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61 products
A surprisingly hardy tuberous little wildflower from the mountains of the Southwest. This has BLUE flowers of some enviable intensity. The multiple flower buds are held clasped in a pouch like a heart folded in half and one flower emerges each day. This simple bit of wonderment continues on for weeks in June and July. Well after blooming, the pouches now clasping bundles of black seeds continue to hold interest and our sales of this here at the nursery continue strongly even when it is out of flower. Sun, average moisture and decent drainage.
Here is the answer for those who want to grow a classy groundcover Manzanita that isn't Kinnikinnick. We planted a 1 gallon plant 5 years ago in our dry garden and it is 1 foot tall and making a 6 foot circle. Small glossy leaves on reddish stems and white bells in spring. Good things come in small packages. Lean soil, no organic mulch we use washed sand.
This is one of the stars in the understory of the towering coastal redwoods, Sequioa sempervirens. Wide fleshy green leaves would not look out of place in the subtropics and that impression is only enhanced by the umbels of red flowers which become visually luscious blue-purple fruit. Much like the trees under which it grows, this too is supersized at least in comparison to its kin in the genus. This are not flowering size but they are nice plants.
Twinberry Honeysuckle. This the southern variant of our native shrubby Honeysuckle which here in Washington has tubular yellow flowers but down in southern Oregon and California, these flowers are little firecrackers of orangish-red. Tough plant liking wet sites but quite tolerant of drier spots. Hummers like this!
Extremely handsome big evergreen shrub to 10'x10' or more. Classic mahogany bark peeling to reveal that much loved Hi-Gloss finish on the trunk and branches. Pink buds in spring open to white urn-shaped flowers, followed by clusters of russet not messy-at-all fruit which has some avian appeal. Leaves are held perpendicular to the sun to conserve water which is an adaptation to summer heat and low or no rainfall. So no mollycoddling whatsoever with this one. Well-drained soil of low fertility and don't water once established. As much as we love mulching with manure, don't on this one or any other shrubby Arctostaphylos. There really are plants whose main requirement is that you do nothing except admire.
A nice bright silver-foliaged selection of the California Fuchsia. This loves a well-drained soil in a hot sunny spot where it has lots of tubular scarlet hummingbird magnet flowers on a plant 12-18 inches tall in late summer. Disappears in winter but comes up from the spreading underground rhizomes. Cut back in spring. This can take a good amount of dry once established and not liked by deer.
A selection of this California Fuchsia from El Tigre Peak on Santa Cruz Island. This is low growing form to just 8" tall but can spread to 4' across or more when happy. And making this happy is really pretty easy - pretty much just ignore it in a dry, hot sunny spot with good drainage and your reward will be lots of tubular orange-red flowers in late summer-fall with further decoration provided by appreciative hummingbirds.
This plant smells so good in flower that it should be illegal or barring that, taxable. This could help with budget shortfalls because it is frankly addictive. One sniff and the response is "Ooh! Do you have this for sale?" Southwest native remarkable hardy with grape koolaid fragrant white flowers in masses.
A note on identity: This and other pink blotched small-leaved Philadelphus with an effusive odor are likely P. maculatus despite their having been widely distributed as P. madrensis by us and others in the past
A seedling strain from an especially robust population of this Southwestern US native Columbine. Big soft yellow flowers with characteristic extra-long spurs somehow manages to meld flash and whimsy. Easy and very nice in the garden. A Plant Select introduction out of Denver.
Fine Buckwheat from seed collected in Kern Co. CA at 7830'. This population is one of the most compact forms of this variety with very small, gray-white leaves on a low mat that can eventually get 2' across. The flower stems can be 16" tall, and unlike its pom-pom flowered kin, the white to pale pink flowers are ranked along the stem to nice effect. Dryish mineral soil zones 5-8.
Young plants from seed collected in Mendocino County by botanist Alex Wright. This species has the all the charms inherent to Pacific Coast Iris along with their legendary variability in color among populations. This was not seen in flower but we can pin it down for you. Blue, cream, white or yellow and shades between.
Western Shooting Star. A pleasing western wildflower California to Alaska that one can't help but enjoy with its showy pinkish flowers with its strongly backswept petals. Likes it moist in spring and goes summer dormant when it gets drier. The taxonomic move of Dodecatheon to Primula nearly made us give up on plants and take up studying something stable and predictable like Constitutional checks and balances. These from a Ron Ratko collection.
Arctostaphylos afficionados Paul and Greg at Xera Plants say this is their favorite Manzanita which made it a must-have for us. Fits in the home garden and tolerant of garden conditions, this get just 2' high by 4' across in time. Rocking reddish new growth turns to blue-green. Pink flowers late winter. Drought tolerant.
A seriously good Buckwheat native to just three of the Channel Islands where it grows mainly on dry cliffs. It does great in cultivation however and probably finds it a relief to be able to relax a bit. Evergreen domes to a foot or more tall with flower stems up to a foot long bearing long lasting blooms of red to white.
Grown from seed we collected from plants growing on a sheer rock face in Colorado. This population is known for its color variations from the usual whitish theme and our young plants have yet to flower so we are twitchy with anticipation. We first saw this species growing among the ancient Bristlecone Pines in the White Mts - that day was magic! Grows in rock cracks/crevices or stony open ground in dry situations. Evergreen mat-former.
A Ron Ratko collection from 6500' in the San Gabriel Mts of Los Angeles County where it grew along shaded drainages under white alders in a mixed conifer forest. This variety has broader leaves than var. parryi but has the same large lemon-yellow trumpets that are strongly fragrant and held at eye level on mature bulbs. Everyone will have pollen on their noses!
Daggerpod. Love this plant but honestly, that doesn't narrow the field much. Eastern slope of the Cascades in WA, OR CA, to ID and NV growing in dry shrub-steppe slopes and open pine forests. Softly hairy gray-green to sea green leaves with wallflower-like flowers usually pink but rarely near violet or white. Rock gardens.
This occurs east of the Cascades and in CA and NV at high elevations and in Millet's opinion is the best form of Penstemon procerus. Small tight ground-hugging mats of fleshy succulent green leaves are backing for the short dark blue flowers. Consummate rock garden plant.
Hummingbird Sage. A California native perennial Sage that can take sun or some dry shade as this will grow under California live oaks. California shade is notably brighter than our Washington shade. This will get 16"-28" tall with rose-pink flowers appearing out of prominent dark calyces and will creep rhizomatously to 4' or so across. Hummingbird banquet and deer proof.
Our selection from the California Redwoods of a large-leafed and vigorous clone of Wild Ginger. This sports large glossy green leaves which mask the sizable brown starfish flowers hidden underneath. We always like surprises. A dense big groundcover in shaded rich moist soil.