{Garden, Home and Party} Celebrating Spring with Roger’s Gardens

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers, Gardening, Gardens

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Roger’s Gardens in Newport Beach, California is a favorite stop any time of the year. To say it’s a unique and special nursery might be an understatement. I was recently invited to their Spring Celebration (along with hundreds of others) and their interpretation of the best of SPRING did not disappoint. I visit the nursery regularly [HERE and HERE] for the inspiration and creativity it supplies. Roger’s is like the Disneyland of nurseries.

During my visit I used my iPhone to capture some of the beauty of the flower arrangements and the grounds…no one does spring better, well except Mother Nature! There are also some photographs saved from Roger’s Gardens site. *This is not a paid write up. Pictures really don’t do this nursery the justice it deserves. A visit is a delight for the senses.

The room below is part of Roger’s gift gallery. For this special event all of the flowers you see are real. It was stunning to enter this building and take in masses of hydrangea, tulips, ranunculus, and roses, to name but a few of the many fabulous spring blooms on hand.

This blue and white planter caught my eye, filled with white hellebore, I would have loved to take it home with me. Unfortunately, it was out of my budget.

There were nests and cut branches everywhere, including on top of each of the display cabinets in the gallery.

Everywhere you looked, including this orb, sported live flowers. Even the chain holding the orb to the ceiling was wrapped in ivy.

There were inviting tablescapes loaded with inspiring ideas for your next spring luncheon. Wouldn’t it be fun to be able to gather a bouquet like this using flowers from your yard?

The fragrance of pink jasmine and other blossoming plants gave your senses the expected scents of an ideal spring day.

We then moved to the floral studio. This part of the nursery presents (and sells) floral arrangements of all kinds. I confess, I’ve purchased a few of these beauties, sometimes as gifts and a couple of times as a gift to ME! 🙂

Isn’t this charming? Roger’s finds decorative items that often look antique, even though they’re not. These cute bunnies were metal and quite heavy.

White hydrangea, ranunculas, lisianthus, roses, white stock, and dusty miller are but a few of the flowers filling this footed vase.

This arrangement caught my eye, that’s right, that is lettuce growing in the basket filled with seed for growing carrots and beautiful spring flowers. What a great hostess gift this would be.

The sweet peas were so fragrant, they were selling them in bunches…I wanted the entire crate.

The grounds are displayed with antique props (often for sale) and many pre-planted planters are for sale. I’m sure you can see why visits to Roger’s are as much for a shot of inspiration, as they are for actual purchases.

I hope you enjoyed the tour! If you are ever in the area, email me, I’ll be happy to take a tour of this fabulous nursery with you.

♥ Karen

Rogers Gardens ~ Spring

02 Monday May 2011

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers, Gardening, Outdoor living

≈ 7 Comments

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Rogers Gardens, Spring

I posted about Rogers Gardens late last fall (HERE) and while my photography didn’t really do it justice I thought I’d give it another “college try”.

Besides, the light in spring seems to make everything look so much better.

When the seasons change I find Roger’s Gardens to be a wonderful source of inspiration. The nursery is so much more than plant materials and gardening supplies. There are 2 large gift galleries that offer everything from antiques to small gift items. Prices in the gift gallery are not overly expensive and its a great source for hostess and birthday gifts. Whoever they hire to stage the various vignettes in the gallery does an amazing job and I will often get ideas for decorative accessories and table settings.

Unlike the gift gallery, most of the live plants are relatively expensive so I usually visit for ideas and then search out alternate sources. I feel just a little guilty about doing this, but when you see the lines for the cash register I think you realize my paltry purchase wouldn’t make a bit of difference in their bottom line.

The buyers find some interesting antique reproduction pieces, like the slightly rusty, large clock. Roger’s carries a wonderful array of cement putis, plaques and planters.

See what I mean…there are so many beautiful and unique plants to get ideas from. The topiary with succulents planted at the base were tempting.

Bleeding heart has always been a favorite. Columbine is another beautiful spring and summer favorite.

Purple calla lily…so beautiful Astilbe, another delicate beauty.

I wanted some planting ideas for my secret garden (HERE) and Rogers truly finds some of the most unique specimens.

Thanks for joining me on this field trip to Roger’s Gardens. Do you have a favorite nursery for buying plants?

A magical nursery…Rogers Gardens

15 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers, Gardening

≈ 11 Comments

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nursery, Rogers Gardens, seasonal plants

I live in Orange County, California where the sun shines 365 days a year…at least that’s what the Chamber of Commerce would have you believe. As a native SoCal resident I’m here to tell you we are pretty lucky with our weather and we do have seasons of a sort. It takes practice, but you can detect season-to-season if you’ve lived here all your life. (I was born and raised in the state and apart from a 2-year stint in Arlington, Texas hubby and are natives).

In the background, through the trees (in this picture), you can see the gazebo that Roger's is famous for. It was built and modeled after the gazebo at Disneyland.

Image via Rogers Gardens website.

One of the jewels in the crown of “the O.C.” (does anyone remember that TV drama/soap series?) is Roger’s Gardens. According to their website under History of the Nursery,

“The original Roger’s Gardens (in Costa Mesa) was opened in 1965 by Roger McKinnon. Retaining the name, Roger’s Gardens, Gavin Herbert Sr. became the new owner in January 1970 and moved the business in 1975 to its current location in Corona Del Mar, California. Sitting upon seven acres across from Fashion Island, Roger’s Gardens has grown to be known as ‘America’s Most Beautiful Home and Garden Center’”.

In addition to blood-pressure lowering vistas this nursery offers events (artists display their plein air paintings, Halloween and Christmas previews) but they offer free classes on specific interests such as growing roses or perennials.

Plein air paintings are often featured in the gift Gallery at Roger's.

So, after deciding I’d procrastinated long enough on getting practice to improve my photography skills, or lack thereof, I drove to Rogers Gardens on my lunch hour and took a lot of pictures, hoping to capture the beauty of the place—I’m sorry to report the pictures I took don’t compare to those of their website so this post features some of both…sorry. The photography student isn’t ready for prime time yet!

Roger’s does an amazing job with flower baskets.

I was going to try to take primarily Autumnal photos but it was already “Christmas” at Roger’s and there were dozens of Christmas trees decked out with ornaments for sale in the fabulous gift Gallery. Not to mention the LGB train (a larger scale train) that circles the most amazing array of evergreen trees and seasonal plants. Rogers manages to create a completely detailed fantasyland of beauty for all to see. I’ll go back later and try my hand on some “winter wonderland” shots.

You will find so many interesting and uncommon plants at Rogers. The planting materials they stock are the highest quality plants and almost always perform beautifully in the garden.

In addition to their stock of amazing bedding plants, perennials, shrubs and trees, they have a florist studio where (for a price) you may have any kind of centerpiece or house plant arranged in a decorative planter of your own or one you have purchased from the nursery. I’ve actually hired them to create a planter for a dinner I was giving in 2009 and the plants and planter still look great—the annual color I had them add has been removed but they do such a good job it is worth the dollars you will spend.

I love sunflowers and this arrangement reflects the season.

The gift Gallery always has great gift ideas whether you need something for a specific holiday or just want to spoil yourself. The prices on most items seems very fair to me—there are some spectacular antique pieces where the items are displayed with flair. The nursery has a complete line of patio furniture from Kingsley Bates teak to Lane indoor-outdoor wicker and dozens of others.

During the holidays the place is lit with tiny white lights from the trees surrounding the nursery to every large evergreen tree on the grounds inside the nursery. I’ll have to go back to take more pictures/get more practice!

By the way, I don’t work for Roger’s Gardens and they do not give me anything for these compliments…darn, wish they did! 🙂

Do you like to work in your garden—do you have a favorite place to buys plants or just to get inspired?