The Dry Garden - Oakland, Calif Awesome nursery!

[Spination]

Thanks to a recommendation and an eye-popping look at recently procured Agave huatchucensis 'Excelsior' posted in the Gallery, I went today for a quick visit to The Dry Garden nursery in Oakland. Didn't really want to go out today with rain in the forecast, but it didn't look so bad this AM, so I decided to boogie on over there, with my dad as co-pilot - 6 months removed from a major stroke, as there was no way I could leave him home alone.
It was a good adventure for him to get out out of the house, and it was fun for me to visit a very cool nursery I've never visited before. Let's just say that from the information I was given, I was highly motivated to visit the sooner the better.

Turns out, it's awesome. Look like what was once a corner gas station, converted to a chock-full assembly of great plants. Aloe heaven - large pillansii, barberae, plicatilis, 'Hercules'... Agave attenuata with stems several feet high and several inches thick. Cacti, euphorbia... lots and lots of great looking plants from side to side, and end to end. I guess that's what happens when someone has 30 years to fill it up! Richard is the proprietor, and Wangchen an associate. Both very gracious, knowledgeable, and helpful.

I wasn't able to stay long. A cloudburst unloaded a torrent of rain, and I already had selected plants that I wanted, so I managed to snap off a few quick pictures and it was time to get my dad back home in time for lunch. I'll definitely have to go back - and with a car with some more room next time!

As it turns out, there were plants there I'm only noticing now in the photos... like the creeping Gasteria rawlinsonii lower right of the last photo with lovely variegated Kumara plicatilis (not for sale).

2018 01 25 Dry Garden a.jpg (244.19 KiB) Viewed 2943 times

2018 01 25 Dry Garden b.jpg (47.52 KiB) Viewed 2943 times

2018 01 25 Dry Garden c.jpg (100.55 KiB) Viewed 2943 times

2018 01 25 Dry Garden d.jpg (68.23 KiB) Viewed 2943 times

2018 01 25 Dry Garden e.jpg (102.88 KiB) Viewed 2943 times

2018 01 25 Dry Garden f.jpg (140.33 KiB) Viewed 2943 times

2018 01 25 Dry Garden j.jpg (117.88 KiB) Viewed 2943 times

2018 01 25 Dry Garden k.jpg (96.94 KiB) Viewed 2943 times

2018 01 25 Dry Garden l.jpg (103.85 KiB) Viewed 2943 times

2018 01 25 Dry Garden m.jpg (135 KiB) Viewed 2943 times

[Spination]

Oh... and the reason I went.

2018 01 25 Dry Garden g.jpg (174.22 KiB) Viewed 2941 times

At $20 each... I took every last one.

I was about to leave...decided to take just a couple more photos...and then noticed this blooming Aloe africana. I have a tiny one bought on Ebay a year ago - for $60 it seemed like lunacy not to grab this ready-made large blooming specimen. With inflorescence in similar state as other blooming aloe I've got going (variegated Aloe arborescens, Aloe betsileensis, Aloe spicata), I figured another in the mix to cross pollen with any or all of those was an opportunity too good to pass up. It was actually the leaves and spines that grabbed my eye, the bloom coming out I only noticed after the fact and clinched the deal to take it home too.

2018 01 25 Dry Garden h.jpg (126.65 KiB) Viewed 2941 times

2018 01 25 Dry Garden i.jpg (103.01 KiB) Viewed 2941 times

[Azuleja]

Very beautiful plants, Spiney! How cool that you got to visit such a fun place.

[Gee.S]

Great shots, thanks! Now you can fill some of that empty space in your greenhouses!

[Stone Jaguar]

Great old school-style nursery akin to Scottsdale’s P & M. Plant quality can vary a bit, but a great place to decompress on a bad weekday afternoon when life has backed up the truck and dumped a load of bovine manure at your doorstep.

About an hour from me with light traffic...practically in Stan’s backyard. Nice mix of interesting SoCal wholesaler offerings, local succulent growers’ oveflow and odds and ends from nurseries further east. Never seen anything there that’s genuinely rare but, like Tom, I’ve found some very good value plants there over the years that I’ve had a Bay Area residence. Owner is gregarious and fairly knowledgeable. Every time I visit, he seems to have roving bands of high-spirited female Asian tourists hoovering up the more interesting bits of his inventory as well as a smattering of Berkeley hipsters.

Looks like they repainted their sign? Know it has different faces on opposite sides, but liked older version more.

J

[Xanthoria]

They have great sales too, and Richard Ward, the owner, is fantastic. Love The Dry Garden! And it's 15 mins from Cactus Jungle too, which itself is about 15-20 mins from Annie's Annuals who always has cool stuff, so that's a nice circuit.

[Gee.S]

Great old school-style nursery akin to Scottsdale’s P & M. Plant quality can vary a bit, but a great place to decompress on a bad weekday afternoon when life has backed up the truck and dumped a load of bovine manure at your doorstep.

About an hour from me with light traffic...practically in Stan’s backyard. Nice mix of interesting SoCal wholesaler offerings, local succulent growers’ oveflow and odds and ends from nurseries further east. Never seen anything there that’s genuinely rare but, like Tom, I’ve found some very good value plants there over the years that I’ve had a Bay Area residence. Owner is gregarious and fairly knowledgeable. Every time I visit, he seems to have roving bands of high-spirited female Asian tourists hoovering up the more interesting bits of his inventory as well as a smattering of Berkeley hipsters.

Looks like they repainted their sign? Know it has different faces on opposite sides, but liked older version more.

J

True story (I live close to P&M): Went to P&M, noticed a nice-sized Huernia with a $150 price tag.
Stopped by Shady Way a couple days later, where I saw the same thing for $8.

[Stone Jaguar]

I have only bought a single plant at P&M - a nice Deuterocohnia colony. It was priced quite reasonably, if a bit unkempt. I agree their list prices for specimen plants seem off-putting. I see a lot of landscapers there loading up when I visit, so assume those are prices for tourists? I was more referring to the similarity of aspects between the two nurseries (i.e., "attractive clutter" with a wide inventory of different-sized succulents).

Visited Shady Way over the New Year on your reco on the forum a while back and was quite disappointed by the lack of variety and sad aspect of many of their plants. Perhaps a seasonal thing? They did have a fair number of medium-sized ferocacti at OK prices, but I would not make the drive again just to stroll around.

[Stan]

You really bought every one? Good idea. When a great deal comes along I always kick myself I only bought the one. Was this your first Dry Garden visit? I have to get down there soon. Then drop in on the Palmetum in Oakland. Funny as you approach Richard's DG nursery...you see homes all around with Restio's,bamboo,exotic succulents- lol. He's made in impact on that part of Oakland/Berkeley.
You can try to find a bigger range...but wont. Other places have some strong points,but The Dry Garden is best of them all.

[Gee.S]

I have only bought a single plant at P&M - a nice Deuterocohnia colony. It was priced quite reasonably, if a bit unkempt. I agree their list prices for specimen plants seem off-putting. I see a lot of landscapers there loading up when I visit, so assume those are prices for tourists? I was more referring to the similarity of aspects between the two nurseries (i.e., "attractive clutter" with a wide inventory of different-sized succulents).

Visited Shady Way over the New Year on your reco on the forum a while back and was quite disappointed by the lack of variety and sad aspect of many of their plants. Perhaps a seasonal thing? They did have a fair number of medium-sized ferocacti at OK prices, but I would not make the drive again just to stroll around.

Shady Way is the small clumping cactus (and yes, those are the best kind of cactus) capitol of the civilized world, i.e. Echinocereus/Mammillaria. Prices are outstanding (picked up a multi-headed M. standleyi bursting out of a 5-gal container for $10 last summer). They grow all their Echinocereus from seed and usually have about 30 varieties on hand at any given time. I'll confess, I almost always stop there in the dead of summer, because all these cacti are maintained in full sun, so a safe bet to purchase, as well as an education regarding species that can manage sun here. Most nurseries shade that stuff through summer, just to save on their water bill, if nothing else.

[mcvansoest]

I stopped at Shady Way in November and I think they have undergone some major changes fairly recently. All the shade structures/green houses that used to be full of small cactus seedlings and such were empty or being converted to seasonal flowering plants. I have a buddy who knows the owner and I will ask him if he knows what if anything is going on.

[Stone Jaguar]

I stopped at Shady Way in November and I think they have undergone some major changes fairly recently. All the shade structures/green houses that used to be full of small cactus seedlings and such were empty or being converted to seasonal flowering plants.

Yes, this is more or less how I encountered it. The entrance areas were dominated by bedding plants with some dime store succulents in 3” pots. Not an echinocereus grower anymore, but had nice a few as well as lots of showy mamms and such in Guat...I don’t recall seeing anything noteworthy in late December.

I agree with Stan that nothing comparable locally. Cactus Jungle is very expensive with some very “odd” looking plants on the lot every time I’ve visited. For that price point, I’ll stay on this side of the Bay and go watch the Kool Kidz and score the apparently accidental/rare good value plant over at Flora Grubb’s.

[Stan]

Was the variegated Aloe plicatilis NFS?...I hate those labels!

[Spination]

Stan - yup, really did. There was no thinking required - insta-decision. "Oh? They're all for sale? I'll take 'em all, if you have no objection." Yes, first visit, but not the last. There is no other nursery I've ever visited in the Bay Area that compares, it terms of matching my plant interests- a real find. Aloe Heaven. I've never seen so many specimen quality plants for sale assembled in one place (in person) - it was very cool. I have a couple of nurseries I've found over the years that have neat plants (one in Corte Madera, and another 2 in Half Moon Bay), but they pale in comparison in terms of the depth and quality of inventory. Those others are hit-or-miss, every once in a while run into something I'd like to have. Also, one of those in HMB I crossed off my list a few years ago due to a laissez-faire attitude when I alerted them to the presence of agave mites. Who needs that, not to mention an "I don't care" attitude and brush-off? I've never been back... Yes, of course I did ask about the variegated plic - NFS, and I don't blame them! I wouldn't sell it either. After a couple of flowerings, and subsequent branches, they can make more of them. That opportunity is worth more than selling it for whatever it would fetch now, IMO.

I was super impressed, and that doesn't happen all too often. And combined with the nicest of people running it, that's really hard to beat. I also asked permission to take photos, and asked if he would mind if I mentioned them on a plant forum. Sure, no problem. By the way - he knows about Agaveville. These days - who doesn't? Something funny is he had the plants labeled as 'Lime Streak' (I would have bought any of those too at that price!), and I mentioned I was pretty sure they are 'Excelsior'. I was actually hoping they were the elusive Truncata, but as soon as I got a look in person, I knew they were Huatchucensis. He then showed me an online photo on his phone - of my own plants on Agaveville! That was fun! I think it was the greenhouse grown form of mine that contrasted starkly with theirs that caused the confusion. Sorry about that!

Stan, I'm so jealous you have that place in your very own back-yard! If there were something like that hereabouts, I'd be there every week.

[toditd]

Visiting "The Dry Garden" on a rainy day? Those huachucensis 'excelsior's look wonderful and a wonderful price to boot! Thanks for the photo tour.

[Spination]

I was going to wait until Friday originally when I heard about the Excelsior's being there and @ that price - because of the rain expected. But then, the more I thought about it, I thought why leave to chance the possibility that by Friday, someone else might come along, realize what a bargain they are, and grab them first! The clincher was when it occurred to me too that Friday traveling in the Bay Area and competing with the commuters (very heavy traffic on Fridays) was not the kind of fun that I find appealing these days. I do my utmost to stay off the road when I know it's more likely to be unpleasant. If you saw how some of those bozos drive, you'd understand! I reasoned that the rain was far less perilous.

[Drel]

I try to drop by Dry Garden every other week if not more frequent, a tad out of the way from my daily route but it's worth the extra half-hour commute. Richard is lovely to chat with but seems to not have a knack for names and faces. I've probably been there more than 2 dozen times and I keep needing to reintroduce myself.

These Excelsior have been sitting there for more than a week. We may have been the only people who've bought in on them Tom (and you grabbed way more than I did clearly!)

By the way - the plants clearly have some kind of white and blue paint splatter on them (goes to show they're really pups from the guy's own garden). Have you figured out a way to remove them? Or just gonna wait for those parts to be outgrown?

[Spination]

Well, I'm glad you visit often, and that you saw them. Had you not, and not bought one, and not posted the pic in the Gallery, I'd never have known. So, a fortuitous chain of events that was pretty awesome for me...

I'm also stoked about the Aloe africana I brought home, and I can see it's bloom evolving quickly each new day. A great nursery within very reasonable driving distance to add to my repertoire, and the best one of all at that - in terms of my increasing aloe fanaticism. If money was no object, and a big truck at my disposal, I would have brought home at least a truckload of big awesome tree aloes. It sure beats waiting years to grow a small one received in the mail to a size much closer to blooming, to get one already big. True, there's a price difference, but what's a year of growing worth? How about 3 years, or 5, or 10+? The little africana I've been growing for over a year now is like a splinter compared to Dry Garden's plant I brought home for $60, and already blooming. The seedling I bought was $10, plus shipping, and I'd be surprised if it grows as big as the new one in another 5 years. Math-wise, that's less than $10 more a year to grow into a plant in perfect condition that I would have wanted to bring home. I guess a similar comparison can be made for just about everything in their inventory.


Now that you mention it, I did notice some blue, although diluted looking spatter on a couple. I just looked again, and only one has any trace left of the blue. When I saw it at the nursery, I didn't think twice about it because it reminded me of the fungicide I use (LiquiCop), which can leave very similar blue stains for a time if I apply heavily. I did use it a few times this winter as a preventative before rains I knew were coming, with the memory of last year's aracnose flare-ups on certain agave from the prolonged wet and cold, and the blue does wear off in time. It's copper based (hence the LiquiCop), which explains the blue color. I just made an assumption at the time that's probably what it was, which may not be right. Now that I can only detect it on one remaining plant makes me think that if it is paint, it might be water-based, since they got rained on heavily the day I brought them home. They went inside as soon as I got home, and for our low on Friday AM of 32 F, but with an obvious change in the weather and spring-like forecasts for the foreseeable future, I put them back outside over the weekend, along with a number of other plants I don't really want inside unless they need to be (frost/freeze). All of my 'Excelsior' are outside now. Now that I'm aware that outdoor light plays heavily in the growth form, I don't want to waste any time getting them adjusted to outdoor sun as the days get longer and well before the sunburning days of summer arrive. I don't want the new ones assuming the form of my greenhouse grown ones, and I'd like a lot if the greenhouse plants start assuming the more pleasing form of the new arrivals.

[Stan]

I have bought many plants from the Dry Garden- including plants not liking dry like the Anthurium andicola and variegated Monstera. All over my yards are Dry Garden things- like Aloe rupicola in bloom right now as then it was a near seedling. I've some nice things for years that somehow I lost. Stolen or freezes. But,I had more time with them then say,a Bic Mac meal.
It always kills me to pass up things that I don't have room for,or not enough sun or - well,can't afford or..afford to take a chance with. My tiny succulent gardens are in the front yard. Not a good place for chancing Blue Cycads. Heck,I had a nice Kalanchoe beheransis in front- was getting sizable until somebody decided they could take every leaf off that plant- twice they did that. Since one tenant of mine moved..all that has gone down to near none. But,those were years I couldn't plant out as I wanted.
City life.
Same for Euphorbia cotonifolia. I had nicest one going in the bay area..then gone...

[Spination]

Another visit yesterday - more pics

2018 04 24 Dry Garden a.jpg (197.26 KiB) Viewed 2753 times

2018 04 24 Dry Garden b.jpg (175.06 KiB) Viewed 2753 times

2018 04 24 Dry Garden c.jpg (230.83 KiB) Viewed 2753 times

2018 04 24 Dry Garden d.jpg (238.93 KiB) Viewed 2753 times

2018 04 24 Dry Garden e.jpg (164.29 KiB) Viewed 2753 times

2018 04 24 Dry Garden f.jpg (241.88 KiB) Viewed 2753 times

2018 04 24 Dry Garden g.jpg (261.38 KiB) Viewed 2753 times

[Stan]

I see a lot I want. ME WANT!

[Spination]

The aloe areas are like a magnet for me....

[Stan]

What did you get?
You see the price on the A.polyphylla?..well,I know you did ,but the point is..why I don't tell my wife "This is valuable" because the first thing she says is "sell it". She loves the look of the plants,but her old school- and old world practical side comes out every time.
My Aloe must be worth $300,maybe $400!
ps..funny thing is she pointed it out the other day as we walked past it ..like it was now impressive to her.

[Spination]

3rd and 4th photo, that red flowering aloe in the center. I have a divaricata from Arid Lands, but not nearly that big, and the bonus of bringing home a flowering specimen with which to do insta-crosses was just too much to resist.
The reason I went there though, was to pick up the below 4 plants reserved for me... did I really need 4 more? Not really, but the price was extremely fair, and well worth my time to go get them. Aside from that, the owner of the mother plant was a source of good information. He has 2 massive mother plants, but only one of which is a prolific offsetter. I can confirm as well that the progeny, even as small as these ones I brought home, are amazingly prone to offsetting themselves. That's a huge value! All the ones I acquired previously over the years are very slow to offset (years), and very stingy in that department too. This particular lineage is something different in that they are pup-happy. Awesome!!! If you look at the top right plant, at 6 O'Clock, you can see an offset poking it's head out already. The ones I brought home in January and still have are all offsetting too.

2018 04 26 A parryi Huatchucensis Excelsior _ 4 more.jpg (214.24 KiB) Viewed 2732 times

Yeah, I made sure the photo of the polyphylla showed the price, as an example of what they can sell for. For the condition (brown tips - needs to be watered much more - like every day!), and the size (not that big!)... a little on the high side but still, excellent information. Other specimens like ramosissima, pillansii were also pricey, but those are super specimens, so very worth the hundreds being asked. Of course I had to take another photo of that variegated you know what, just because it's a drooler (I mean, looking at it makes me drool! ). The Aloe arenicola were a surprise to me, as I've never seen them in a nursery before. If I didn't have it already, I'd have grabbed one - maybe I should have anyway. I almost snagged a nice A. 'Viper' hybrid in bloom, for only $15. I was on a budget though, and the divaricata was $60, so I had to restrain myself to that one extra plant beyond the ones I went there for....

[Stan]

I might drop by Saturday. I know in May,I want to make my first ever pilgrimage to Annie's Annual's. Have you been there? When i picked up that little neat Crassula in Fremont that originated from her nursery,it piqued my interest to finally make the ( 1 hour) trip.