Cowabunga, branches are hot! Flip through a Pottery Barn or West Elm catalog, or go to a wedding here in Southern California, and chances are you’ll see some branches. In the home, they give a very organic and rustic-urban feel. Many types come sand-blasted for that clean, modern look. Branches seem to look good everywhere! Just by itself on a coffee table, on a dresser as a way to display jewelry, or mixed with flowers in an arrangement – the uses are endless!
There’s a wholesaler called “Wasabi-Green” in the Southern California Flower Market in downtown Los Angeles that sells a nice variety of manzanita and ghostwood branches as well as other types. They also carry shells, mosses, pods, and a variety of dry natural items from land and sea. Outside of the market, there are a few additional wholesalers that carry branches. In particular, on the corner of 8th and Wall, there is an interesting wholesaler called Unique Sarah Total Floral with tons of branches piled up high against the windows – you can’t miss it! They have many beautiful branch arrangements on display and for sale – it’s a lot of fun just to walk around the shop.
Since I am trying to keep my retail prices on the lower end as I am just starting out, I wanted to find an even cheaper source for branches. If possible, I wanted to buy them from the people who the wholesalers downtown ordered from. And that’s how I stumbled upon one of the most amazing and fun shops here in SoCal – Roland’s of California in Rancho Cucamonga!
Yesterday I took a trip out to “BRancho” (says Hubby) for Roland’s awesome June sale, where everything in stock is 15% off! I had to share the wonderful experience of Roland’s with someone, so dragged Hubby out with me. Rancho Cucamonga is about 50 miles east of Santa Monica, a straight shot down the 10 freeway. After passing downtown LA, the yummy Chinese food of the San Gabriel Valley, and the mega car dealerships of Covina, you arrive deep in the heart of the Inland Empire.
Rolands of California is at 8758 9th St, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730. There is a main building that houses the shop where you can see all the great decorative wood, dried and preserved flowers, pods, and mushrooms, as well as silk flowers and containers. There are two other large buildings for employees only where I assume they keep their stock and do the cutting, sorting, and sand-blasting. When you walk into the main shop, it’s like stepping into a fantasy garden. And the people who work there are so very nice! Hubby enjoyed the chips, dip, cake and water!
In addition to the food, there’s an amazing assortment of wood…
Dried flowers…
Dried pods (so cool)…
And other fun things like lafta balls!
We left with a car full of manzanita branches and other fun stuff!
The other goodies:
It was a successful trip – I only wish I had gotten more stuff!
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Was this a very expensive place?
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totally in the market for manzanita branches.
were they very expensive?
look for something between 2 and 4 feet for centerpieces at a fall wedding.
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No, the branches at Rolands are a very good price — half the price of what they sell at the flower market downtown including Moskatel’s, FSS, and Wasabi Green. In fact, Roland’s sells many of the branches you see at the market! Roland’s sells to both retail customers as well as resellers, but the prices resellers pay are much lower. Their website provides some retail prices if you want to take a look. Good luck!
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I think you have a really good blog, You should network with the moms in the bizymoms rancho-cucamonga community.
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