Please join us Saturday, March 25th, for an herb talk with Clinical Herbalist Violet Thorns. She will be going over “Five Native Plant Medicines for the Family Garden,” at 2:00pm. Basic medicinal uses, simple preparations, ideal growing practices, propagation techniques, and samples of herbs will be provided. This is part of this season’s Bringing Back the Natives Read more…
One of the pleasures of the nursery trade is growing out plants that are rare in their native habitats. This is a global phenomenon: certain Mexican Cloud Forest plants have been exterpated in their natural range, same for some of our local flora: we are happy bulbs are available for the beautiful Tuolumne Fawn Lily (Erythronium tuolumnense), Read more…
Dear Community, Over the years, it has been a great pleasure to meet and work with fellow California native plant enthusiasts both at the nursery and in the field. Due to life circumstances, it is time for me to head out with the tide. For the past 20 years I have felt myself lucky to have been Read more…
As an herbalist, one of my favorite fall traditions is harvesting hawthorn berries. Harvest or not, I adore the beauty of bare-limbed hawthorns laden with red/black berries against the matte grey sky or dusk of crisp fall evenings. Black hawthorn is a small, deciduous tree/shrub of the Rose Family (Rosaceae). Hawthorns have an attractive architecture, akin to Read more…
HAPPY AUTUMN EQUINOX! Come on in and check out the late bloomers.
Our Annuals Are Ready! If you haven’t seen them yet, our yearly crop of annuals is ready! This year, we’ve grown some of your favorite annual wildflowers, and some that may be new to you. There are some rare plants, some common (yet stunning) species, and much more! From the Yorkias (formerly known as Clarkia) like the Read more…
Most of us don’t have space in our gardens for the world’s largest tree. And some recommend against planting one due to thirsty shallow roots. But in a landscape where there is plenty of space and water, coast redwood Sequoia sempervirenscan be used as an evergreen screen or to create a shady grove for a cool retreat Read more…
Come by the nursery during shop hours and guess how many Dipterostemon capitatus bulbs are in the bottle. The closest guess will win 30 corms plus a $30. gift certificate at the nursery. Make a guess for $1 – $5 sliding scale. Winner will be announced on November 28.
Purple needle grass (Stipa pulchra) in a garden setting evokes a sense of a wilder place. The flowers have a slight tinge of purple and a lovely silvery shimmer seen en masse from a distance, creating a pleasing effect on the spring breeze. In a mixed border with annual wildflowers, perennials and native “bulbs”, purple needle grass Read more…
If you are drawn to plants, you may have the sometimes dubious habit of botanizing as you go. This is a wonderful pastime if you are going on foot. But if you are going by bicycle, or worse, by car it can be a hazard and any poor soul brave enough to accompany you may wonder why Read more…