August 18, 2003

Well, it’s that time again, the overheated, sun scorched days of August, when the gardens need weeding and watering, and it’s simply too hot to do either. For our county, I’m visiting, buying and reviewing several of our nurseries each month (oh, the things I do for my garden), each was considered for several things, which are not available at “big box” stores:

· Availability of plants I’m looking for, this month is was named daylilies, passifloria, and lantania.

· Knowledge/helpfulness of staff.

· Willingness to provide special orders. Here’s this months nurseries:

Southwest Wholesale Nursery & Supplies

36705 Briggs Rd, Murrieta, CA 92562

909-926-1827

This was an exceptionally fruitful trip, the nursery not only had all 3 plants, but had several sizes in which to choose from. I went on an incredibly hot (over 108 deg. day), and the staff was quite visible it caring for the plants during the heat. On my first trip I discovered they did in fact have the Passifloria Incense that I’ve been looking for, but the one they did have was too tall to fit in my car (a 3 gal pot, with a 4-5ft pole the vines were trained upon), complete with popping open flower buds. I also spied some lovely morning glories “Heavenly Blue” that would be perfect for my front porch support column. I did the only thing possible, bought the Morning glory immediately, and returned later with my husband, and a larger car for the passion vine. I was assured that I could get both named daylilies and rarer passiflorias special ordered. A large collection of trees and shrubs rounded out their offerings, and I will be sure to revisit this fall as I help a friend landscape/garden her 4+ acres this fall. The only thing that was consciously absent was water garden plants and supplies.

Plants Purchased:

Heavenly blue Morning glories: $3.25 in 1 gal pot.

Incense Passion Vine : $20 in 3 gal pot, already flowering

Cagliero Ranch Nursery

2700 W. Devonshire, Hemet, CA 92543

909-766-7755

So far this has been the smallest of our selected nurseries, at roughly 2 to 2.5 acres total. The house specialty here seems to be roses, and annuals, with a few types of geraniums. I saw 30-40 different roses, and if roses ever figured into my landscape, this is defiantly a place to find that special shade of yellow (I did recognize one I grew for years at a previous residence). The prices on the annuals seemed about par as the prices for annuals at our local “big box” store that is 1 mile away, and although the plants looked healthy, nothing screamed “buy me”.

That’s all the room I have for this month, next month I think I’ll head north on my nursery odyssey, If you have a suggestion for one to visit, drop me a line. In up coming months, I’m involved in both a “country” and “city” garden projects, expect lots of pics, advice, and of course, nursery orders.