Your Independent Neighborhood Garden Nursery ~
Beautiful Plants & Inspired Designs since 1954
We are open 8:30 am - 5:00 pm every day


Dear Friends of Anderson's La Costa Nursery, 

Greetings! Hope you are finding yourself well and enjoying the outdoors and your very own garden. Just being outside can be a great way to spend time. We also hope you enjoy visiting our store and browsing all the different plants and garden ideas while we remain open. There's always something to catch your eye like a hummingbird searching for nectar or an amazing bloom that was not expected. Quite simple yet truly delightful.

Our summer sale is ON and it is one of our favorites. Steven and Marc have stocked the nursery so you'll be sure to find something in this ever-popular category:
20% off 
Cactus & Succulents


Next time you come in, please check out the talented Tilly's collection of beautiful succulent container arrangements. Her designs are creative, stylish and contemporary. Looking for a custom design? No problem! Our staff will work with you to select and plant the succulents or cactus of your choice in the pottery or container that most appeals to you. The same goes for indoor tropical plants as well!

In the next section: "What's New in the Nursery..." by Steven, plus monthly Gardening Tips for a hot month of summer to follow. Finally, you will find Old Ben's Workshop article with wild bird recipes including peanut butter suet and bird seed cookies!

Thank you for visiting as we enjoy and appreciate seeing you and helping you with all of your garden needs. Please let us know what you are looking for and if there is anything we can special order for you. We look forward to seeing you at a 6-foot distance very soon.


Best regards,
Marc, Mariah and the Team 
at Anderson's La Costa
760-753-3153




WhatsnewWhat's New at the Nursery
                ~ by Steven Froess

Hello everyone!

It's time for your mid-summer newsletter. August can be one of the hottest months in Southern California as temperatures peak and daylight hours remain long. Even though temperatures may be high, there are still several tasks that can be done in the garden. 

More than likely, the first crop of veggies may be be coming to the end of their production. Luckily, in our climate there is still time to plant another summer crop! As you remove old plants and replace with new, make sure to re-amend and replenish the fertilizer in the soil that the last crop used. One of my new favorites is the Recipe 420 Recharge fertilizer. 

Recharge has all the ingredients and microorganisms of the Recipe 420 original red label soil now available in a four-pound resealable bag. We also have re-stocked all three of the 420 bags of soil: Bhang is a peat moss-less version of the 420 (it uses coconut coir instead of peat moss for soil retention), and can be used as both an indoor or outdoor soil. It has a purple label. The Original Recipe has a red label and is one of the richest in nutrient content of all the soils, recommended for outdoor only. The Hy-Por is a much better draining soil, works great for indoor plants and propagating, and has a blue label. 

Veggies and herbs that can be planted mid-summer include: basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme, oregano, tarragon, chives, mint, savory, sage, lovage, chard, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes (mostly cherry or early fruiting varieties such as jetsetter), cucumbers, squash, eggplant, and more.


Summer is also a time to enjoy the fruits of your labor from spring plantings including an array of flowers and visiting pollinators (birds, bees, and butterflies!) which should all be abundant in the garden. Our lovely bumbles are back at the nursery if you haven't seen them already. They are a great pollinator but rarely found anymore. 

Monarch butterflies are still in the area and yes, we do have Asclepias (milkweed) in stock! We carry many species from the tropical (curassavica, at right) to the more native (fascicularis and californica). We try to stock as many as we can for everyone's hungry caterpillars. I've recently gotten my mother into raising and releasing monarch butterflies. She has enclosures and the whole nine-yards to make sure she releases healthy adult butterflies. So far this year there have been around 90 healthy monarch butterflies released! 

Other butterflies in the area include the sulfur butterfly which hosts on Cassia species, the Western Fritillary which hosts on ornamental Passiflora species, Anise swallowtail butterflies which host on members of the celery family, dill, parsley, lovage, and fennel, Mourning Cloak butterflies which host on elm, willow, poplar, aspen, and more, and Giant Swallowtail which host on different Citrus species in our area. We love our pollinator plants here at the nursery and encourage everyone to plant a diversity of them in the garden to help out the fragile ecosystem.

There are definitely some exciting plants I'd love to mention to you...We just received a shipment of really unusual caudiciform and other plants. Here are some of my favorites: Caudex forming Ficus palmeri and Ficus petiolaris look great in our unique pottery or as a bonsai. Begonia dregei look like miniature maple trees with very unusual bases. Adenia glauca look like trees that form a round swollen base. Cephalopentandra ecirrhosa is impossible to pronounce but makes a great looking caudiciform plant. 

Ficus palmeri - Baja Rock Fig
Adenia glauca

Other rare plants include Sedum multiceps, a.k.a. mini-Joshua tree, and Operculicarya decaryi, a very unusual plant that forms a thick trunk over time and can be turned into a great bonsai tree. Little baby seedling Ficus religiosa will sell fast! Maihuenia poeppigii makes a cool trailing cactus specimen. 

Ledebouria socialis have the most striking markings on their leaves. Pachypodium gaeyi have a striking purple leave and rosy thorns where the new growth emerges. Sinningia bullata is  tuberous and produces small red eye-catching flowers. Lastly, some other rare Ficus including tettensis, Ficus menabeensis, and Ficus socotrana. These are just some of my favorite plants at the nursery right now.

Ledebouria socialis
Sinningia bullata

Also, a nice restocking of the pottery section is coming very soon, including more of the contemporary clean-lined pots and Carmean hand-made pottery which is arriving this week!


Please let us know if there is ever anything you would like for us to special order for you. We have an extensive list of growers that we work with who specialize in many different plant categories. That's all from me for now, hope to see you all at the nursery soon!
                             
Your local horticulturalist,
Steven



TipsSummer Gardening Tips 

As the days start to heat up like they will next week, it is time to sit back, relax and enjoy your garden. Perhaps peek if there's anything that might need some attention, or simple chores like watering and deadheading that can be done in the early, cool mornings or later into the evening. Regardless, now is the time to reap what you've sowed - if not literally than figuratively! Enjoy the fruit of your labor! However, if you are inclined to poke around in your garden, here are a few summertime reminders: 

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 hot 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 according to the tree species, age and the weather.

For complete Summer Gardening Tips, click here.
Garden Design & 
           Consultation

We would love to help you beautify your outdoor space! If you are interested in redesigning or creating a new and beautiful garden, our qualified Garden Designers will be happy to help you!

A one-hour professional consultation at your home or office starts at $450. During the initial at-home visit, our designer will meet with you to learn about your vision, see your location and layout, take photos and measurements, and provide you with additional recommendations. The designer will then develop an individually customized garden design for you including: 
  • an itemized recommended plant listing
  • a breakdown of costs of the proposed design
  • a follow up meeting at the nursery for a presentation of your design including plants samples and suggestions
  • a basic placement sketch for you to review
  • information on how to care for your new garden
For questions and more detail, please call 760-753-3153 or stop by the nursery. You may also visit our website to preview our designs and designers at www.andersonslacostanursery.com.
N e w s l e t t e r   S p e c i a l s

August Special

20% Off 
Cactus &
Succulents
For landscaping or to display in pottery, you have so many amazing choices!

Special good through 
August 2020
Wild Bird Treats You Can Make At Home

Watching birds has been a hobby of mine for the past 40 plus years. It brightens up my day to see my feather-ed friends fluttering outside the window, and brings joy and wonder in the spring and summer to see parent birds bring their fledglings to my feeders.

Below are some recipes and ideas that I have enjoyed using to attract wild birds to my yard.

Easy Peanut Butter Suet*

2 cups chunky peanut butter
1 cup lard (usually available in the meat department of your grocery store, or a suitable substitute such as Crisco or coconut oil)
2 cups oats
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup white flour
2 cups Old Ben's Classic Wild Bird Seed
2 cups mixed fruits, such as fresh cranberries, orange or apple pieces

Melt the lard and peanut butter together. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Fill muffin tins or another mold with the mixture. Store in the freezer until you're ready to use. Place in suet baskets, on platform feeders, or fence post.

* What is bird suet?
Suet is the hard fat around the kidneys and loins in beef and mutton, but in common usage, most kinds of beef fat are also called suet and can safely be fed to birds. Suet is particularly attractive to woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, jays, and starlings.

Bird Seed Cookies

3/4 cup white flour
1/2 cup water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3 TBS corn syrup
4 cups of Old Ben's Classic Wild Bird Seed
Mixing bowl
Wax Paper or non-stick spray
Cookie Sheet
Cookie cutters

Put all the ingredients in a bowl except bird seed and mix until well combined. Mix in bird seed. Spray your cookie sheet with the non-stick spray or line with wax paper. Spread the bird seed mixture evenly on the cookie sheet. Use the cookie cutters to cut out your desired shapes. Use a straw to make a hole at the top of each cookie. Allow the cookies to harden over night.  Once the cookie treats become hard, place twine through the hole and tie them on tree branches and bushes.

Birdseed Garden

You can use a couple handfuls of Old Ben's Classic Birdseed to grow your own birdseed garden. Find a nice, sunny spot in your yard where you can add a garden (be sure you can see it well from a window if you bird watch from inside). Work up the soil just as you would for a flower or vegetable garden. 

Sprinkle the seeds evenly over the garden, and lightly rake them into the soil. Keep the soil evenly moist, with gentle watering until the seeds begin to sprout. Usually once the seeds have sprouted, there is not much more that needs to be done. Allow the plants to grow and reach maturity. Let the plants go to seed and dry on the stalk. Birds will harvest these seeds in fall and winter. Some plants that are good to include in a birdseed garden are cosmos, purple coneflower, zinnias and coreopsis.

Feeding birds is a wonderfully enjoyable and relaxing activity, and so is making your own bird treats!

Please check out our full line of birdseed and wild bird product at Anderson's La Costa Nursery, your North County supplier of Old Ben's Wild Birdseed.
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Anderson's La Costa Nursery 
400 La Costa Ave  Encinitas, CA  92024  |  760-753-3153
Follow us on Instagram @andersonslacosta

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