Having seen this place many, many times when coming back down I-17 from my trips to Cave Creek…read more(ironically, nursery trips), I never seemed to have the time to stop in until recently. Additionally, it wasn't especially easy to get to, as you need to exit (if going Southbound) well before you can see it. If you drive past going Southbound, your options are going back Northbound to Dixileta and then taking the Southbound frontage road back toward Jomax, OR continue South and exit at Happy Valley, thereafter taking the surface streets (35th Ave.) North. The lacking highway infrastructure leaves something to be desired, and it's definitely not their fault, but that is honestly how I ended up taking this long to stop in, despite driving by numerous times.
That out of the way, I definitely think it was worth stopping in, and was quite glad that I finally made the time. There is a fairly good selection of plants here, including cacti and succulents, but my draw is always the agave, one of my favorite plants to grow in our challenging climate. I'm always on the lookout for something I don't have, or something new or rare in the trade, as all manner of interesting hybrids and variegates have become increasingly popular in recent years.
While the website mentioned a few varieties of interest to me, including A. deserti and A. utahensis, both of which I'd been in the market for, I wasn't able to find any. I did, however, come across some nice specimens of A. palmeri (why is this so hard to find in retail?) and A. montana (neither of which is on the website, so a nice surprise!). I already have the latter, but bought one as a gift for someone else, and grabbed a pair of the A. palmeri for myself. While fairly variable as a species, this particular selection of A. palmeri was exactly what I wanted, with beautiful bud imprints on the leaves and wicked marginal spines.
Some other goodies I saw, which did not go home with me due to space considerations, included some very nice A. asperrima ssp. asperrima (A. scabra), A. 'Sharkskin' and, intriguingly, the not-so-common, typical form of A. lophantha. Plenty of places carry the 'spendida' and 'quadricolor' variety, but it has been a while since anyplace I've been had the typical variety, which grows much larger and seems to be a hardier plant. Another favorite that seems less common these days was A. zebra, which are always fantastic lookers, with their vicious marginal spines, twisted terminal spines and rigid, scabrous leaves. Additionally, they had some very nice, specimen sized A. tequilana. Another surprisingly not-so-common species. Last but certainly not least, I spotted another gem hiding in the corner somewhere. Unless my eyes deceive me, I'm pretty sure that was A. vivipara, sometimes confused with A. angustifolia. Definitely do not see those too often, so that was a nice Easter egg of sorts.
Lastly, I must call out the lovely stand of bamboo they have here. Finding agave and bamboo in the same place is always a win-win while nursery hopping, at least for me. Near as I can tell, it was B. oldhamii, which seems to thrive even in our summers.
With everyone as friendly and helpful as they were, and now that I know how to get to this place, I will definitely try to make it part of my regular rotation and stop by more regularly. If you're in the area and looking for some plants you might not find elsewhere, I highly recommend checking them out.
