Cheryl and I took a trip to the East Bay today. Her friends Heidi and George of Garden Delights Arts & Crafts were having a Holiday Gift & Art sale at their home in El Cerrito.
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- Holiday Gift & Art Show
After, we headed to Flowerland Nursery in Albany, followed by lunch at Cactus Taqueria.
Late Lunch at Cactus Taqueria
This was Cheryl’s maiden Flowerland voyage! Having recently discovered this fabulous nursery myself, I was happy for a chance to go back… especially at Christmas time.
The nursery was beautifully decked out for Christmas. In addition to the usual offerings, they had a friendly popcorn vendor serving herb-seasoned and cinnamon popcorn, piped Christmas music, fresh-cut Christmas trees, poinsettias, teeny little evergreens, amaryllis bulbs, paperwhites, Christmas greeting cards, and cool ornaments galore. The energy was bustling and festive.
I scoped out a few Christmas trees, which, by the way, are individually named. Cute and clever touch. I’m so looking forward to a return trip to Flowerland next week.
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- Christmas at Flowerland!
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- Purple Bells Vine (Rhodochiton)
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- Purple Bells Vine (Rhodochiton)
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- Wooly Pockets in Bloom
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- Cuphea micropetala
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- Cuphea micropetala
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- Naughty Gnome
On our way back to the car, we stopped for the inevitable flower and garden pics. The fun thing about going out with a gardener friend is that he or she typically has the patience of a saint when it comes to picture-taking.
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- Outside a Flower Shop on Solano on Solano
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- Ornament Selfie
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- Cool Garden of the Day
Angela, what a pleasure to meet you and Cheryl in the flesh, finally!!!! Let us be great friends!!!
Angela, Like George said, it was so wonderful to meet you and to finally meet Cheryl in real life. The internet is an amazing thing, that we can find kindred spirits who we would never meet in our daily wanderings. Thank you SO much for this fantastic post about your visit to us, I’m so touched (and you’re a great stealth photographer, I didn’t even notice you taking the pics!) And a great plug for Flowerland, we also love it and we bought our living Christmas tree there. Thank you! Heidi
It was very nice meeting you both, George and Heidi! Would love to talk more about orchids, bromeliads, bees, and Heidi’s art processes someday. Trips to the East Bay are a real treat for us, and you must come see our new Sacramento nursery when it opens!