Your Independent Neighborhood Garden Nursery

Beautiful Plants and Inspired Designs since 1954

Dear Friends of Anderson's La Costa,

Happy New Year!



We hope you are having a wonderful start to the new year. After the surf and rain we received over New Year's weekend, it looks like a beautiful lineup of winter sunshine for most of the upcoming week. Our recent downfall reminded me of our twelve-week (!!) atmospheric river phenomenon last year. Hopefully, our weather remains a little more normal this season and we get to enjoy both precipitation and sunshine.

We are excited for a fresh new year, days getting longer, and all that a new start brings. We are also excited about winter blooms like the aloes, natives, and colorful bedding plants to name a few. So much vibrant color in the garden at this time of year.

We are excited to remind you about our annual pre-order ROSE sale that is coming up next month!

20% off all roses that are pre-ordered and pre-paid at Anderson's from our amazing grower 

Otto & Sons Nursery. They carry the best quality and selection of roses in the state including floribunda, grandiflora, hybrid tea and David Austin. Please check out Otto & Sons' website to see their updated offerings this year. Availability lists and special order forms will become available in February, and bud and bloom roses delivered to our nursery for pick up in April. We will also have a nice selection of roses for purchase at the nursery sometime in March.

In the next section, you'll find Steven's New Year's write-up and some of the plants in stock that are catching his eye. Then, January Gardening Tips will follow.

Please come visit us soon and let us know if there is any way we can help you update your garden in the new year. We look forward to seeing you!



Best wishes,

Your Anderson's La Costa Team ~ Steven, Manny, Tandy, Jen, Hanna, Madeline, Grace, June, Loni, Cypress, and Marc and Mariah

I would also recommend adding a layer of mulch this time of the year but without fertilizer, to improve the soil as well as keep pesky winter weeds down. You can use straight bark but I recommend adding a layer of compost or some sort of organic matter underneath it to combat the denitrification that happens when you put just wood bark down.

Around this time of year, I also start thinking about what I'm going to grow in my spring vegetable garden. It's a good time to reflect upon last year...what did I have success with? What didn't grow well and why? Our nursery garden is already off to a good start.

This past year, I had a bountiful tomato crop as well as cucumbers. I usually have better luck with zucchini and squash but last year I just wasn't getting good pollination for whatever reason. I plan on doing 3-4 different types of tomato varieties as well as cucumber varieties, plus trying a few new things to keep it interesting.

I know it seems counter-intuitive, but we are in a great planting season. If you are thinking about adding any kinds of trees, shrubs, groundcovers, etc. this is a great opportunity to give them a head start. I'm delighted to see many people taking such an interest in California native plants being incorporated into their landscape.

Speaking of, I'm a softy for any of the Channel Island Natives. Dendromecon harfordii (island bush poppy) is a fast-growing upright evergreen shrub with blue-green leaves and blooms spring through summer. Quercus tomentella (island oak) is also fast growing up to 35-50 feet tall! It has smooth gray bark that with time ages to a rougher brown.

Constancea nevinii, now also named Eriophyllum 'Canyon Silver' (Neevin's woolly sunflower) and Eriogonum grande rubescens (red flowering buckwheat) are also Channel Island faves. Since these are harder to find in cultivation make sure you call or put your name down in our special order book to be notified right away when we get them in. We currently have a 15-gallon Quercus tomentella, 5-gal Constancea nevinii/Eriophyllum, and 1-gal Eriogonum grande rubescens.

Other noteworthy plants at the nursery that are worth mentioning are: Camellia 'High Fragrance' (in bud and bloom and yes they are fragrant!) Haemanthus albiflos (a dry shade plant with unusual paint brush-shaped flowers). Italian Anemones are in bloom and make a great cut flower - the bees also love the pollen! Primrose may seem like a common shade bedding plant, but the zebra stripe on this one is quite unique.

Grevillea fililoba (Spider Net Grevillea) and 'Amber Passion' are flowering nicely even in the colder temperatures. We have a few very unusual acacias. Acacia denticulosa has sandpaper leaves and a bright yellow elongated flower, Acacia aphylla is a striking leafless rock variety. Both would make a great addition to a drought-tolerant garden.

The indoor greenhouse is now officially back to normal from holiday mode. Come see our restocked selection of all your favorite houseplants. Indoor plants have multiple benefits to any living space. They help combat stress and improve your mood, they provide air filtration and therefore more oxygen (the more plants the better!) and will help you sleep better (if they are in the bedroom where you sleep).

We carry all sizes of indoor plants for your home or office. Larger trees such as Ficus lyrata, 'Audrey', triangularis, or a black olive will fill up larger spaces and give much more of a presence. Low-water dracaena are better for narrow spaces. Palms can tolerate lower light and still grow tall, plus they are typically slower growing. Trailing plants look great on shelves and typically are very durable (Pothos, Philodendron, Hoya, etc.)

For rare plant collectors, we carry some less common plants such as Philodendron pink princess/white wizard, Philodendron billietiae, Philodendron gloriosum, Alocasia zebrina, and more!

Other mentionables include Pachira or Malabar chestnut (good luck money tree, we all need one of these!), Sansevieria (snake plants, very low maintenance), and many types of tradescantia. We also have a nice selection of begonias, blooming orchids, pepperomias, tillandsias (air plants), ZZ Ravens, and lots of 4-inch indoor plants to choose from. There is certainly something for everyone!

Our Acacia podalyriifolia (Pearl Acacia) is in full bloom right now and is hard to miss as you enter the nursery. It's as happy as a new year!

I'm excited to start 2024 off with a positive vibe and make it an amazing year in the garden! I am also looking forward to seeing all of you.

Your Local Horticulturalist,

Steven

Garden Design Services

Welcome to Anderson's La Costa Garden Design Services. Our talented staff has designed hundreds of gardens for SoCal homeowners. Having a dedicated garden designer visit your home or office will help you create the beautiful outdoor space you've always dreamed of.

Our experienced Garden Designers can assist you with:



• A garden designed to your preferences
• Optimal plant selection and options for your unique setting and microclimate
• Advice on drought tolerant and California native designs
• Recommendations on soil amending
• Plant problem identification and resolution
• Address maintenance needs
• A scheduled nursery visit to view the recommended plant materials
• Professional garden advice as needed

We hope you stop in and visit us to find out more about how we can help you with your garden. Our Garden Design team is talented, creative, passionate, and professional. Please call or visit us at the nursery or send us an email:

andersonslacostanursery.com/garden-design-services

Spend time in the garden in January? Absolutely! Apart from getting caught in a rainfall now and again, there are still lots of things you can do in your garden to start the new year off on the right foot. Winter-season chores will enhance your garden's health as spring approaches...everything you accomplish now will make spring that much sweeter and more beautiful.

Trees and Shrubs

This month's tree and shrub tasks include planting, pruning, and protecting. In San Diego County we can plant trees of all kinds: fruit trees, shade trees, and flowering trees. While you shouldn't prune flowering trees until after they've bloomed, you can now prune most shrubs and deciduous shade trees. Few birds are nesting in trees in the winter. This is an especially good time to prune coniferous trees like pines and cypress since their pests (various bark beetles) are not active at this time of the year. Keep up with raking - fallen leaves can do damage if left to smother the growth under them. 

To continue reading January Gardening Tips, click here.