Yesterday we stopped at Tree of Life nursery, near San Juan Capistrano, and of course bought more plants: a Baja miniature rose (okay, one of the few plants I’ve bought just because it is SO DAMNED CUTE — one had a rose bud and I’m not kidding, it was at most .5cm long) to put near the ‘dry wash’ area; another iris & a woodland strawberry for the shade garden; a blue fescue for Dave; and a bluff strawberry for the sunny/near fruit trees area.

The nursery had a nice selection, including some plants from Baja California, and good prices. The staff was very welcoming (on a rainy muddy day to boot) — both employees, on separate occasions, pointed out they had fresh hot coffee, tea, and cookies inside their book/gift store “Casa La Paz”. The latter is a strawbale house, really lovely, with a wonderful fireplace (did I say it was cold and rainy?), stocked with a very good selection of books on native plants, California natural history, green architecture, and more.