ShopTalk ShopTalk (March 28, 2001)

by Dona van Bronkhorst

A MORNING OUT . . . Take a morning or a long lunch hour and make a shopping trip to the Garden Shop at Filoli , the 43-room mansion and 16-acre gardens on Canada Road in Woodside. The Garden Shop is located in the original carriage house of the mansion and is open to visitors without paying an admission fee for a full house and garden tour. But once inside the charming Garden Shop, you'll get a feel for the beautiful estate and vow to come back. The shop is full of spring. Filoli volunteers have been busy creating spring floral arrangements perfect for big festive centerpieces or little party favors. A big brown bunny figure holds a basket full of eggs, silk roses and ribbons for $58. Plump papier mache chicks are decorated with daisies, perfect at each Easter place setting, for $12. Hang some spring on your front door with a pastel painted flat metal bucket that overflows with silk geraniums or roses and ivy and ribbons. Prices range from $42 to $63. You'll find gifts for gardeners, or anyone who loves flowers, such as gloves, tools, shirts and hats, lotions and soaps, note cards and stationery, and garden books, even lamps and small furniture pieces. A square linen pillow is embellished with a silk ribbon hyacinth for $18. Beautiful. Some specialized floral design supplies are also available. The Garden Shop also features Filoli's own dried herb mixes for dill and chili pepper dips, soup and poultry seasonings, about 10 varieties of estate-grown and packaged products for $3.50 per package. Beautiful postcards of the Filoli house and gardens are just 10 cents each. You'll get free garden-variety gift-wrap for any $10 purchase. After a successful shopping session, you can relax with coffee or tea and goodies, or lunch at the Quail's Nest CafÈ located in the Visitor Center. Do plan to return for a tour. Admission for a two-hour guided tour is $10. Call (650) 364-8300 for tour information or check www.filoli.org. The Garden Shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

THIS JUST IN . . . The book lady at The Bargain Box has hit pay dirt again. Rita Taylor unearthed some gems buried in the book donations to The Bargain Box, the thrift shop at 341 California Ave. that benefits Children's Health Council. Just in is a 20-volume set of "A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents" from George Washington to Woodrow Wilson. The set was published in 1914 by the Bureau of National Literature. Each volume is decorated with gold leaf and a presidential seal. The set is $250. A three-volume set including "Joseph and His Brothers" and "Joseph In Egypt" by Thomas Mann published in 1936 is $15. You'll find your own gems when you check the bookshelves. First come, first served. If you have any questions, ask for the book lady at The Bargain Box.