The Berkeley Botanical Garden is well worth a trip and is closer to s.f. than the sjheritage rose garden. Be sure to get a map at the front gate because the garden covers several acres. Berkeley Botanical garden has an Old Rose Garden which is found by walking from the book shop past the african plant section and then stay on the paved path to the left of the pond and keep going uphill til you come to the sign that says Old Rose Garden, in June the Alba and Gallica roses are in bloom, they have c. a dozen Old Garden Teas, Mrs. B.R. Cant, Rainbow, the Noisette "Nastarana", several H.P.s, and " Portland from Glendora" and Polyanthas, and a lovely arbor planted with Lamarque and Reve d'Or, as well as an area planted with Hybrid Musk roses and early Hybrid Teas. I love it because the rosebushes are under-planted with masses of brightly colorful flowers. The Berkeley botanical garden also has dozens of wild roses, many of these are from Asia, Rosa helenae, R. roxburghii and several of these are in the Chinese and European herbal medicinal garden where the Apothecary Rose abides near the sun dial, and nearby it grows R. arvensis, climbing on a pole, also a June bloomer. up the slope are R. chinensis R. rugosa nearly always in bloom when I visit them. and on the perimeter on the path way back to the main gate on the right side are Rosa odorata and Rosa moyessi on the way back to the entry gate , look on the left side of the wooden bridge to see masses of Rosa california, blooming, and several yards up further on the paved wide path, on the right side, on a slope is the rarely seen Rosa minutifolia near Rosa omniensis if you head back from the medicinal garden, walking on the lawn, you'll come to The Japanese garden, which is a real treat on a hot day as the trail to it goes through a leafy rhododendron glade, before you come to a creek and a pond. No roses, but it is very pretty. Luxrosa

I was down to visit some friends down there a few weeks back, but did not get to check out any nurseries...but the plants were absolutely everywhere we went...species of cactus and succulents that we definitely do not have here in northern cali...I'm sure their are incredible nurseries everywhere...have a blast.....

I've grown Papayas of all kinds of varieties from seeds I've gotten out of papayas from Walmart, and fruit stands. Every type I've planted here has done great and I've always gotten fruit within the first year. Anyways, there are 2 nurseries here on 49th st. in st. pete, one is called Willow Tree, the other is Carrol Brothers. Last time I was in they both had large citrus trees and I'm sure they will deliver. Also, Home Depot and Lowes usually have large citrus trees. I hate to say it, but those places might have the best trees at the cheapest prices. They also might be the most healthy because of the fast turnover rate.

Where I have bought my plants: I have focused on getting my plants at the best prices I could. 1). Native plants. Madronas, vine maples: Watershed Garden Works. (wholesale nursery, but will sell to retail customers) 2). Lilacs: a).Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens (during lilac festival) b). Means Nursery (limited selection, but if they happen to have one you like they are cheap) c). Tsugawa Nursery d). Lowes (you can get some nice ones at half price on closeout around June or July.) Got a nice Natchez Crape Myrtle and Goldfinger Potentilla there on closeout also. 3). Azaleas: a). Encore Azaleas are my favorite. Available at most local nurseries, but there are so many varieties they tend to only have a few. The last ones I got I bought by mail order from gardenerdirect.com so I could choose exactly the one I wanted. They were reasonable at $20 each for 1 gallon (same as you can find them for locally) adding shipping bumped the price up to $25 each, which was still pretty reasonable considering I got to pick exactly the one I wanted. 4).Crape Myrtles: Al’s Garden Center. They carry a lot of them and some are at really good prices. Wasn’t able to find the Midnight Magic locally so I bought some by mail order from soonerplantfarms.com, but they were pricey- small ones for about $35 each. I see that evergreennursery.com offers some very inexpensive so I would go with them if I hadn’t already bought them. I plan to order a few Moonlight Magics from evergreennursery. 5). Parrotia Persica: Big ones at a low price at Tsugawa. 6). Trachycarpus Wagnerianus: (Temple Palm) Cistus Nursery (Portland Nursery also has them but they are more expensive) 7). Unusual camellias: Sometimes Cistus Nursery has some nice ones like Black Opal and Zigzag, the prices are good. I have gotten some nice Zigzags and a Donation Camellia by mail order from Gossler Farms. 8). Popular Camellias: Portland Nursery gets a ton of them in the fall, the 1 gallon Monrovias are affordable at $20. On the bigger ones you may find you can get a better price at a place like Tsugawa, although they won’t have as many varieties. 9). Indian Hawthorn: Got a Majestic Beauty at Farmington Gardens, only place I could find one. Portland Nursery and Al’s Garden Center carry some dwarf varieties from Monrovia in 1 gallon at an affordable $13 or so. 10). Magnolias: I wanted an inexpensive Butterflies Magnolia. Whitman Farms of Salem (primarily a mail order nursery) had on their plant catalog a 1 gallon for $25, but they were out. Portland Nursery had a 1 gallon on their pricelist for about $23 but they were also out. 11). Flowering Quince: Got some really tiny Scarlet Storms mail order from Hirt’s for about $12 each. Tsugawa has quite a few of a more regular size at a reasonable price. 12). Roses: Portland Nursery has a ton. Tsugawa has quite a few also. In general good sized roses are in the $20-25 range so it’s not necessarily worth shopping around that much, although I got a bare root Blue Girl at Lowes for something like $8. These are the best sources I have found for shrubs and trees. If you are looking for annuals and perennials there are additional nurseries, for example Joy Creek, that would be worth trying.