Botanica Nova and Grow Nursery

Way back in late April of 2012 we were on our way back to Wisconsin pregnant with Zoe and made a pilgrimage to a few of our favorite spots on our way home including California’s central coast. Since I’ve been uploading a lot of pictures recently I started to get interested in our photo stats for a hot moment. People actively search the word “naked” as the “naked manihot” image received a larger than normal amount of views for a picture of a deciduous tree. Turns out the picture above is our most viewed at 135,170 times and is still going strong. I had originally thought it was designed by Gardens By Gabriel but it turns out he installed it and Nick Wilkinson owner of Botanica Nova and Grow Nursery designed it. It’s a super double succulent post day of both succulent garden masters!

Whenever we pass through Cambria we always stop at Grow Nursery (check out their website for cool stuff to buy online). I’m not sure if the massive Deuterocohnia brevifolia is still there since this was taken in 2017, but it was an amazing specimen. There’s fun stuff for everyone here.

That big clump of variegated Aloe arborescens next to the fat tree aloe is just crazy town. Grow has perfected the art of using rusty old junk to creatively merchandise plants.

Grow shares the space with a couple of other cool shops including The Garden Shed that always has fun stuff for the more traditional shopper. Some of the smaller stores have changed over the years, but they’re always interesting. I’m not much of a shopper these days, more of an admirer of cool merchandising.

Another fun spot to check out Nick’s amazing work not far from the nursery is Cambria Shores Inn. It’s so good I’m sure they get tons of plant dorks wandering around taking pictures of all the giant succulents. These pictures just don’t do it justice.

If you find yourself cruising up or down the California coast definitely stop at Grow Nursery and swing by Cambria Shores Inn to check out the plant party where succulents have room to get huge. The picture above is from a quick stop on our way to Pismo Beach. Heck, stay there if you can it’s dog friendly!