Road Trip 2026 - Wildside Nursery

A Destination for Road Trip 2026.

Southwestern tip of England with potential garden stops

Wildside Nursery is a destination for the Road Trip 2026 in June. This garden has been on our "to see" list for five or six years now. It is tucked away in the South West corner of England in Devon. A popular summer holiday destination for the English. This corner of the country gets the most warmth and can grow many Mediterranean plants. Portions of the garden have naturalistic plantings from California and South Africa. Both of these Mediterrannean areas offer great selections of plants and I want to see it.

Curious Flora Nursery (Reincarnation of Annie’s Annuals)

 

With much anxiety Angele and I drove up to Richmond, California to the new nursery called Curious Flora.   I was curious.  I was hoping for the best but prepared to be disappointed and ashamed.  The best being a thriving commercial nursery producing fun and new things along with those successful heirlooms. The worst, a possible commercial implosion and the loss of a great gardening resource.

Pan Global Plants - Nursery

 Click here to see the other gardens we visited or click here for the Overview post.  

This is our second visit to Pan Global Plants, a specialist nursery in the UK. Located on the border with Wales near Frampton-on-Severn.  If you visit, give yourself 20 minutes to get lost.  We got lost both times but quickly figured it out.  Hint:  Their long driveway leads you astray. See video below.

Pan Global Plants was born in spring 1997. ‘PGP’ soon got a reputation for offering rarities and desirables and over the years picked up a lot of press attention. Now it is one of the most celebrated specialist nurseries in the UK and, pre-Brexit, sold to all corners of Europe, introducing many new plants never offered before. Nick has travelled extensively to botanise across the temperate world, having visited at least 25 countries or biogeographic zones, some many times. =According to their website  

Arvensis Perennials Nursery

We are back to Arvensis Perennials with our friend and fellow gardener Julia.  Their demonstration garden has filled in very well over the last eight years.  

This wholesale nursery provides plants to some of the best garden designers in England.  What a beautiful selection. 

Annie’s Annuals Nursery

 

Annie’s Annuals Nursery

 

Digging Dog Nursery Tour

While on a long weekend vacation in Mendocino, we stopped by Digging Dog Nursery in Albion.  Here's what I saw blooming.

New Plants from Annie’s Spring Fete

Here's a hint what's coming this summer in my gardens:

Devil's Mountain Nursery

Here's some nice plants I saw while shopping at Devil's Mountain Nursery in San Ramon.  It's only open to the trade.

Aster ericoides 'Monte Cassino'

Pennisetum setaceum

Pan Global Plants - Nursery

 

Piet Oudolf’s Garden - Hummelo, Netherlands

De Hessenhof Nursery - Netherlands

Annie's Annuals Fall Sale

My buddy, Dino is being attacked by the giant green man at Annie's Fall Sale Party. I've been making this 45 minute trip from San Francisco for 10 years now. It is by far the most interesting nursery in the Bay Area. If you've never been, well, you should go! Here is some of the interesting things I saw:

At first I thought this was a verbena but it turns out to be Lavandula canariensis. Wonderful bright green leaves with a panicle of flowers that appears to bloom for months.

Dahlia Show, San Francisco

California's Dahlia Society 2014 Flower Show at the Hall of Flowers in San Francisco. With more than 8 distinct forms and many more in a full spectrum of form only nature could make. Below are those that look outstanding to me.

Annie's Nursery in Richmond, California

On April 12th, 2014, I travel across the bay to Annies' Nursery in Richmod. They were having their annual Spring fete. It was great too see everyone there and listen to the eatable garden lecture.

Momiji Maple Nursery

The entrance to Momiji Nursery is marked by this large Hollywood Juniper.

Special Plants Nursery & Garden

This was one of the side trips that turned out well for us. The other being the discovery of East Lambrook Manor House. I'll show you that in a few days. Frank & I decided to stop by The Special Plants Nursery on our way to Prince Charles Highgrove House. We stumbled upon a garden tour and talk about hardy geraniums, starting in 5 minutes. Wow. A room full of old ladies and us two. Inspired to find some of the geranium hybrids as they'll look great in San Francisco gardens.

The weather was gray; great for photos but it was also raining. So we spend an hour drinking coffee, eating cake, talking plants and US & UK topics. Too wet for Highgrove House plus we didn't have tickets. We were advised it is usually sold out. We must order tickets next visit.