Your Independent Neighborhood Garden Nursery

Beautiful Plants and Inspired Designs since 1954

We will be CLOSED on Tuesday, Aug. 13 for Tree Trimming

Dear Friends of Anderson's La Costa,

Did you know that Anderson's La Costa Nursery is celebrating its 70th Anniversary? In 1954, Horace and Mary Anderson had a vision to create and operate a retail garden nursery and chose this beautiful location in Leucadia close to the coast and adjacent to Batiquitos Lagoon. We are so lucky that Marc literally stumbled upon this gem 10 years ago and inquired if it might possibly be for sale. Long story short, the inquiry had a positive outcome and now we are excited to be celebrating our 10th Anniversary as the grateful nursery owners this month!

We are filled with gratitude to be a part of such a wonderful small business and community. We are grateful for you, our lovely customers whom we have met over ten years. We smile every day we get to come to "work" (if you can even call it that) because we get to see you! Huge kudos to our amazing staff for all of their hard work and expertise. We admire their love of plants and dedication to learn something new every day. We are so happy our crew loves working with each other, and we do too. Thank you for 10 amazing years! We couldn't have done it without every one of you and we look forward to many more years to come.

Now let's move on to plants! Our sale for August is up next:

20% Off

Indoor Ficus, Philodendron & Staghorn Ferns

A sale that includes shade-loving plants...two of these, Ficus and Philodendron, can be found in the indoor greenhouse. If you want to take these outside, now is the time to acclimate them to the outdoors while our nights are at their warmest, but they will need to remain in a shady or dappled-light area during the day. Our staghorn ferns are mounted on boards but can be mounted on the shady side of a tree.

In the next section, you’ll find Steven’s nursery writeup, followed by another round of Mid-Summer Gardening Tips. These are the same tips we sent out last month since not much has changed this summer except for our daytime (and nighttime) highs.

We will be closed on Tuesday, August 13 for our every-other-year tree trimming. It will be a big mess and we want to keep everyone safe. Thank you for understanding.

We hope you are having a fantastic summer and you are enjoying your garden. Thank you again for being our most wonderful customers. You make this adventure of owning a nursery so rewarding. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Best wishes,

Your Anderson's La Costa Team ~ Marc, Mariah, Steven, Manny, Hanna, Madeline, Courtney, June, Cypress, Julie & Jen

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What's New at the Nursery

...by Steven Froess

Hello Everyone!

A new month has arrived and so has a new newsletter. August tends to be one of my least favorite months. I say this only because it's one of the hottest months we have (I live inland), and it makes me feel a bit lazy. I wake up very early though and get my watering and gardening done long before 10 am. Lots of pruning back of spring growth and spent flowers this time of the year. Weeds are still plentiful as my green waste bin is almost always overflowing.

Sadly, I lost my 6-year-old beautiful Sonchus canariensis to a gopher. Gophers are definitely one of my biggest challenges this year and they have also wreaked havoc in my vegetable garden. I've been using a gopher scram down the tunnels and around to deter them. Alas, it is one of the downfalls of living in a more rural area, so I'll just have to deal with it.

Citrus are back! We were able to secure more citrus trees, so if you missed out before and are thinking of planting one or several in your garden, be sure to come in and see our selection.

For lemons we have Eureka, Pink Lemonade, and Improved Meyers. For limes: Bearss, Australian finger, Mexican thornless (key lime). Oranges: Washington navel and Valencia. Others include Minneola tangelo, Kishu mandarin, and Tango and Tahoe gold mandarins. We now have both semi-dwarf and standard rootstock since they are coming in slowly so we are taking what the growers have available. Citrus can take several years to establish and bear fruit regularly, but it’s worth the wait!

Pollinators are everywhere! One great thing about August is the beauty of summer flowers and pollinators in the garden. I know I mention this often, however birds, butterflies, and bees are so important to our ecosystem. It is important to keep our pollinators happy and abundant for everything to thrive!

Are you getting bombarded by butterflies such as monarchs, morning cloaks, and giant swallowtails these days like we have? The monarchs naturally hang around the many types of Asclepias (milkweed) we carry. Giant swallowtails are usually found drinking nectar from the Pentas flowers or laying their eggs on the citrus trees (the larvae will eat the leaves and look like bird droppings). You’ll also find butterflies hovering near Gomphrena, Buddleja butterfly bush, and Verbena flowers. The bees enjoy Pentas, African basil, and Cuphea with their abundant flowers in bloom. I'm so glad to see so many of you supporting pollinator plants and choosing them for your garden. The population definitely seems to be increasing this year.

Our plant sale this month includes some great options: Indoor Ficus, Philodendron, and Staghorn ferns. Staghorn ferns are epiphytic and are usually best when grown in shade/filtered light. Most are mounted on wooden boards but can be planted or mounted in many other ways. These prehistoric plants are easy to care for and can add a jungle vibe to any cool shady area of the garden or patio.

Ficus and Philodendrons must be two of the sturdiest houseplants that you can grow. Ficus mainly becomes trees, whereas most philodendrons tend to want to climb. Check out our Ficus 'Audrey' (very popular, seemingly overtaking the fiddle leaf fig) and one of my favorites, Ficus 'Amstel king'. We carry other types of Ficus as well, including 'Alii', benajmina, elastica (rubber tree) also variegated, and a dwarf fiddle leaf fig (Ficus Lyrata Bambino).

Philodendrons come in many leaf shapes and forms. These plants will need support over time from either a stake or pole as they like to climb. I will give mine a trim occasionally as well. Listed below in order, varieties such as warscewiczii (leaf shape gets better with maturity), squamiferum (fuzzy petiole), 'Prince of orange' has some beautiful new leaves, tortum is one of my favorites with leaves that look like skeletons, Jose Bruno has broad leaves and nice variegation, billitiae, Ring of fire, plowmanii, ‘White princess”, and ‘Florida green’ are among the many types we carry.

All houseplants will not only filter the air but release oxygen constantly, so I would say the more the merrier. (I would like the inside of my house to look like a jungle!) Enjoy 20% off these plants through the month of August.

What's summer without some outdoor tropical varieties? Large leaf Alocasia calidora is a show stopper, and Cordyline 'Black magic' makes a statement with its dramatic size and color.

Other notable plants at the nursery are our many Grevillea. They seem to always be in bloom, such a great landscape plant. Robyn Gordon and Superb have larger pinkish showy flowers with stag horn looking leaves that draw hummingbirds and bees to them constantly. Deua flame has a broader leaf with a cherry red flower, and Austraflora fanfare makes an excellent groundcover for slopes or large areas (one plant can cover 8 feet!)

Leucophyllum green and silver leaf varieties are extremely durable and bloom during the heat of summer- mine will especially go into full bloom if we have humidity or a summer rain. Senecio Palmeri ‘Silver and gold’ has bright silvery leaves and yellow flowers. Acacia aphylla (leafless acacia) is a very unusual acacia with bluish stems and no leaves!

Passiflora 'Purple Tiger' is one of my favorite ornamental passion flowers. They have beautiful broad leaves and incredible flowers that repeat-flower throughout the year. Leucospermum 'Cinnabar' and 'Brothers', even though they aren't currently in bloom, will be a great addition to the garden with their long-lasting showy flowers.

In the cactus and succulent section, Pedilanthus bracteatus are long bloomers that keep a beautiful upright shape year-round. Pachypodium lamerei have filled out with leaves and are looking cool in the summer heat.

Happy 10th Anniversary of being the owners of Anderson's La Costa to Marc and Mariah! (And, 70 years since Anderson’s first opened by the original owners, Horace and Mary Anderson.)

Try to stay cool this month and I will hopefully see you all at the nursery soon!

Your Local Horticulturalist,

Steven

Mid-Summer Gardening Tips

As we find ourselves in the middle of summer, it is time to sit back, relax and enjoy your garden. If you are inclined to poke around in your garden, here are a few mid-summer reminders as noted in our last newsletter:

Watering and pest control will be your main tasks this month. Remember the basics: water in the early morning, and water the soil to the extent of the radius of the leaves, and not the leaves themselves. Water deeply and occasionally rather than shallow and often.

It is important to water plants deeply during the hottest days of summer. If they are merely sprinkled their roots tend to reach up toward the soil surface to get at the water rather than reaching downward as they should. Shallow roots will perish during hot weather. One deep watering a week utilizes less water, is better for plants and requires less time than a daily sprinkling. Water thoroughly each time but allow the soil to dry out between watering. Deep water trees needed according to the tree species, age and the weather.

To continue reading Mid-Summer Gardening Tips, click here.