Everyone here has you covered as far as orchids are concerned. I happen to appreciate the charm and funkiness of CalOrchid. Great, down to earth owners; very knowledgeable and unusual plants. Great angracoids. In Carmel, there is a shop in the Barnyard called Succulent Gardens. Great eye candy, and prices to match. A bit further north along Hwy.1 in the little town of Elkhorn (just inland from Moss Landing) is their actual nursery. I think plant prices there are more reasonable; although I haven't made it there yet. I have purchased succulents from them at the San Fran Flower and Garden Show, as well as a local Cactus and Succulent Society show. Great plants! Have fun! Lori

I volunteer at the Huntingtonn Botanical Gardens, our cactus nursery is 10-12 acres about. We have a large world class Japanese Garden, we now have 1/3 of a finished World ClassChinese Garden which will be the largest outside of China, we have a tropical greenhouse World Class, we have a Shapespear Garden( I'll explain that if needed) we have an Australian Garden, we have a World Class Rose Garden, we have a childrens garden, and learning center, we have the largest plam garden west of the Rockies. We have several speciality greenhouses for the public, Calif, has many worthy gardens, one in San Francisco, one at U.C.L.A. yes the Quail Gardens, and the Drescendo Gardens, to many to name here. Sorry may hands are not able to type that long. The Huntington is considered a world class garden because they have close to 1000,000 plant documented and recorded. We have a Herberium, have lecture halls, and training centers, we take in students from all over the world to train. It is a must see. It opens at 10:30 and closes 4:30 it has a cafteria, and a tea room, wear very comforatble walking shoes, and if you need a wheelchair be sure to reserve it. We have free lecture days, check what is in flower the month that you plan to visit. Oh, yes they have docent tours. I forgot out famous library, and art galleries. Norma

It is so hard to get a good picture of Lakeside Old Smokey. But in person the color is spectacular. This is the best I could do. It's still not quite right. It's a lighter green and "smokier" than this picture. You can see the wax on the leaf towards the lower right. Steve

southern california sites worth seeing Name Address Phone website Features Andersons La Costa Nursery 400 La Costa AveEncinitas CA 92024-1113 (760)753-3153 andersonslacostanursery Exceptionally nice nursery display Buena Creek Gardens 418 Buena Creek RdSan Marcos CA 92069-9725 (760)744-2810 Outstanding display gardens and stock Descanso Gardens 1418 Descanso DriveLa Cañada, CA 91011 (818)949-4200. Estate garden with emphasis on Camillias Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden 1250 Bellflower Boulevard,Long Beach, CA 90840 (562) 985-8420 1½ acre traditional Japanese garden Fullerton Arboretum 1900 Associated RoadFullerton Ca. (714) 278-3579 Desert, woodland, mediteranean sections Hannah Carter Japanese Garden Private residence- contact UCLA for tour (310) 825-4574 2 acre traditional Japanese garden Hortense Miller Garden Private residence contact city of Long Beach for tour (714) 497-0716 2½ acre naturalistic hillside garden Huntington Gardens 1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108 (626)405-2100 World class display gardens, esp. cactus L.A. County Botanical Garden 301 N. Baldwin Ave. Arcadia, CA 91007 (626) 821-3222 historical buildings and gardens L.A. San.. Dept. Japanese Garden 6100 Woodley Ave, Van Nuys, California, 91406 (818)756 8166 Large Japanese garden Las Pilitas Nursery 8331 Nelson Way, Escondido, 92026 (760)749-5930 Display garden and native plant nursery Living Desert Museum Nursery 47900 Portola AvenuePalm Desert, CA 92260 (760)346-5694 Outstanding botanical garden with nursery Lotusland Private residence, call for tour (805) 969-9990 Extraordinary estate garden, esp. succulents Balboa Park 1549 El Prado, SuiteSan Diego CA 92101 (619 )239-0512 Desert, native, rose, Japanese garden, more Mourning Cloak Botanical Garden Old Town Rd.Tehachapi, CA (661) 822-1661 High altitude botanical garden and nursery Quail Botanical Gardens 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas CA (760) 436-3036 Tropical botanical garden, esp. bamboo Rancho SantaAna Botanic Garden 1500 North College Avenue Claremont, CA 91711-3157 (909) 625-8767 CA natives Rogers Gardens 2301 San Joaquin Hills RdCorona del Mar, CA. 92625 (949) 640-5800 If Walt Disney owned a nursery..... Rose Garden in Exposition Park 3980 S. Menlo Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90037 (213) 763-0114 Large public rose garden Santa Barbara Botanic Garden 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105 (805) 682-4726 Display garden of CA natives South Coast Botanic Garden 26300 Crenshaw Blvd. Palos Verdes Peninsula (310) 544-6815 Park with many small theme gardens Theodore Payne Foundation 10459 Tuxford Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352-2116 (818) 768-1802 Native display garden and nursery Virginia Robinson Garden Private residence in Beverly Hills- call for tour (310) 276-5367 6 acres of tropical hillside garden World Wide Exotics Lake View Terrace CA 91342 (818) 890-1915 (same owner of defunct "Desert to Jungle Nursery") Exceptional unusual nursery stock Getty Museum Gardens 1200 Getty Center DriveLos Angeles, CA 90049 (310) 440-730 Robert Irwin designed garden The Flower Fields 5704 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad, CA 92008 (760) 431-0352 Floral extravaganza bulb fields Self-Realization Fellowship Temples through-out Southern CA meditation gardens open to public