I've been lurking and I got hooked

Hi, everyone. I've been enjoying all of your pictures so much in the last few months. I had decided to look around for a small brug to start with, but a guy at the flea market sold me this one for $18 yesterday. It's in a 5-gallon can, so I think I got a good deal. It has four flowers and eight buds. It did have six more buds, but one big branch got broken off on the way home (boo hoo). I planted it too, in a nice rooting medium, because everything in my garden gets at least a second chance.

A couple of other things about this picture. That's my cat Lucy (who's a boy) staring at the plant in awe.

I bought the pink Mandevilla in front of the Zuzu gate (marked Zuzu at the top of the trellis and Z in abalone shells on the gate) from the same guy last week for $12. I love the flea market.

welcome Zuzu and ooooooooh, you're in so much trouble now! Worse than potato chips with "can't eat just one". Looks like a nice flower too. Did you get one with fragrance?

Well you are off to a good start, one like that will definately have you "HOOKED" I started with just bare cuttings, I now have more than I can handle, all planted, and will need to be dug up this fall, or take cuttings, I am swamped for the winter just thinking about it.



Doris

I can already see them all along your fence there. Lots of room. LOL. Love your kitty. I noticed your pink mandevilla right away. Which flea market was it? I know there is a huge one near you, I have always wanted to go to.

way to go yes you are hooked but super.. welcome... Twyla

Welcome to the brug forum. Looks like you are getting your start with a cute pink one. Does it smell good in the evening? You must have a lot of plant interests with all those pots of plants there.

Welcome, Zuzu! Soon you'll be having "brugmansia dreams" like alot of us, lol!

Thanks so much for all of your kind words of welcome. I'm not surprised, because as I told you, I had been lurking and I knew this was a warm and friendly forum.

I'm sure you're right and I won't be able to stop at one. Yes, it does have a wonderful fragrance, and it's quite strong, but I can't quite get a handle on it. It's like a blend of mint and strawberry. Does that sound familiar?

Kareoke, I sympathize with your winter woes. I had a solarium added on to my house a couple of years ago, and it's packed to the gills in winter. I spend all of Thanksgiving weekend dragging plants inside. Some because they can't take frost and some because they can't take the heavy rainfall of Northern California winters.

Kell, it was the Sebastopol flea market and it's a haven for plant collectors, but only on Sundays. There's never much going on there on Saturdays. You should come over some Sunday. I'll show you all of the best nurseries in my area.

Brugie, I do indeed have a wide range of plant interests. I'm embarrassed to say that most of the potted plants in that picture are waiting patiently to be planted in the ground. Where has this year gone? Aside from the brugs, I'm also growing alpine plants and plumerias for the first time this year. Talk about zone pushing! There couldn't be two categories with more diverse soil, watering, and sun/shade requirements.

Anyway, thanks again for the kind welcome. I'll keep you posted on the growth of my new addiction.

Sounds like fun Zuzu. You know I need a few more plants. LOL. I have been up there a lot. I go to the nursery at the turn off from 101 to Gravenstein highway in that little shopping center. They have a huge white wisteria I go visit in the spring though I missed this year. I can't think of the name.

I have been to all of these too:
Vintage Gardens Antique Roses
Lone Pine Gardens
Miniature Plant Kingdom
Sonoma Horticultural Nursery
Sumigawa Nursery
Western Hills Rare Plants

Are there any good ones I missed?

Is the flea market called
Midgley's Country Flea Market?
On Gravenstein Hwy? How far up from Sumigawas Nursery?

I go to all the antique shops along there.

That nursery in the shopping center near 101 is Windmill Nursery. The woman who owns it is really a hoot. I like her.

I didn't know the flea market had a name, beyond Sebastopol flea market, which is what everyone around here calls it. It's about five miles beyond Sumigawa's, on the left side of 116. If you get to Bassignani's Nursery, you've gone too far. It's actually within walking distance from my house. I never walk there anymore, though, because I invariably find fabulous things dirt-cheap that are too heavy to carry home. Of course, when I go there in a car, I never see those things.

You've really made the rounds of the nurseries up here. Even most of the locals don't know about Mini Plant Kingdom, but what about Emerisa Gardens and Harmony Farms? They're both great. What about Empire (formerly Deja Vu) and King's in Santa Rosa? Have you been to Passanisi's in Penngrove? There's a big nursery between Sumigawa's and the flea market that's called Pond & Garden. They have every possible pond plant, but they also have a great selection of shade plants. The guy at the flea market who sold me the brug and the mandevilla gave me the card of his nursery about a month ago, and I went there to check the place out. It's new and it's a lot of fun. The proprietors and most of the customers are Mexican, so a lot of the plants are the things they feel nostalgic about, and the prices are super-low.

Anyway, I think you really should come over. I still remember the beautiful picture of the back of your car filled with plants in your "Impulse Buying" thread. I think we could have a great time.

I saw the Miniature Plant Kingdom at the big plant show at the Cow Palace one year. I was into bonsai at the time. It took me forever to find it. They didn't have the road marked and it was tucked up between other houses as I recall. I went by it for 30 minutes. Got there just before it closed. I never went back. LOL

Right Windmill, and I have met the lady. I liked her too. She told me how she started the business and how well they did at first then had problems. I go to Sumigawas mostly. Joyce always gave me a good discount there. I love their wisteria selection. They usually have great double wisteria. That and Lone Pines are great for bonsai. I also have gone to the Japanese Maple nursery.

No, never been to Emerisa Gardens or Harmony Farms. I do believe I was at Empire (a big one) but not King's in Santa Rosa. Is Passanisi's on the same road as Sumigawa just down much further on the right? But I went to Pond & Garden and loved it. They had great waterfall thingies that I just had to have until I saw the price. LOL.

I used to take a day a weekend for my day trips but haven't this year. I am sort of out of sync this year. Maybe I will get my wanderlust again and I will email you!!! I also like to go to Healdsburg to 2 there. That is as far as I go in that direction

I know what you mean about those waterfall thingies. I wanted them too, but realized I could buy a zillion more plants for the same price. They have a big field on the side where they put their extra pots. A lot of them are filled with weeds, but some have little treasures in them, like different kinds of Saxifraga that you never see anywhere else. I occasionally spend an hour or two digging through all of those plants. The guys always end up giving them to me for a dollar or two, because it's always something they had completely forgotten about.

I'm trying to talk the Windmill lady into buying Bassignani's. It's such a huge lot, and the Bassignanis of the current generation aren't doing much with it. They mostly carry a lot of Annie's Annuals and never bother growing their own stuff anymore. They want to sell the place.

Passanisi's is not on 116. It's in Penngrove on the other side of Cotati/Rohnert Park from Sumigawa's, on Petaluma Hill Road. It used to be strictly wholesale, but now they sell retail at really low prices. Big Angel Wing Begonias in a gallon can for $2, for instance. On Tuesdays they give seniors a 15-% discount. Their definition of senior is fairly liberal--55 or 60, I can't remember which. They have a retail outlet in San Francisco now too, but I haven't seen it. They also have great sales. In June everything was 20-% off for the whole month.

Here's hoping your wanderlust comes back. I'll do my best to stoke it by posting my flea market finds.