that I don't have (that I can grow here). Still, would visit again.

 I checked in to my hotel in Irvine.  I made sure it had covered parking so my plants didn't fry.  Walk in to my room, and the bathroom door is LOCKED.  Weird.  I immediately went back down to the check-in desk.  I was upgraded to a suite, hilarious for one person.  I need 2 tv's so I can rush from room to room!  The check in ladies were a little horrified about the bathroom.  I figured the cleaning crew has mistakenly locked it - not that a person was hiding in there!

The ride home was horrible.  What should've been a 5.5 hour drive turned in to almost 9 hours!  There was a big rig fire or rollover that closed I5 for hours. Another fun thing, one of the pots was loaded with ants.  The ants were popping up on my leg, arm and even walking across the steering wheel during the ride.  I stopped once for gas and made it home.  

Next up I'll share the haul, including aloes from a trip prior to Hans @ Dry Oasis Plants in Half Moon Bay.