HWY 1 Road Trip Secret Gardens, Hidden Nurseries?

Hi, everybody--

We would like some help, please--

We are planning a road trip from SF to SD for two weeks in June (along the coast HWY 1, if it is open) and I am wondering if anyone has suggestions for interesting horticultural stops along the way?

We have made the trip a number of times, but never with the focus of searching out interesting gardens, garden tours and new nurseries--

We haven't done a lot of research yet, but we do have on our itinerary The San Francisco Showcase House and Garden, Filoli, and Runneymede Sculpture Farm so far.

(We used to live in SF and LA, so we are not totally ignorant of the area, but we would like some updates on 'what's hot and what's not!')

Thanks so much for any advice. t.

Hi T,

I can give you two places to visit here in my area of Orange County.

Sherman Library & Gardens is right on Hwy #1 in Corona Del Mar. It is a small but beautiful place with lots of interesting plants. http://www.slgardens.org/

There is also a wonderful nursery, that is well known in this area called Rogers Gardens. It is also in Cornona Del Mar, about 1/2 mile off of Hwy #1. http://www.rogersgardens.com/?source=overture&OVRAW=rogers%20gardens&OVKEY=garden%20rogers&OVMTC=standard

Then there is this small garden about 3 miles from Hwy 1 in Huntington Beach and the lady that tends this garden loves to have visitors and serves nice lunches....That's me. lol

I will continue to think on any other places for you. You know who would know of other places to see....Drdon. He is so knowledable about this type of thing. You just might contact him.

Let me know if I can be of any other help, ok?

Donna

Gallup and Stribbling Orchids in Carpinteria is alot of fun.

Lotus Land in Santa Barbara is a must.

Check their website to see if you will require reservations.
Their policy has recently been revised due to neighborhood restrictions being lifted so advanced reservations may or maynot be required for the day that you are in the Santa Barbara area.

If you plan to stay in Santa Barbara , I like a small boutique hotel called The Eagle Inn. It is about 2 blocks from the beach and it is very reasonably priced for the area.

Watch out for the road closure at Devil's Slide (between SF and Half Moon Bay)...it's been closed since our horrid rains in March because of a slide and I don't think it's going to be open again anytime soon.

Thank you, thank you!!

All sound like great ideas. I always wanted to visit Sherman's and Rogers. Thanks for reminding me. (this would be a good chance to do it since I am without DH!!) And if I can work out the timing I would love to come by for a visit, Donna. Thank you!

BTW, Is the lady who does ivies and topiaries still around? I think she is in OC or maybe North County....?

The Orchid places would be a great stop over, too. And Lotusland would be a wonderful afternoon if I can get into it. Will have to call them for an update on ticketing rules nowadays--Monteceito neighbors are so picky. Thanks for the tip on the B & B. If I can't stay with friends in SB, that would be a great place.

And I was wondering about the road closures. I saw some on the news and meant to do some checking on that. I suppose I should have Triple A do a 'trip tick' with detours. I love the Half Moon Bay area and would be so sad to do the trip without that part of it. The rains must have been awful in the past two years (since we left CA).

I will be spending some time around Fallbrook, where there are a lot of growers--is there anything special to check out around there? Anyone know?

Trip is shaping up nicely! Thanks for all the good information! If you think of anything else, please let me know. t.

As far as I know , from Half moon bay down HWY 1 is open . If you go to Half moon bay on HWY 92 , after you top the hill and go 5 -6 miles Half moon bay nursey is on left then 2 more nursey's on left . Then one on right [ it's kind of expensive ].
There is a fish market / veggie stand / restraunt there that is very good [ $40 for 4 people ] - great clam chowder , fryed fish and they have sweet potatoe frys .
A couple of miles more and a good gas station on right - clean restrooms and has a little store for water , cokes etc . Nice drive to Santa Cruz . Make a side trip to the redwood park in / by Santa Cruz . AAA can give directions from SF .
Have fun .
P.S. Take some plastic bags to put plants in so dirt water doesn't get in car , carry water for plants , they can wilt in hot car . .

The road closure is north of Half Moon Bay, so if you go south out of SF on 101, you can take Hwy 92 over to HMB, then go south from there along Hwy 1. I'm sure the merchants in HMB would be happy to see you--I think business has been hurting because of the road closure!

And one more nursery suggestion...Australian Native Plants nursery in Ventura. I've never been there, but I've drooled over their website a number of times, and if I'm ever down that way I'm definitely going to stop by there (I think you need to call them for an appointment if you want to go). I'm also not sure if they're right off Hwy 1 or not, but I don't think they'd be too far away.

If you decide to hit some places in the SF Bay area too, I would recommend Annie's Annuals in Richmond and Berkeley Horticultural Nursery--those are my two favorites around here!

tabasco,
I like Buena Creek Nursery in San Marcos whether I'm buying or not and Myrtle Creek Nursery in Fallbrook, and BTW, you need longer than 2 weeks! Heh heh...
I would never come down 1 without spending some time in Cambria and drop into Hearts'ease while there. There is also another nice little nursery there, don't remember the name now, stellapathic would know. What a glorious time you'll have. Are you sure you wouldn't like to move back here?! I always have "road lust", and just thinking about this, I believe I'll have to make that run also!

Sherry

The Huntington Botanical Gardens in Pasadena would be fabulous
http://www.huntington.org/BotanicalDiv/HEHBotanicalHome.html
I so wanna go there.

Also in the San Diego area is Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas
http://www.qbgardens.com/
No roses at Quail, but the bamboo forest is awesome.

Sounds like a marvelous trip.
Dove

Lot's of good details here. Thanks for giving me more guidance. I will make an itinerary to list all of these spots and hope to stop at many of them.

I will be staying in Fallbrook with my sister so will definitely go to Myrtle Creek Nursery.

btw, what is Heart's Ease in Cambria? A nursery? A B&B?

I miss the Huntington Gardens. We used to live about 3 blocks from there. But I don't think we will be moving back. Too crowded--all those tourists coming to visit!! LOL

Wish I had more time. Two weeks sounded long enough at first, but now it seems rather too short!

We leave Sunday. I will be sad to leave my garden here. It is just starting into bloom!

All of Southern California is too crowded *L*

Your garden is lovely, when you return in two weeks it will be full blown beautiful!

hiya tabasco,

If you've got any interest in Salvias, there is Cabrillo College in Aptos that has one of the most complete collections of this fabulous genus.

also, there is the Santa Barbara Orchid estate, Andy's Orchids in Encinitas, Anderson's La Costa Nursery in Encinitas, Solana Succulents in Solana Beach, Cedros Gardens in Solana Beach, The Gardens at the Marsden Mansion in Balboa Park, San Diego, The San Diego Zoo, of course has a huge collection of various plants. If you're staying in Fallbrook, you're only a 15min drive north to us. We'd be honored to have you come and tour our gardens and see the horses. Dmail me if you'd like to accept the invitation. And it is good to remember that Kartuz greenhouses is close to Fallbrook as well.

Vista has dozens of great nurseries as well.

have a super trip!

best,
don

tabasco,
Hearts'ease is a charming little garden/herb shop. The entire town is charming w/wonderful little shops. One of my favorite places on earth. Are you driving out? So that you can take things back with you? There are b&b's in Cambria also, perhaps someone who has stayed at one there could advise you. I was given a gift of a stay at the Patrick House, but didn't make it. I've heard it's good.
Sherry

Cambria is a beautiful town. I'm sure lots of novels were written there. We have visited a few times but never stayed there.

No DH and I are not driving out from Ohio. Flying into SF to visit DD and do business and renting a car. Then I am driving south as far as Fallbrook with a major stop in Pasadena (to see old friends) and returing out of LAX alone.

Can't do too much actual 'buying' I guess, but we want to make it a photo safari of sorts. In Fallbrook I will link up with my sister who is a professional photographer and who is doing a new book on plants/gardens/wildflowers/travel (I'm not sure quite what it is and I don't think she knows either.) so I want to tag along with her part of the time.

So we're especially interested in seeing nurseries and scouting for picturesque spots for the book. And I am excited at the prospect of unbridled garden visiting.

Don, thanks for all the good information on SD 'hort hot spots'. Which one would you say is your favorite around Fallbrook? And thanks too for your kind invitation. I will D-mail you, if you don't mind.

Of course, now I notice you are in Temecula---the new 'wine country'. We visited several wineries there maybe 5 years ago, and I imagine it has really grown. And Tem. is the center for golf equipment too, which of course you know. We used to drive down there to buy seconds at the Calloway(?) factory.

Again thanks for all the good info. I will have quite an itinerary before you are all finished giving me travel tips! t.



This message was edited Jun 2, 2006 4:35 PM

tabasco,
What a fantastic trip you're going to have!! We're all sitting here jealous just hearing about it. Hmmmm, maybe we should all caravan......You're going to be absolutely amazed at how Temecula has grown.
Sherry


This message was edited Jun 19, 2006 9:48 AM

I'm printing out this thread and I'm off now to pack and fly out at 8 a.m. tomorrow.

Thanks for all the good information and I will give you a full report when I return!

Bye for now! t.

I am so glad I found this thread!Quite by accident.We will be traveling from LA to Berkeley on June 25th and will have about 10 days to explore.Our son lives in Berkeley and probably knows most of the plant places there.He is also a plant nut but he doesn't have a car so what he knows about is limited.These suggestions will be very helpful.

Dr Don
The persian cucs are producing like crazy and they are so good.Thank you so much for the web site.I wish we could be in California at the time of the RU but we fly back on July 4th the only time we could use ff miles.

If there are any Folkies out there we will be attending the summer soltice celebration in Soka U in Calabasas from JUne 23-25.

Nancy

hiya downscale_babe,

Berzerkeley is my alma mater.....go bears!

Sounds like you guys are going to have a great trip. If you get a chance stop by Cabrillo College in Aptos for a look at their Salvia collection that should be blooming like crazy. They've got one of the best collections on earth. And no trip to Berkeley is complete without a trip to the Botanic Gardens on campus.

Sorry your trip doesn't mesh with the RU here as it would be marvelous to meet you.

have a super trip,
don

Will do drdon.

Our son who is 39 decided to go back to school.He is a mathmetician and working in computers.He has been doing another degree in urban design and will complete it next year.I have never been to the campus and am looking forward to it.

Nancy

Yoo Hoo! I'm baaack!!

Had a great trip, saw lots of wonderful gardens and thought of all of you as I drove down the coast. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to arrange the visits with all the DGers who were so kind to d-mail me! The time went so fast!

Visited DD in SF and friends in Berkley and the Horticultural Center, Golden Gate Park, some private gardens in SF, then drove up north on Highway 1 to Point Reyes and the seashore and then down the pennisula to Menlo Park and Woodside to visit friends. Saw the beautiful gardens at Filoli at their peak, I think, and spent a lovely afternoon at the Runnymede Sculpture Farm. Both were lovely estates (and I love the stories of the old California families who built the railroads, mined for gold (successfully) and pioneered in the area...

A little corner of the Filoli gardens....

Spent a sunny afternoon exploring Berkeley--found the Horticultural Center, wandered through Ohmega Salvage (with wonderful old garden ornaments -- lots of plaster Buddhas) and followed up at Chez Panisse. Didn't have time for the Botanical Gardens and Rose garden, but I have visited those in the past and will surely stop there again...

a perennial demonstration garden at the BHC.

I continued down the pennisula and cut over on 92 at Half Moon Bay. Stopped at several of the nurseries along there and a curious red wood sculpture driftwood ornament place. I wish I could have stayed for days...then continued on past Nepenthe and Lantana (interesting places to visit!) and stopped for the night at Ragged Point. Our little road house motel built right on the point had a lovely xeriscaped garden.

Take a look at the view of the Big Sur coastline from our picture window...

Then off to do the garden tour (#4) at Hearst Castle-- a nice afternoon, but the State of California has cut the garden staffing to the minimum and the garden shows this, I think. Still lots of ideas to be had (for when I win the lottery!)

Next stop Cambria and Santa Barbara. Tried to stop at Heart's Ease but couldn't find it, but along the way found lots of other great gardening places. Also stopped at Nit Wit Ridge(?)--an oddly peculiar place with a terraced garden.

Stayed overnight in Santa Barbara--couldn't get into Eagle's Nest so stayed nearby. Couldn't get into Lotusland, either, but wasn't too disappointed because a friend invited me to her Montecito garden in full bloom (and a delicious) lunch instead.

Made a visit to the Santa Barbara Mission, went to Mass and explored the grounds--found the grave of the heroine of the childhood classic "Island of the Blue Dolphins".

Continued on to Pasadena and had a fun visit with old friends. Had to pass up the Huntington Gardens and the all the LA nurseries for lack of time, but I had the pleasure of visiting some hidden private gardens, then headed on down to my sister's in Fallbrook.

Since I had visited her last, she has finished installing her pool, and cactus and succulent and rock gardens around her new home. She didn't purchase any of the plants or rocks, but traded for them, or scavenged them from the discards of the growers and ranchers around Fallbrook. Quite inventive (and all legal, I might add!).

the view from her pool and rock garden...

We explored two more missions and their cemetaries and gardens near Fallbrook.

This is St. Anthony--a rather robust fellow, it appears.

And finally we toured the Quail Botanical Gardens near Encinitas, whose mission it is to demonstrate plantings for urban gardeners in Southern California.

We just missed by a day or so the bloom of the giant corpse flower (we just saw the corpse of the Corpse flower!) but saw bananas in bloom, and all kinds of succulents and cacti.

We were fortunate to see the bloom of the Saphire Tower "Puya alpestris", a relative of the pineapple family. A most unusual color bloom with a striking six foot tall bloom spike.

Two weeks seemed like quite a lot of time to see gardens and nurseries, but, of course, it wasn't enough and I will have to go back and do the same trip again!

I was so sorry I missed my California DG friends on the drive--it seemed as if there was never enough time! But we had a marvelous tour and learned a lot and had lots of fun. So thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions and travel tips. They were much appreciated! t.

You're just going to have to come back right away... still so many other wonderful things to see!! Maybe in December or January when you need a break from the cold. I hope the weather was clear and beautiful on your way down through Big Sur. Wonderful road trips like this aren't experienced just once, when you have that memory, you can go there anytime you like.
Sherry

Wow, looks like you had a fabulous trip. I'm sorry we couldn't connect either, I was really hoping to spend some great gardening time with you. Let me know when you do it again, ok?

Donna

Whoa,

Great pics!....we missed you here as well, but it looks as though you had a super trip. Isn't Filoli magical? Pam and I saw it back in late May and it was really very nice. We both hope to get there earlier next season to catch the Magnolia collection in bloom.

So glad to see that your trip was an experience and an adventure,
don

We are back from California.We had the most wonderful trip and I am still pretty green.Green with envy that is.

Took lots of pictures with my new camera (first digital camera) but will post only a few.

This is in the Berkely Botanical Garden.Just walking around Berkely and looking at everyone's garden was an inspiration in itself.This includes our son's 6th floor terrace garden.What do they feed their plants?Steroids I'm sure.

Everyone who saw this plant couldn't believe that it was real.How lucky we were to see it in bloom.

We also visited a few Missions.Most of them have wonderful gardens.

The last picture was at the mission in Carmel.

Finally wild flowers at Big Sur

You have a beautiful state.Too bad there are so many cars.

So fun to see your pics (from your new camera!) , downscale. They're happily making me relive my trip, too-- it looks like we visited many of the same beautiful places! Including seeing the 'Saphire Tower' bloom.

Well, as much as we love Cincinnati, we are missing many wonderful aspects of CA and plan to go back soon. My DH does business in SF and LA and has offices there, so now I am committed to tagging along with him more often. And, of course, our DD lives in 'The City' (as they say) and I'm sure wants her mother around more often (ha ha).
So, everyone, I'll be coming 'around the bend' again, soon, I hope, and thanks for your kind invitations!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! t.

when you get to north county san diego two of my favorite nurserys are

Andersons in la Casta a wonderful little nursery. its of luecadia blv I think.
http://www.andersonslacostanursery.com/
Then about one exit from there or two hmmm Is one of my most most vavorites and I have to go there every year for some shade plants.
Weidners nursery..
http://www.weidners.com/location.html


They specialize in fusias and begonias, and a few other cool plants.
I love my rusellia and my brunsfelsia.......

This message was edited Jul 10, 2006 7:27 AM

This message was edited Jul 10, 2006 7:28 AM