In March of this year I was able to offer some assistance to my younger son as he took on landscaping his home in SoCal. He had done the research, drawn up a design, soaked up information from the locals, and was ready to clear out the old, revive the planting beds, and welcome the new.
His plan for the bed next to the driveway included camellias and azaleas. Good choices for a spot next to a wooden fence that got direct sunlight for less than half a day and otherwise had a clear view of the sky all day long.
Asking around and doing some online research he settled on Nuccio’s Nurseries as the vendor of choice, and a darn good decision. Nuccio’s isn’t just any neighborhood garden retailer. They specialize in camellias and azaleas and offer many rare varieties in addition to most popular varieties, including a number of their own proprietary cultivars. An institution among camellia and azalea lovers, we overheard shoppers from as far away as Georgia and Washington state telling the staff that visiting Nuccio’s was on their gardening bucket list.
If you’re a camellia aficionado you may be familiar with Nuccio’s Gem, Nuccio’s Ivory Tower, Nuccio’s Pearl, or Nuccio’s Cameo. Among azaleas there’s Nuccio’s Dragon and Nuccio’s Belgian Type Hybrid Azalea. You can purchase these from any of a number of online retailers, from your local nursery, or choose to have them shipped directly from Nuccio’s.
Having agreed with his wife on white camellias and red azaleas, my son and I realized we still faced tough decisions. Nuccio’s had dozens of varieties of white camellias and red azaleas to choose from spread across acres of container grown plants all happily tucked under shade screens safe from the mid-day sun.
To help customers make an informed decision, Nuccio’s had something I hadn’t seen before, a display of fresh-picked greenhouse blooms laid out side-by-side so they could be easily compared. Since we were shopping in March and most varieties were just budding, this was very helpful. The staff was also good at steering us away from more finicky varieties best left to the experienced gardener.
It was a great experience visiting Nuccio’s and perhaps the best of all was watching my son step boldly into landscaping his home. I had looked forward to buying these specimens as a “garden warming” gift but, after waiting in line and finally chatting with the clerk while our purchases was being rung up, I was told they don’t accept credit cards.
Not to worry. I was handed a receipt and told to send them a check through the mail.
Just send them a hand-written check. Through USPS snail-mail. No big deal.
After all, gardeners toil and sweat in the dirt. Gardening doesn’t just grow beauty. It builds character.
P.S. If you do visit Nuccio’s be sure to check out the Historic Working Payphone of Altadena.
What Then? 