Detour to Seaside Gardens
My trip to the central coast of California in late April placed me within a two hour drive of the iconic Seaside Gardens Nursery in the Socal beach city of Carpenteria , to the immediate south of Santa Barbara. I was on a very brief holiday, but spending a day motoring along highway 101-one of my favorite road trip drives-was appealing. I was at liberty to do whatever the hell I wanted to, and this was an excellent way to spend the day. My first visit to Seaside was in April of 2010, briefly blogged about here , and again in 2011. In my experience, display gardens in California nurseries are a rarity and this one is so well done and beautifully maintained I assume that the design business here is able to support the upkeep. In fact, I have never seen this nursery busy with retail customers, and you might have to search out an employee to make your purchase. Admittedly I always have visited as soon as they open on a weekday , traditiona...