East Bay Wilds Native Plant Nursery in Oakland (and what I planted where the yucca grow)

While touring Gerhard's garden (in March) I spotted a Pellaea mucronata and mentioned my desire to grow the sun-loving fern. Gerhard had purchased his at East Bay Wilds, in Oakland, CA, and said we could swing by the next day if I wanted to. Uh, yes... of course I did!

Interestingly the nursery is only open on Fridays, one day each week! Thankfully the gods were smiling and that day was the day we were able to visit.

We had very limited time to scout for the desired fern, I was trying to remain focused while also being distracted by so many cool things!

Were these things for sale? Or are they NFS props? I have no idea.

Had I been able to load up my car and drive home I would have been asking about several of them, things I'd love to work into my garden.

Hunting, looking at all the plant tables, not seeing the Pellaea mucronata I was lusting after.

Lupinus microcarpus

Dudleya gnoma, I think?

Finally! There it was... my birdfoot cliffbrake! (dumb common name).

So where did I plant that lusted after fern? In the area I cleared out this spring when "removing" a few Yucca filamentosa (post here).

Here's a photograph of the pit I dug (and redug, and redug) to try and get out as many yucca roots as possible.

Here's how that's going... (they just keep busting up through the soil!)

Even though I know I'll be cutting out baby yucca for the rest of my life (or as long as we live here) I'm still very happy with the change.

Here's a look at what all went into the empty space, and yes... I intentionally underplanted (by my standards) so that it would be easy to see and pull those darn yucca. There's a pair of Agave 'Mateo', the Pellaea mucronata is at the bottom of the photo, just left of center.

Three other dry-land ferns made it into the planting.

The largest (at the top of this photo) is a Cheilanthes tomentosa. There are also two Cheilanthes lanosa, only one visible in this photo, to the lower left of the C. tomentosa.

There are also two small Microcachrys tetragona, aka creeping strawberry pine,

And a pair of agaves that were part of the old planting, but now can hopefully get more light and grow on happily. This one a NoID...

And this one, Agave montana 'Baccarat' from Allison (you might remember her as Bonney Lassie). 

Since I started this rambling to show you where a fern from my March trip ended up, let's take a quick little detour up the sidewalk to see another. The Pleopeltis sp. (or hybrid whose true identity is a mystery) from David is tucked up underneath the Dasylirion wheeleri. I love it here because I can see it from inside the house, but it may get a touch to much sun on hot days. I'm still evaluating its placement.

Gardens are never finished, isn't that right?

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Kyle's Sacramento garden

Kyle's garden was the first stop on my whirlwind trip to Davis, Sacramento and the greater Bay Area late last March. To refresh your (and my!) memory I landed in Sacramento on Thursday afternoon, March 27th. Gerhard picked me up at the airport and as soon as he parked the car we were out walking his garden and I was snapping photos (hundreds, which I narrowed down to "just" 56 for this post). Friday morning we were up early and on the road. Gerhard's friend Kyle was heading out of town for a camping trip, but kindly let us stop by and tour early. 

Since I'm a faithful reader of Gerhard's blog, I've virtually toured Kyle's garden many times (for example) but seeing it in person was an entirely different experience. The plants were all pristine, so well grown! Everything was top notch...it was even better in person than I thought it would be.

Agave ‘Kissho Kan’

Looking at these images I realize I was trying to avoid getting the trailer in my photos, as it was being loaded up as we toured the garden and I didn't want to capture private business. Now I wish I would have focused on it because it was so darn cute! This is the best I've got though, just a bit of the back side...

And back to the plants... oh the plants!

Mangave some somebody. I'm not going to worry about getting ID on plants that I don't know the specifics of. I can't grow most of them anyway, I was just there to appreciate how well someone who can grow them was doing so.

And how tidy the garden was. My gosh... I am in awe of that!

Agave titanota growing off the side of a rock cliff, or, well, a couple of well placed rocks anyway.

Kyle is a geologist by trade, so this love of, and use of, rocks comes naturally.

Hechtia texensis partially obscured by a poppy.

Everywhere I looked there was an interesting, photogenic, vignette.

Mangave 'Praying Hands'

That's got to be an Agave ovatifolia...

Working our way around to the back garden now, and passing Kyle's truck bed nursery...

Core samples and a piece of metal make for a unique statement piece... 

Agave 'Blue Glow' lined up along the wall.

I do love it when a gardener makes vertical planting opportunities.

Especially when they're as fabulous as this!

Mangave 'Racing Stripes' 

I cannot remember the pups names, but they were having a grand time running about. They tried to get me off course and on to the patio out of sequence. 

Luckily I resisted and got back on track.

Ferraria crispa, so GOOD! 

Kyle's home office/shed in the distance, we'll get closer soon.

Looking back to the corner opposite the "shed" and one of several seating areas in the garden...

Pavers heading to the patio and potted plants...

A close-up of the potted plants.

Turning towards the back fence.

I want to call that lush tree a podocarpus, but I'm not sure if that's correct. This photo is one of my favorites from the visit. The layers are so expertly planted and cared for.

Patio/seating area shot...

Looking the other direction. Isn't this just a gorgeous area?

Aloe erinacea

Agave 'Sun Glow' or something similar.

The office porch...

And one last view towards the back of the house. Truth be told, as the weekend progressed and I saw one fantastic garden after another I almost forgot about the first visit that kicked it all off! It was a pleasure to look through my photos again and relive that morning. Thank you Kyle for making the time for us to stop by when you were just trying to get out of town!

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.