When Schoolteacher said 'Hey, let's go camping in Carpinteria' I looked up stuff to do in Carpinteria. This place seemed interesting, and worth a visit. Plus I'm trying to find a plant. I've run into it on my travels all over the state, but can't seem to find anywhere to actually buy it. I've even attempted to uh...borrow clippings from places, but never apparently got the right bit of the plant to get it to grow. So, after seeing a bit about 'huge succulent selection', Seaside Gardens was placed on the list of places to go.
Just off Santa Claus lane, you will drive right by this place if your not looking out. I had to turn around at another place down the street a bit because I wasn't looking out and drove right past the place. So keep an eye or two out. Even though there's not much here, it sure does go by quick. We turned into their driveway, and parked in the fairly empty lot. There was only one or two additional cars in addition to mine. Seems not many people go here. Odd, it looks kinda neat in the pictures on their website.
We climbed out of the car, and headed towards the store area. Before we left the parking lot, we were instantly greeted by an eager employee, who rushed to get us a map of the place. The map was well done, and depicted the various sections of gardens they had in the place. There was a 'cottage' section, as well as a section devoted to grasslands, succulents, California natives, and still more sections stocked with plants from other locations all over the globe. Now equipped with a paper representation of the whole place, we entered the gardens, comforted that we wouldn't get lost.
The gardens are free to visit, and are actually quite magnificent, with local birds and bugs and lizards all flitting about. I particularly enjoyed the succulent section, as I was fairly sure I'd quickly murder any other of the plants if I attempted to bring them home. But here in the gardens they are alive and well, cared for by people who remember to water their plants more than...uh...never. The gardens are actually quite large, and I even lost schoolteacher once or twice whilst taking a copious amount of photos. Employees were super helpful in pointing out where they thought she went. So, remember your phones in here.
After visiting the gardens, I visited the garden store, where they had tables and tables of potted succulents. They ranged from downright cheap, up to somewhat expensive. I picked up a few and put them in a basket. I then asked somebody about the plant I was looking for. I remembered the common name, and she asked me for the science-name. Which I couldn't think of. She hadn't heard of it with the common name, but went inside to use a computer to look it up. She came back out and informed me where I could get the plant I was looking for. Apparently it's a common ground cover plant. She then led me over clear over to the other side of the place, to the section of the outside shop where they kept those. The grounds (in addition to the gardens) are quite large, with a vast spectrum of plant types all over the place. I spent about forty dollars, and got a flat of ground cover plants, and three small starter plants. The little old lady behind the register helped me immensely, giving me advice on planting, and watering, and care for the plants I was purchasing. She also told me how some full on horticulturists have been known to be plant killers. That made me feel way better about my murderous history of flora. She also pulled the plant-wagon over to my car, laid down a sheet of plastic and finally put my plants in my car.
This place is a hidden gem. If you need or want plants, go here. If you want to wander through a garden, also go here. read more