Your Independent Neighborhood Garden Nursery

Beautiful Plants and Inspired Designs since 1954

Dear Friends of Anderson's La Costa,

Happy September and Happy Labor Day!

We hope you had a wonderful summer and you're ready for the change in seasons. Time will tell what we'll get this month - warm blue sky days or more tropical rain and weather? Whatever it is, September is one of the best months here in coastal Southern California. Most of the tourists have left town (thank you for visiting!) and the kids have gone back to school so our beaches and our roads have cleared out a bit. We hope you are enjoying the start of our locals' summer.

September Newsletter Specials

20% Off

Plumeria &

Ficus Lyrata/Fiddle Leaf Figs

Our plumerias are leafing out and blooming! So many to choose from in 8-inch pots and larger sizes, too.

All Ficus Lyrata/Fiddle Leaf Figs are now on sale! We have a nice selection of big, beautiful, healthy figs.

Steven has a plant-packed overview next with some amazing selections currently at the nursery including specialty plants for Bonsai. Your September Gardening Tips will follow.

We hope you enjoy the best of summer and your garden is happy and blooming. Hope to see you very soon!



Warmest regards,

Your Anderson's La Costa Team

Marc, Mariah, Steven, Manny, Tandy, Jen, Hanna, Madeline, Grace, June and Cypress

Our nursery is known to have specialty plants that are less common/rare or that may be unique from the mainstream plants. We just restocked one of those categories and it is mainly caudiciform-type plants (plants that form a swollen base or caudex) with a few others mixed in. Check out Ficus petiolaris (make great bonsai), Dioscorea elephantipes (can form a massive turtle shell type caudex), Plectranthus ernstii (purple flowering with a bonsai structure), Sedum multiceps (miniature Joshua tree).

Next are Begonia dregei (makes a great-looking bonsai tree, not pictuted), Gerradanthus (similar to Dioscorea but with a smooth boulder-like base), Sinningia hybrid (leaves and scarlet flowers emerge from the center of this caudiciform), Rhipsalis (an epiphyte that grows well outside in shadier areas), and some seedling trees (Delonix, Ficus religiosa, and Ginkgo).

You can't visit our nursery right now without running into hummingbirds, our favorite fuzzy bumblebees, or butterflies. We love our pollinators and have plenty of plants to attract them to your garden. Almost any flowering plant will attract a pollinator of some kind.

Some of our favorites include: African blue basil (a perennial basil with almost year round flowers, great for bees), Gaillardia (brilliant red and yellow flowers, a favorite of bumblebees), Pentas (so many colors to choose from, no bug problems, great for hummingbirds and butterflies), Tecoma 'Sparklette', 'Lydia' (blooms all through the warm months, great for hummingbirds and bees).

Next, there's Epilobium (California fuchsia, vibrant red summer flowers, great for hummingbirds), Leucophyllum (low water shrub, purple/lavender summer flowers, great for bees and hummingbirds), Gomphrena 'Fireworks' or hybrids (brightly colored flowers are nectar plants for lots of different butterflies), Cuphea (many different types, all are hummingbird magnets, I've even seen bumblebees stuff their big bodies into the thin tubular flowers), Calylophus (Texas sundrops, bright yellow cup-shaped flowers full of pollen for bumblebees), Salvia 'Mystic spires' (or any Salvia really, great for hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies), and lots more! 

I love it when a section gets a good restock. Our fountain and succulent selections both just received some great new inventory. Some of our most popular fountains are back in many different stains. Fountains can add a nice visual and sound element to a garden as well as attract wildlife as birds to bathe in.

Succulents never get old as there are so many colors and textures to choose from, you can almost always find something you haven't yet seen. Being low-water and low-maintenance is great, but succulents also flower at different times of the year and can give your garden ongoing points of interest.

Now on Sale! Plumeria are looking amazing now that they are leafing out and blooming. We have a nice selection from collector types to miniature, more compact varieties, and some lesser-known ones as well.

If there is anything you are specifically searching for and can't find - please ask! We love looking for the perfect plants for you and your garden.

I hope you all enjoy the last few weeks of summer and I look forward to seeing you at the nursery soon!

Your Local Horticulturalist,

Steven

As we wrap up summer, the most important tip heading into the fall is to protect against wildfire. The wildfire season is already well underway as the warm, dry Santa Ana winds blow from the east and replace any humid tropical days here in Southern California.

If you live in an area that is prone to wildfires, create defensible space around your home by pruning off dead tree limbs, cleaning your yard of brush and dead leaves, and cleaning leaves from the roof and gutter. Defensible space refers to the 50-100-foot area around a house or building where plants (and fuel) are trimmed, reduced, or cleared to slow the spread of wildfires.

In California, there are two major planting seasons: spring and fall. Spring got plenty of attention especially this year for obvious reasons, but one of the best-kept secrets is the beauty of fall planting. September is our transition to fall and the start of the best planting season of the year. Although the nights may begin to cool off eventually, the days are still warm (with occasional blasts of hot weather from Santa Ana winds). With cooler temperatures, it makes it easier to transplant trees, shrubs, and bedding plants. Although trees and shrubs are not actively growing above the ground, they are very busy sending out strong roots and getting themselves established for the spring and summer.

To continue reading September Gardening Tips, click here

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