Redesigned Ruth Bancroft Garden nursery needs tweaking

I've probably bought more plants at the Ruth Bancroft Garden Nursery than anywhere else. In the old days, I couldn't wait for the spring and fall plant sales when tables full of exciting succulents and other plants were set up all over the garden.

In February 2015, the nursery expanded significantly, ushering in what I consider the golden age. Under the leadership of nursery manager Troy McGregor, the nursery began to offer a large variety of South African and Australian shrubs (including many proteaceas), more succulents than ever, and even water-wise trees. A consummate plantsman originally from Australia, Troy brought in plants that simply weren't available anywhere else in Northern California, always focusing on climate appropriateness and low-water use.

But nothing lasts forever. Troy left to open his own landscape design company, Gondwana Flora. The RBG broke ground to build a multi-million dollar Visitor and Education Center, and a new executive director, Carol Laughlin, took office.

While the site preparations for the new Visitor Center were under way, the nursery did business on the north side of the garden in the green metal-frame building called Ruth's Folly. Now, with the Visitor Center foundation complete, the nursery has moved back to its old spot on the south side of the garden near the main entrance. The official opening of the nursery was last Saturday, May 19. I attended the preview party on Friday, May 18 to get a sneak peek at the new space.

What is the new nursery like? I was as curious to find out as I'm sure many of you are.

I don't assume the tables that were set up on the left will always be there, but on Friday evening the nursery looked more like an event space than a place to buy plants.

The kiosk (on the left in the next photo) is brand new. It's larger than the old one and will have room for books and other things. The fence on the right replaced the old living wall. The mosaic wall in the middle is new; it's one of two "Welcome Walls."

The Welcome Walls were created by artists Donna Billick and Amanda Larson. 200 community members designed the tiles that make up the walls as part of a tile-making workshop led by Donna and Amanda. Each wall is 20' long and 4' tall and depicts a variety of succulents, cacti, and other low-water plants. 

The mosaic walls are easily my favorite feature in the redesigned space.

Donor tiles will be installed on the back side of each wall.

The construction fence is decorated with large renderings of what the Visitor Center will look like. I think the design is a great match for the spirit and philosophy of the garden. I look forward to seeing the real thing in a year or two!

The palo verde trees you see in these renderings have already been planted.

Not much to see yet on the other side of the fence:

The garden wasn't open on Friday, but this is the new view that will greet you when you enter the garden from the nursery area:

Relocated Agave franzosinii and newly donated Yucca rostrata

Now let's explore the completely redesigned nursery. 

The photos above are of the outside sale area. The layout is shopper-friendly and open, and strategically placed pottery, chairs and tables (all for sale) offer cheery pops of color. However, the plant selection looks smaller than before. Plants are spaced farther apart on the racks to give the illusion of volume. I could be mistaken (wouldn't be the first time), but it seems to me the old nursery had a bigger inventory. 

This Welcome Wall separates the nursery from what the entrance to the garden;

The preview party on Friday featured a silent auction with rare plants, including this Aloe hardyii donated by garden curator Brian Kemble, a renowned aloe authority:

A new seating area has been created adjacent to the nursery and the parking lot. At least it was a seating area on Friday. Maybe it will be used for plants or pottery during regular nursery operations?

'Desert Museum' palo verde is fast becoming a popular tree for water-wise landscaping. I was glad to see the RBG nursery has a good inventory, as you can see in the photo below:

Now let's take a look inside the "tent." The shade structure itself is the same. Before, it was filled with plants, mostly in 2-4" sizes. Now it's a different animal altogether.

The gate was donated. I think it came from a garage. A mirror image gate is on the other side.

There are still plants...

...but nowhere near as many. 

The rest of the space is taken up by pottery, books, and decor items.

I'm not sure if the lighting is for sale, too, or simply—well, lighting.

Some items seemed odd choices, like these bird cages...

...or this piece of furniture: 

On the other hand, I liked most of the plant/pot combos. In the $25 range, they were well priced, considering the aloe in the next photo, for example, is a $15+ plant (1 gallon size).

Aloe capitata var. quartziticola 

Not sure which echeveria, but the grayish pink color went well with the pot

Selling books is great, but I wish the entire bookcase were full of books

I liked most of the pots...

...and loved these. They were well priced, BUT most of them didn't have a drain hole! Bad idea selling pots without drain holes in a nursery focused on succulents. How many plants will die because of non-existent drainage? I simply cannot follow the rationale behind this decision. Yes, the pots look great, but they're impractical, to say the least. 

Not my taste but I heard other people commenting favorably

While I would never buy these plates, I do think they're pretty

It makes sense from a retail perspective to jump on the tillandsia/air plant bandwagon

Selling complimentary pots is only logical

Some nice tillandsia specimens, too

Believe what? That there are people who would buy a "Believe" sign?

Two more oddities 

At least there are two nice aloes for decor

As I was looking at all the things for sale, I had conflicting thoughts running through my mind. The outside nursery area is still plant-centric, fortunately, and I'm clinging to the hope that it will be better stocked in the weeks and months to come. 

On the other hand, the inside area, what I referred to as the "tent," made me plain sad. Why carry all these decor items that look like they came straight from Cost Plus? To offer one-stop shopping? Since the selection is so small, though, that doesn't seem like a convincing argument to me. While I'm not anti-change, I'm not in favor of change for change's sake either. 

I really wanted to like the rebooted nursery, but it seems to suffer from an identity crisis. I fervently hope the powers that be will come to the realization that what made the RBG nursery great in the first place were the plants. I doubt any customer ever missed the absence of tchotchkes. 

I want the old nursery back, and I bet I'm not the only one.

Walking to my car along the length of the garden, I stopped several times to admire the plantings next to the sidewalk. And I realized that the garden itself is still all about the plants, just like it had been when Ruth Bancroft was still actively involved. I'm so grateful that Brian Kemble, Walker Young and Ryan Penn continue to be sensitive stewards of the garden and committed guardians of Ruth's legacy.