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Beautiful Plants and Inspired Designs since 1954

Dear Friends of Anderson's La Costa,

Happy September!

We hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend and enjoyed the summer weather and water. We have been blessed with 74-degree water for almost a month now. Marc always says that it feels like our seasons are shifted later; it takes all summer for summer to finally arrive. It most certainly feels that way this year.

This month, we are offering an awesome selection of plants and decor for our newsletter specials...

20% Off

Fountains, Carnivorous Plants

& Ornamental Grasses

Yes, finally! Fountains are on sale! This is a rare opportunity to get that water feature you've had your eye on. We have plenty of fountains that can fit in the back of your vehicle, or for an additional fee, you can have one of our fabulous staff members deliver and set it up for you. Please ask for more details.

We invite you to visit the greenhouse to explore our carnivorous plants, including the pitcher plant, which traps insects by forming pitchers at the leaf tips. We are also highlighting ornamental grasses as we enter their peak season. Steven provides more details in the next section.

Please continue reading for Steven's awesome monthly update, followed by September Gardening Tips.

We look forward to welcoming you to the nursery as we head into the best planting season of the year. Hope you're able to stay cool until our temperatures drop.

Warm wishes,

Your Anderson's La Costa Team ~ Steven, Manny, Hanna, Tandy, Julie, Courtney, June, Madeline, Josh, Zoe, Mo, Marc, and Mariah

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What's New at the Nursery

...by Steven Froess

Greetings!

The time has arrived for the September newsletter! Three-quarters of the year have now passed, and we are beginning to see signs of fall, sort of. Autumn technically starts towards the end of the month, but you know we're getting closer because the days are gradually getting shorter. I especially notice it in the mornings, when it tends to be darker for a bit longer, making me want to sleep in.

The days are still quite warm, so I spend most of my time in the garden this time of year, either watering, trimming, weeding, or simply enjoying my garden. Although weeding is my least favorite part of gardening, I know I've got to buckle down and do it. My method is simply hand-pulling or using my mini shovel to dislodge the roots and repeating the process. Physically, it is more demanding but effective in the long run as long as I don't let the weeds go to seed and spread even more (it happens to the best of us, haha).

As much hard work we put into our gardens, we must also take the time to enjoy them. For me, when I'm out watering in the evening, the hummingbirds fly back and forth through the stream of water and seem to feed on the many flowers I've planted, seemingly for their benefit. Occasionally, neighbors walk by and stop to admire or tell me how much they enjoy my garden (it's always a work in progress, but I appreciate the compliment). Or, when I see my Caesalpinia pulcherrima explode with blooms this year, or a Mexican Cactus fly landing on a gomphrena. Enjoying the little things makes all that hard work worthwhile.

September is a month of transition. The end-of-summer plants are now in bloom, although in our climate, most will continue to bloom until November. Meanwhile, the fall season plants are not quite ready yet due to the warmer temperatures. However, by the middle to end of this month, we will regularly restock all the cool-season edibles. For now, you can begin planting vegetables from seed, but if you prefer to use starters, it's best to wait just a little longer and enjoy the rest of your warm-season harvest before it's done.

There are still plenty of great plants this time of the year. We have a beautiful specimen of Michelia champaca 'Alba' that I put right in the walkway so everyone can smell it as they walk by (first two pics). This tree is becoming increasingly difficult to source.

Jasmine sambac has a small, single-flower form (in 4-inch pots), and 'Grand Duke' has double-ruffled flowers (in 5-gallon containers). They both have incredible fragrance and are summer bloomers. Passiflora 'Poppin passion' is a new variant of edible passion vine that is supposedly a dwarf at 15-20' while still producing ample fruit.

Native Sons Growers consistently provides great plants and varieties that we don't see often. Erica verticillata is a great drought-resistant shrub with bunches of pink tubular flowers that will bring the hummingbirds. Cuphea 'Strybing sunset' will provide a nice, nearly year-round flowering plant that will benefit from occasional pruning to maintain its shape. Mimulus is a great summer-flowering native plant with several colors currently available. Senecio 'Blazing Glory' features vibrant orange flowers against blueish foliage.

Euphorbia ‘Dean’s hybrid’ is an evergreen for full sun with green foliage and bright yellow flowers in the summer, and drought-tolerant once established. Grevillea 'Peaches and cream' is a solid landscape performer that blooms consistently throughout the year, attracting many pollinators.

Ornamental grasses can really break up the monotony of typical garden elements by adding movement and texture that may otherwise be lacking. All grasses flower, with some being more showy and unique than others, such as Muhlenbergia capillaris.

Popular varieties include all of the Lomandra varieties (evergreen and don't usually need trimming). ‘Platinum beauty’, 'Seascape', ‘Arctic frost', and 'Shorty' are a few of the types we carry.

Muhlenberia dubia and Aristada purpurea are two of my favorite native grasses. They also are showy when they flower.

Other grasses have colorful foliage such as Libertia (coppery orange), Phormium 'Black adder' (dark purple), and Dianella (blue, not pictured here). Enjoy a 20% discount on all ornamental grasses through the end of the month!

We are frequently replenishing our pottery supply and have just received a new batch of indoor and outdoor pottery. You will find a nice selection of Amsha baskets at the south end of the greenhouse.

We are proud to partner with Amsha, a beautiful company based in Portland, Oregon, with artisans across East Africa. Amsha creates jobs, promotes education, and improves the quality of life for women’s co-ops and independent artisans, primarily in Kenya and Rwanda, by producing goods with environmentally friendly and fair trade practices in mind. Learn more at amshastudio.com.

We have also just received a large shipment of Tillandsias (air plants) of all different shapes and sizes that can be displayed simply or elaborately. You will find a huge selection at the north end of our indoor greenhouse, along with many beautiful tropical plants to admire throughout the greenhouse.

The goal this month is to try and find moments or attributes that you appreciate in your garden. Sometimes it's just the little things. And sometimes it's the people who are with you in your garden.

I hope you all have a great month, and I look forward to seeing you at the nursery soon.

Your Local Horticulturalist,

Steven

September Gardening Tips

As we wrap up summer, the most important tip heading into the fall is to protect against wildfire. The wildfire season is already upon us, as temperatures rise through the beginning of fall and the warm, dry Santa Ana winds start to blow from the east, eventually replacing any humid tropical days in Southern California. Unfortunately, it was this phenomenon that fueled the devastating fires last year in Altadena and Pacific Palisades.

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

In California, there are two major planting seasons: spring and fall. One of the best-kept secrets is the beauty of fall planting. September marks the transition to fall and the beginning 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). With temperatures cooling off by October, it makes it easier to transplant trees, shrubs, and bedding plants. Although trees and shrubs are not actively growing above ground, they are busy sending out strong roots and establishing themselves for the spring and summer.

To continue reading September Gardening Tips, click here.