On a whim: Chalily
On Saturday morning I found myself just a short distance from a local specialty nursery that I've not written about before. Although I had some projects waiting for me back home (always) and it was quite a chilly morning, the sun was shining and I decided to stop in.
The place is Chalily pond & garden, and they specialize in xeric plants.
Of course I'm joking, they specialize in anything water-related! I usually only visit this place early in the season for some reason, so I was surprised to see how big a lot of the plants were. It's quite attractive at this time of year!
It is a small commercial property that was once, like most of the businesses on this stretch of Manchester road, a residence. With space so limited, they really pack things in. (Note that this tour is starting in the back of the nursery, since that's where you park.)
There are dozens of fountains and water vessels of all types, some active...
...some dry...
There's a shallow pond that is quite a bit larger than the one in my garden...
...and a wonderful huge water wheel!
Lots of water plants but more too:
The small yellow outbuilding you may have noticed in an earlier photo was the residence's garage but is now the fish shed:
Walking toward the front, I thought that the side garden was quite nice:
The photo didn't capture how pretty it was.
They don't ignore the birds here:
They're reminding us that it is time to net our ponds...
...and there's a warning about mink eating your fish!
I've only noticed a couple of fish ever go missing, and since mine are the cheapest goldfish you can find it's not something I'm going to worry about. I'm pretty sure there are no mink visiting my pond. Herons yes. Mink, no.
The front of the house faces a super-busy road, so they've installed a double-sided waterfall that feeds a large stream:
I couldn't get great photos because of the lighting conditions, but this thing moves quite a large amount of water.
There is plenty of garden decor out here...
...and more inside. That's where the other pond supplies are too: netting, pumps, lighting, etc.
I wasn't planning on buying anything so didn't go in. (If they had been having a better sale I would have found something that would work in my garden, but "first item full price, second 1/2 price, third free" didn't tempt me.)
This was a beautiful morning for a visit to Chalily. If I ever need a free-standing fountain it will be the first place I look!
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I've always wanted a water feature. But I waited too long; even if the California drought ever ends, water features won't be politically correct any more :-).
Our kind of place, water feature retail space!
I didn't think twice about your xeric plant joke, our water garden nursery (Hughes) carries a wide variety of xeric plants. They are careful to label them as NOT WATER PLANTS though.
Gerhard: Makes sense, and is too bad. A little fountain bubbling on the porch would be nice though, and not too wasteful.
Mark/Gaz: I knew you'd like it!
Loree: There's not a nursery in this area that uses the word "xeric". "Native" is big, and "drought-tolerant" is as close as it gets to "xeric".
Yowsa! Love this place! The dragon is way cool and that birdbath/planter/ sphere segment thingy in the 8th picture with the concrete bench is making me want to get out the cement and make one!
Peter: That dragon is pretty cool, although I didn't look at the price tag. Don't think it's on sale, but maybe I should go back?