Finally… both free time and motivation bumped into each other at the same and I’m blogging more of my Mendo trip. After my second visit to the nearby Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, I popped into North Star Nursery. I was looking for fairy wands (none in stock), but left with a few succulents and a fun new phormium. Love the peace sign… and how great are those pillow stepping stones… and no, they wouldn’t be “so easy to make”. You go right ahead.
At super cool Racine’s Office & Art Supplies in Fort Bragg, CA, I was wowed by their display of Nouvelle Images Home Stickers. These larger than life photo-realistic wall stickers are fabulous! I was torn between their selection of iceland poppies, saucer magnolias, stones and orchids, and Japanese anemones. In the end, the Japanese anemones lured me with their pink daintiness. When in doubt, pick pink I always say. Works especially well for flowers, lipstick and cute tops. May not work as well with cars, houses and financial portfolios.
Check these out. Seriously, you’re gonna love ’em. If you can’t find them locally, try amazon.com or allposters.com.
My Naked Ladies (Amaryllis belladonna) are blooming right now in my Carmichael yard, and they were also blooming (some just spiking) in Mendocino during my trip a couple weeks ago. I wanted to point out this website showing pics of a wide variety of Naked Lady hybrids. The link appeared at the end of a recent S.F. Chronicle article. My friend, Weeder, has some and I wonder if they’re as tough as A. belladonna. They’re pretty… and tempting to someone who doesn’t just garden, but also collects. Pictured above is a variety growing in Weeder’s garden. x Amarcrinum?
of Mendocino. Here I am (behind my sexy camera), shopping at the nursery… at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Have I died and gone to Heaven? Yes! Wait… there’s more… they happen to serve the best handmade ice cream on the planet… in the most beautiful place (I’ve seen so far) on the planet. I highly recommend the coffee ice cream. Extensively researched. The grilled cheese panini sandwich was no slouch, either. Hey, and you know what? The man next in line was from Sacramento. Small world… town… whatever. Stay tuned for more pics.
Might as well tell your homies to throw their food scraps in your new compost bin, too, not because you care about garbage, but because you learned how to cultivate some great topsoil in which to grow your heirloom tomatoes for your famous spaghetti sauce for NASCAR night. Look at you! Actually caring about the health and the environment, but pretending not to! Hey, it’s a start.
I guess Mark Morford is finally realizing that gardening does not make you “bland as milk”. This sort of makes up for the time he dissed gardening. Not that I’m keeping track.
Heads Up: Some may find this column offensive.
Leaving tomorrow… for a whole week! See past adventures here.
