Overwhelming! This is one small section of the place:
Visiting Rancho Soledad can be overwhelming. You can easily spend the day there looking around at the growing fields, the shade houses, and the plants growing on the steep sandstone slopes around the property. There are not just succulent plants. A huge shade house entirely filled with huge Dioons...
...that we did not even get to. Row after row of beauty.
On a dry sandstone slope, a beautiful Agave ovatifolia.
This jaw-dropping thing was nearby--is it a A. guingola hybrid or special selection? Look at those marginal teeth! That blue-white coloration! Update: A. guiengola 'Moto Sierra'
Probably good we were not there long. Certainly good there wasn't enough space in the vehicle for all we wanted to bring home.
I wanted that pair of Aloe sabea!
They have some beautiful tropical plants as well.
Aloe spicata aka Aloe sessiliflora.
Aloe sabea blooming in the background there.
Oh my!
Labeled as Agave 'Blue Ember'
Whoa! Agave nizandensis x Agave isthmensis.
I came home with a very inexpensive Aloe dorotheae and Agave 'Blue Ember', which doesn't come up on a google search. Hmm...is it new?
What a visit!
We also went to the San Diego Cactus/Succulent Show/Sale; I'll blog about that next time. Right now, exhaustion is setting in.
Visiting Rancho Soledad can be overwhelming. You can easily spend the day there looking around at the growing fields, the shade houses, and the plants growing on the steep sandstone slopes around the property. There are not just succulent plants. A huge shade house entirely filled with huge Dioons...
...that we did not even get to. Row after row of beauty.
On a dry sandstone slope, a beautiful Agave ovatifolia.
This jaw-dropping thing was nearby--is it a A. guingola hybrid or special selection? Look at those marginal teeth! That blue-white coloration! Update: A. guiengola 'Moto Sierra'
Probably good we were not there long. Certainly good there wasn't enough space in the vehicle for all we wanted to bring home.
I wanted that pair of Aloe sabea!
They have some beautiful tropical plants as well.
Aloe spicata aka Aloe sessiliflora.
Aloe sabea blooming in the background there.
Oh my!
Labeled as Agave 'Blue Ember'
Whoa! Agave nizandensis x Agave isthmensis.
I came home with a very inexpensive Aloe dorotheae and Agave 'Blue Ember', which doesn't come up on a google search. Hmm...is it new?
What a visit!
We also went to the San Diego Cactus/Succulent Show/Sale; I'll blog about that next time. Right now, exhaustion is setting in.
WOW, this is really overwhelming, particularly for people like me gardening in a cold climate. Never before saw so many different succulents together. Thank you for showing us this spectacle.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it! It's a wonderland for plant lovers.
DeleteHow I wish we had anything like that in the Uk. Spectacular plants.
ReplyDeleteBarely scratched the surface with the photos. There was so much more.
DeleteWow what an amazing place, much temptation there, I am surprised you only bought two plants. :)
ReplyDeletexoxoxo ♡
I'm surprised, too!
DeleteOne word: JEALOUS!
ReplyDeleteIf you ever visit San Diego, it's a must-see.
DeleteWow! That first shot has rendered me speechless.
ReplyDeleteI should hope so. ;^)
DeleteI could get in a lot of trouble there...wow! I'm glad you were able to narrow in on two beauties to bring home. Could have easily become so overwhelming it became all or nothing!
ReplyDeleteBring large truck, plenty of money.
DeleteGlad that huge expanse of fun is so far away, and most wouldn't grow here even if I happened by with a large U-Haul... Looks and sounds like a fun visit.
ReplyDeleteA very fun visit.
DeleteWow, wow, wow. We may make a trip to San Diego this summer, and Rancho Soledad Nursery is at the top of my list. Will I be able to walk out of there without going broke?
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Agave 'Blue Ember' either.
Bring large empty truck, plenty of money, plan to spend many hours, and be warned it is just enough inland to be brutally hot in summer. They don't sell small plants--the small ones are 10", most are 3 gallons at least, 10 is more common. Didn't even get to the spectacular palms...
DeleteOh my! And I thought OC Succulents was overwhelming!
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't been, it's well worth a trip.
DeleteGorgeous! So many incredible plants, so few that wouldn't rot or freeze in my climate. Must move to California! Thanks for sharing the eye candy!
ReplyDeleteShould you move, please bring some rain with you, okay?
Deletewished I had your weekend!
ReplyDeleteEven the moving-65-pound-concrete-blocks part?
DeleteMostly yes it was fun!
This place is (insert string of superlatives)! Something about seeing so many plants (especially those that are difficult for us) en masse thrills me to my toes.
ReplyDeleteIt was a thrill indeed!
DeleteIt is surprising that in Spain, with our similar climate, we don't have nurseries like this. I'm definitely jealous.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there is not the demand for that type of plant? San Diego is far ahead of the rest of California in selecting climate-appropriate landscape plants.
Delete