By Bryce Williamson
Silicon Valley is, of course, a major metropolitan area
and the days of good specialty nurseries have passed in fond memory with land in the valley
too valuable for that use. I can and may get nostalgic at a later time about
the time when the valley supported a fuchsia nursery, a couple for roses, one
for camellias, another for azaleas, and regular good full line garden centers, in
addition to supporting at least one or two iris gardens for the walk-in
customers, or what we call the “carriage trade.”
George Sutton's 'Coral Point'
However, not all is lost. Turning from the freeway onto Berryessa Road in East San Jose and then left on Piedmont and finally right onto Sierra, a short jaunt up the
winding and twisting road leads to the area’s last major iris nursery: Nola’s,
part of the Prevost Ranch and Gardens. Along with acres of irises, the Prevost
Ranch has 40 head of cattle and horses. It is, as in the case of any trip into
the Mount Diablo Mountains, a quick time travel back to a different time and
place away from the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley.
Nola’s Iris Garden is a throwback to different era of
iris growing in another way—spread out of several acres and subdivided into
rooms, the plants are grown in clumps and drifts. Unlike many current purveyors
of irises who dig and replant everything every year, Nola allow her irises to develop into clumps and that can make for a spectacular spring display as the flowering
plants run up and down the hillsides.
If Nola’s is unique in the valley in the ways mentioned,
it is also unique in another: it is one of the last iris gardens in the US that
carries thousands of varieties. If you are looking for something unique or hard
to find, this is the place to start.
I was pleased with the large clump of 'Jesse's Song'
Nola’s takes iris orders online. You can find their
online catalogue at http://www.walking-p-bar.com/shopsite/.
In the Dykes Winner bed, 'Star Woman' was coming into good bloom.
Prevost Ranch and Gardens - Bearded Irises
4195 Sierra Road San Jose, CA 95132
Phone: 408-258-2611
E-Mail: orders@walking-p-bar.com
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