MoosaCreek Nursery : Blog

Native Plant Garden Tour

3/31/2012 9:02:52 AM

Prepare to be inspired as you discover 25 of the region's best native gardens. This two-day self-guided tour gives you exclusive access to unique home gardens, private nature parks, art gardens, restoration landscapes, and public botanical gardens.
The CNPS San Diego Native Garden Tour will help you to explore the diverse possibilities of native plant gardening in the many microclimates of San Diego County.
Attendees will have the opportunity to view native plants in situ, and immediately place special orders for Moosa Creek Nursery plants which will be delivered to their local nursery. Every purchase will generate a donation to CNPSSD.
The tour features on-site lectures by local native landscape designers, expert docents who will be on hand to interpret each garden, gourmet food, plant sales, and other helpful resources.
San Diego is a world biodiversity hotspot containing a treasure trove of garden-worthy plants. Gardens showcased on this tour reflect historical styles as well as aesthetics unique to our regional ecosystem, and are designed by landscape architects, landscape designers, master gardeners, and garden enthusiasts.
Win a custom garden design from a professional native landscape designer!
http://www.cnpssd.org/tour/

April Plant of the Month

3/31/2012 9:01:32 AM

Woolly Blue Curls is a compact, medium sized shrub that produces breath-taking deep purple/ blue flowers. The flowers appear in 1 foot long clusters with an intriguing woolly appearance when in bud, and open to show long, curved stamens that drive the wildlife crazy! This shrub demands well drained soil and full sun,. It grows fast, to about 4 ft in height and the same in width and will benefit from early pruning to keep it full. The aromatic leaves are needle like, thick and light to dark green, with fuzzy undersides. The spring and summer flowers can be extended with some careful summer watering as long as the soil drains well. With this plant in your landscape you are sure to attract birds, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Try a sprig of flower and leaf steeped in hot water to make a refreshing and delicious tea.

February Plant of the Month

1/31/2012 6:59:36 PM

South Coast Blue grows 8'-10' high and 5' wide so it is an excellent choice for that narrow spot in the yard that needs an eye-catching shrub. It has plentiful intense blue flowers and deep green foliage. The foliage is one of the best parts about this plant and really sets this plant apart, although the flowers are excellent too. We have found it to be fast growing. South Coast Blue Lilac is very versatile and manageable and we have enjoyed training it on an espalier and pruning some as standards. It was introduced to us by Greg Rubin of California's Own Native Plant Design, and is a hybrid between Trewithen Blue (a type of Ceanothus arboreus) and Ceanothus Frosty Blue.

Sunset Cliffs Demonstration Garden

1/31/2012 6:56:10 PM

Sunset Cliffs Demonstration Garden
Sunset Cliffs Natural Park is a 68-acre City of San Diego regional park which extends 1½ miles along the Point Loma peninsula's western shoreline. This unique coastal environment features expansive ocean views, dramatic cliff formations and caves, a fascinating intertidal area, and native coastal sage scrub habitat which provide connectivity to the adjacent Point Loma Ecological Reserve.

Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley'

1/1/2012 9:53:24 AM

A medium size manzanita that is tolerant of most garden conditions and also tolerant of clay. John Dourley is much loved for its early, profuse flowers and reddish bronze colored new growth. Older leaves are muted green. John Dourley' Manzanita is a low, mounding shrub with grey green leaves and pink flowers, reddish new growth and blush-colored berries. Growing 2 to 3 feet tall and 6 feet wide, this plant requires full sun or partial shade and water once a month after establishment. Attractive year-round, it makes a great understory for mature trees or a foundation plant for large planters, parkways, banks or hillsides. Manzanitas provide nectar for hummingbirds, berries for songbirds and wonderful habitat for other native critters. This manzanita was named for John Dourley, the horticulture director at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in the 70's.

Hybrid, random; origin = volunteer seedling (19 ) near hybrid manzanita area, RSABG, selected by John Dourley (1978); intro Tree of Life Nursery 1990

Butterfly Gardens

1/1/2012 9:50:20 AM

The San Diego Natural History Museum is one of of the best resources around for learning about local habitat. Their web page on butterflies includes a Field Guide of San Diego specific species. There are still many locations where butterfly populations can be seen. For instance, Monarchs can be found over wintering locally in Encinitas (Monarch Butterfly House ),La Jolla (UCSD) and in Long Beach (El Dorado Nature Center)

SDNHM offers the following tips on establishing your own butterfly garden:

Provide Host and Nectar plants (we can help with that!)
Account for the seasons by providing a variety of plant material.
Go easy on pesticides. The ideal garden is pesticide free.
Go native. Many butterfly species require native plants.
Use the sunniest part of your garden to keep them warm.
Use rocks for warmth and perching
Butterfly gardens provide beauty, activity and authenticity. If you would like some help with plant selection, please give us a call.

December Plant of the Month

12/1/2011 9:17:57 AM

Chalk Dudleya is a light gray-green succulent that forms a flat rosette up to 12" in diameter. It is covered with a coating of chalky-white dust, hence its common name. Pink to deep red flowers are borne on stalks 1'-3' tall in late spring. This most beautiful Dudleya grows naturally in rocky nooks and crannies and will require well- draining soil. This is an ideal plant for rock gardens, containers or to use as a border plant and for green roofs. Plant on a slight angle to allow water to drain off. Put this in a clay pot on your patio and you will have a certain talking point when visitors arrive.

December Garden of the Month

12/1/2011 9:16:35 AM

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is located within San Diego city limits and yet remains one of the wildest stretches of land on our Southern California coast! Because of the efforts and foresight of the people in this area, 2000 acres of land are as they were before San Diego was developed -with the chaparral plant community, the rare and elegant Torrey pine trees, miles of unspoiled beaches, and a lagoon that is vital to migrating seabirds. One can imagine what California must have looked like to the early settlers, or to the Spanish explorers, or even to the first California residents here, the Kumeyaay people.
There are 8 miles of trails, a visitor center, and guided nature walks on weekends and holidays.
Torrey Pines is visited by travelers from all over the world and by local residents who come daily to rest at the stunning overlooks, walk a peaceful trail, or exercise in a clean, beautiful environment. Find out more at http://www.torreypine.org/

November's Plant of the Month

10/31/2011 11:01:33 AM

This adaptable mounding perennial is a selection from Cedros Island. It produces mounds of delicate green foliage about 2' high and spreading to about 4',. Dense heads of purple flowers cover the shrub from spring to fall and give off a mild spicy, sweet fragrance. This is a very attractive and versatile plant for any flower border, butterfly garden or plant in containers on a patio. To maintain a dense form shear lightly in summer, and remove spent flowers. The butterflies will flock to your garden! De la Mina Verbena was selected by Carol Bornstein and introduced by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

The Joys of Fall

10/3/2011 9:53:58 AM

Fall is a busy time for native plant growers. Most of our growing contracts ship out and are installed during this season when the soils are still warm and the air starts to cool. It is probably the best time of the year for planting natives.
Fall is also our favorite season of the year. The weather is cool and the air sparkles. Fall also means it is time for our annual pilgrimage to Palomar Mountain for seed collection. Seed collecting is one of the big bonuses of our vocation as native plant growers. We make many of our seed collecting trips a family affair and gather up the children and enjoy the beauty of the nature that surrounds us together. This time Sophie, who is studying photography in school was our official photographer.

Just like the Kumeyaay before us, we will be gathering Oak seeds on this trip. Their favorite acorn for their famous oak porridge came from Quercus kelloggii. We will certainly be collecting those but also many others. All of the seed will be carefully crafted into a healthy happy nursery grown California native plant.

Plant of the Month - October 2011

10/3/2011 9:41:47 AM

This tightly mounding shrub has enticing, delicate silvery leaves. It is an excellent plant for the front of a border or to use as groundcover where it's billowy foliage can be appreciated. As it matures it produces taller flower stems. Cut the flower stems back to maintain it's neat habit. Well-draining soil is a must for this plant and be sure not to over water. Use it to contrast against darker green plants such as low-growing ceanothus, adenostema 'San Nicolas' or Iris. It is at home on the coast but also thrives inland.
David's Choice stays below 1' in height and spreads up to about 5' across.
'David's Choice' was selected from Point Reyes and introduced by David Amme in 1980.

Plant of the Month - October 2011

10/3/2011 9:41:25 AM

May Plant of the Month

4/30/2011 10:10:11 PM

Penstemon 'Margarita BOP' is a low growing penstemon with narrow, linear leaves and profuse blooms that start out blue and turn rose-purple. It gets to about 2' high and 2' wide and flowers from spring through the summer. It is highly desirable in the garden for its long-flowering and colorful blooms and is tolerant of a wide range of garden conditions. This flower works well in many situations; planted in masses on a bank, as part of a border, or in a rock garden. Penstemon 'Margarita BOP' was first discovered as a chance seedling by Bert Wilson of Las Pilitas Nursery.

Santa Rosa Plateau

4/30/2011 10:07:14 PM

Enjoy the hiking trails, towering Engelmann Oaks and the visitor center at the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve 39400 Clinton Keith Road, located at the southern end of the Santa Ana Mountains in southwest Riverside County, near the city of Murrieta, 92562.

The Reserve consists of 8,300 acres and protects unique ecosystems like Engelmann oak woodlands, riparian wetlands, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, bunchgrass prairie and vernal pools. Details here

April Promotion

4/7/2011 9:22:35 AM

Double the benefit! In honor of California Native Plant Week Moosa Creek Nursery will be offering a special promotion valid for the whole of April. We will offer 10% discount on all Online Special Orders. In addition, we have committed to donate $0.50 per plant ordered online to the San Diego Chapter of CNPS (California Native Plant Society). This offer applies to Special Orders placed through our website during April only.

April Plant of the Month

4/5/2011 8:30:33 AM

Our Plant of the Month for April is a plant with a history! Franciscana Manzanita is an evergreen groundcover manzanita with dark green foliage and red bark that has surprised us with its hardiness in inland conditions. Originally native to the San Francisco Bay area, this manzanita was thought to be extinct in the wild, until a recent exciting discovery of one stand in a freeway median. The stand was rescued and relocated shortly before the median was due to be destroyed! Franciscana appears on the CNPS list of rare and endangered species List 1A. Fortunately, cutting stock was saved by botanic gardens and we are now able to offer this terrific plant. This manzanita seems to tolerate a wide range of conditions, looking good whatever the challenges. We have been constantly impressed by the reliability and hardiness of this groundcover. This vigorous manzanita will spread to 8'-10' but stay lower than 2'-3' high.

Riverside Native Pant Sale

3/31/2011 1:03:07 PM

Celebrate Native Plant Week -attend the Native Plant Sale at Riverside Metropolitan Museum on Saturday, April 16 1:30PM - 4:30 PM. Shop a selection of native plants courtesy of Moosa Creek Nursery and Parkview Nursery. Museum is located at 3580 Mission Inn Av. Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 826-5129

March Plant of the Month

3/3/2011 8:30:33 PM

The Fuschia Flowering Gooseberry is one of the best displays of wild flowers in California. With lobed apple-green leaves, the crimson, fuschia-like flowers adorn the thorn protected branches in winter and early spring. This shrub is a favorite of hummingbirds and provides shelter that is defended dearly by the birds. The flowers set to reddish gooseberries in early summer that can be made into jam or jelly. In most situations this shrub will show summer dormancy, with leaves returning at the onset of winter rains. Because of this, and its thorns, it is best to plant this among evergreen shrubs which minimize the effect of the summer dormancy. The spectacular long-lasting show of flowers makes this a very desirable plant for a native perennial garden, slope plantings, or as a contrasting plant in a silver-gray garden. Try training Fuchsia Flowering Gooseberry along a fence or trellis, or include in a woodland garden. This shrub will tolerate shade or sun and requires minimal water.

Every purchase of our "Plant of the Month" at our retail nursery partners will generate a $0.50 donation to PLANT WITH PURPOSE to help poor villages in third world economies restore farms, plant trees and create local jobs.

Parkview Nursery has Natives in Riverside

2/3/2011 6:40:24 PM

We are pleased to announce that Parkview Nursery in Riverside will be a Moosa Creek retail partner beginning this weekend February 5^th. Now native plant customers in Riverside, Corona and San Bernardino will be able to select from over 40 different California Native Plant species in stock at Parkview or special order any of our250 species from our growing grounds and have them delivered every Friday.

Parkview is the best garden center in the area and we are very fortunate to have them as our partner. Stop by and check out the selection. For more information you can call them at 951-351-6500 or check out the Parkview Nursery web site.

February Plant of the Month

1/29/2011 5:16:34 PM

Some of the first signs of spring around here come in the form of splashes of color from Blue-eyed Grass. It reminds me of spring more than the extravagant colors of Ribes, or the emerging lilacs, because I grew up in England where flowering bulbs were the first welcome harbingers of spring, and Blue-eyed Grass seems reminiscent of those spring flowers. It's always exciting to see a landscape coming to life!

Blue-Eyed Grass is a dainty, 1 ft mounding, perennial that is related to iris, but gets its common name from the narrow, blade-like leaves. The flowers are deep blue with golden stamens at the center, displayed on tall stems. These are hardy, easy to grow plants that flower from January to June. They need little water and do well on grassy slopes, in wildflower meadows, rock gardens or around larger plants. Some dormancy is to be expected during the hot,dry months but Blue-eyed Grass will return vigorously after a little rain.

Each month we select a Plant of the Month. The Plant of the Month is clearly marked at our Retail Nursery Partners and for each plant sold we will donate to Plant with Purpose to support their work encouraging sustainable agricultural practices in some of the most impoverished areas of the globe.

Rabbit Relocation

1/5/2011 8:50:40 PM

Understanding what it means to operate our business using “Just practices” is a constant source of consideration, debate and contemplation. I sometimes think that the most important result that comes from operating a business with this as a goal is not a result at all. Just maybe it is the effort that counts. Just maybe the most important result is the act of considering just practices in every decision we make.

One of those recent decisions has been how to deal with hungry rabbits (Sylvilagus bachmani). For those that may not know something about he eating ability of a cute cotton tail rabbit, the volume of plant material one rabbit can consume in one night is astounding. Last year we lost nearly $6,000 worth of Lavatera, Muhlenbergia and other grasses to hungry rabbits.

To control the rabbits we evaluated different option for fences (electric and other), poisons, traps and chemical repellents. In the end we settled on a mechanical fence and live trapping and relocation. All has gone well except for the recent relocation when a red tail hawk took advantage of our trapped rabbit’s confused exit from the cage.

Trapping and relocating rabbits is a very small step. It is not going to have much effect on the local rabbit population. It does however demonstrate in a very small way what happens when actions are evaluated using the principals of Just Practices. Being in community with our local ecosystem has become an important part of our identity here at the nursery. It was not always so but we are happy and thankful that it is now.

Connections for happiness - Part 1

12/12/2010 11:45:58 AM

A good friend of ours is convinced that the secret to a happy life is found by being intimately connected to 3 things. The first is our natural environment, the second is deep and meaningful relationships with friends and family and finally he believes that life’s greatest gift comes from working on behalf of the poor and oppressed.

This week I agree with him, at least on the first count. When we first got involved with the nursery it was because we had some land, some free water, a large yard half planted with natives from Tree of Life and a loyal friend who needed a job.

What we did not realize was how working with native plants would intimately connect us to the earth. The changing seasons have new meaning. The subtle changes in development of the 1,000 or so species we monitor involve constant observation and study. Where October 31^st use to just be Halloween, now it is our reminder that there is just a few weeks before the first frosts and time to collect seeds from many of the summer’s flowering plants.

Seed and cutting collection is one of our favorite “jobs” here at the nursery. It requires lots of accumulated knowledge, it means that we get to be out working in nature (often together) and a successful seed hunt means we will have plenty of sometimes difficult to find product available for sale.

But the best part about being with the nursery are those surprise moments where God’s creation reveals itself in all its glory. Like the rainbow last year that lit up the sky in color, or the misty morning where even our footsteps were muffled by the fog.

This week it was the willows (Salix laevigata) in our driveway that lit up in golden splendor with the morning sun. For one moment I have never felt so connected to the earth, or so happy.

Native Plant Holiday Wreath

12/1/2010 10:47:31 AM

How to make a Holiday Wreath using Native Plant Materials.
You can create beautiful holiday decorations using the native plant materials around you. It’s easy and does not take much more time than driving to the store, parking and fighting the crowds. You’ll be satisfied with your creation!
• Gather your materials; A wire form available at craft stores, floral foam available at craft stores or florist supplies, floral wire, greenery such as native pine twigs, Toyon twigs with leaves and berries, coyote brush in flower, extra accessories of your choice such as fruit and pine cones for a natural look or bells and ribbons. Finally, a bow to finish off your wreath.
• Start by soaking the floral foam in water for about 20 mins.
• Open up the wire frame and insert the floral foam all around the frame.
• Cut your greenery into fairly uniform pieces about 8” long
• Insert greenery into floral foam going around the frame in the same direction and overlapping to hide the frame and the brown stems. Use the greenery as a foundation interspersing the green leaves and the white Coyote Brush plumes. Save the most berried twigs for accents.
• Any unruly or untidy twigs should be trimmed or wired down by wrapping the wire around the twig and the frame.
• Add your accessories either by inserting directly into the floral foam (such as the Toyon berries) or by attaching wire and then wrapping securely around the frame. If you decide to use fruit as an accessory (such as apples, lemons, persimmons or pomegranates) you will want to poke the floral wire right through the fruit and then wrap the fruit around the wire frame.
• When you are happy with look and balance of your wreath use a bow to add the final touch.
• Hang your wreath using a wreath hanger available from any store that sells holiday decorations.
Please cut your greenery sensitively from your own property or a place you have permission to collect from! Happy holidays!

Micro Climate: Blessing and Challenge

11/10/2010 9:44:51 AM

This morning, (November 10th.) we scraped ice from the car windshield. The first frost of the year has arrived. Located 12 miles inland and at 950' elevation, we both suffer and benefit from a very unique micro-climate. The nursery is situated in a narrow valley with a year-round stream running through the middle of it. We delight in the beauty of the place we work, and enjoy a well stocked variety of natural habitat - riparian along the stream bed and in the valley floor, chaparral on the hillsides. This gives us access to many seeds and plants for propagation, which we can carefully control and monitor. However, with temperatures soaring over 100 degrees in summer and frequent frosts (down to 14 degrees sometimes) in the valley floor in winter we are challenged to nurture and grow our nursery plants. This gives some sleepless nights, but it also means the plants that we grow are extremely hardy, as is proved by the feedback we receive from our customers. If the plants survive our climate they'll survive almost anything! A recent customer planted around 8,000 plants and only 3 have died after 1 year of establishment, and those were planted, against the advice of the biologist, in the wrong location. We are proud of this survivability (and kudos to the installing contractor and biologist!). The project was noted by the Army Corps of Engineers as its most successful project of this nature. So bring on your worst weather - we will look for the silver lining of creating the hardiest native plants around!

Purple and Green

10/15/2010 2:22:29 PM

I wanted natural looking surroundings for a swimming pool. This combination of Carex pansa and verbena did the trick! The Carex stayed vibrant green year-round while the verbena mixed in and produced purple blooms non-stop. The colors contrast well with the granite boulder for a meadowy, pond-like feel that is soothing and lush without requiring much care or water. Children trample it and splash chlorinated water on it, but it thrives. Easy, tough and beautiful!

Employee Terminations

10/6/2010 5:37:43 AM

Business is hard. The difference between a very successful business and one that is headed for bankruptcy is usually less that 10%. A little less revenue or a few more expenses and profits can evaporate into losses. And businesses with losses usually close.

So getting it right is important. Balancing the business expense level with the revenue level keeps a business in business and provides jobs for its employees and services for its customers.

So what happens when a business finds its expenses greater than it revenues? If revenues cannot be increased it usually looks to reduce its largest expense; employees. Employee terminations, furloughs or salary reductions all become possible outcomes and all create hardship on the employees and their families.

Sometimes employee terminations are a function individual employee performance and are not immediately related to survivability of the business. Individuals who negatively affect the group or who make errors can have consequences far beyond their individual earnings. Often these terminations place even greater hardship on the employees and their families because it is usually not the first time performance has affected employee job status.

At Moosa Creek Nursery we have elected to operate our business using a principal called Just Practices. At the heart of these Just Practices is our commitment to “genuinely love and respect all the people with whom we work”. This commitment to our people usually manifests itself in the way we engage them and their family as a community; our weekly English classes, rides down to Escondido and meetings with their children’s teachers.

Some might argue that employee terminations and our commitment to Just Practices is inconsistent. Surely there must be a place for the wayward employee who does not fit in the job given him or her. Surely “genuine love” would find another way. And maybe they are right.

But we don’t think so. Business is the economic engine that fuels the world. And a responsible business can be the economic engine that transforms the world. We want to be part of a movement of socially responsible businesses. We want to be a light unto the world. And the only way we can do that is to survive. Yes. Some employees will endure hardship. But that hardship must be weighed against the value that is created for everyone else.

In the end, being engaged in Just practices is not about the having the answers. We clearly do not. But we do think that the answers have something to do with a state of being with compassion. Thinking about and caring our environment and the people we work with.

This is not the easy way, but it is the right way. And it has the promise of making the world a better place; something we would not want to miss!.

Summer Blooms

8/21/2010 12:37:51 AM

For those of us eager to provide year round color, food and nectar sources for pollinators, wildlife and beneficial insects I thought I'd list some of the plants that are blooming in the landscape this time of year - Buckwheat is still going strong as is the ever-reliable Bladderpod. California Fuchsia and Island Snapdragon are bursting with ruby-red color and native honeysuckle is also putting on a good show on my slopes. Another plant that is at its best at this time of year is Solidago Californica – you can see why it is known as California Goldenrod! Its golden inflorescence looks great against a gray stone wall. What are some of your favorite summer plants?

Advance planning to provide year-round blooms in your landscape will pay off in many ways. It's not just that your landscape will look its best season to season, but it will also stay healthy. It is important to provide nectar and pollen for the natural enemies of pests sequentially throughout the year in our climate, since temperatures rarely drop low enough to break the cycle. Here are some suggestions of plant groupings that will provide the right combination for effective year-round hosting of natural enemies of common pests.

Jan - Apr - Salix, Ceanothus, Cercis, Baccharis salicifolia
Apr - May- Coffeeberry, Prunus, Heteromeles
May -Jul - Yarrow, Eriogonum, Sambucus
Jul - Sep - Eriogonum, Sambucus, Asclepias
Sep- Dec - Baccharis pilularis, Eriogonum

Yerba Mansa - great plant for

6/23/2010 10:32:03 AM

Anemopsis californica has added another dimension to my woodland garden! I have a heavily shaded corner in my yard which I planted out as a woodland effect garden. I've been loving it this spring, especialy as the Epipactis gigantea looked the best it ever has! However, I find that the color is concentrated in the spring and I need something to attract the eye later in the season. One plant that looks great right now when everything else has begun to fade is Anemopsis californica. It has a beautiful bright white flower. if you have recommendations for other later flowering species to add to my collection I'd love to hear about it.

Su Kraus

Savlia 'Gracias'

6/16/2010 11:41:16 PM

This month Moosa Creek will beadding another Salvia to those we stock. Salvia Gracias is a low growing Sage groundcover. It gets 2-4 feet tall and speads to 8 feet. Many consider this beautiful Sage to be the same plant as Salvia Bees Bliss but Greg Rubin swears that it has better foliage and is more draught tolerant.

We offer this plant in 1 gallons and it will soon be available at your local retailer. The price is $6.99