One of my favorite displays at the annual mid-March San Francisco Flower and Garden Show is the California Horticultural Society's Hot Plant Picks. The 2008 list will be available soon at www.calhortsociety.org, but here are a few that caught my attention.
A new manzanita shrub from Suncrest Nurseries is noteworthy because it's an ideal size for small suburban gardens, about 3-5 ft. high and wide. Arctostaphylos edmundsii 'Big Sur' has a mounding form and medium green leaves. Suncrest plants can be special-ordered from any retail nursery that has a Suncrest account.
Suncrest also has a nonnative, Cyclamen persicum wild strains, that would do well under native oaks because it needs part sun and little water. This cyclamen has much smaller early-spring flowers than the variety commonly seen, and many more of them Annie's Annuals has become a reliable source for interesting natives. This year, the most eye-catching was a drought-tolerant annual in the cabbage family called desert candle (Caulanthus inflatus), which has an inflated lime-green stem with a purple topknot and purple buds running up the stem. Put this curiosity in a container with well-draining soil (no clay).
Also from Annie's is dune gilia, a long-lived annual that looks similar to globe gilia with clusters of cornflower-blue flowers, but it is only 6 inches high. It would make a good foreground plant.
Lupinus truncatus, an annual lupine from Annie's, blooms in late spring with a spike of fragrant violet-purple flowers. Most lupines have a mounded form; this one is more vertical.
Many native annuals are self-sowing, so you can buy one plant this year and have a slew of them in succeeding years with no extra work. Annie's pioneered the notion of selling pretty annuals before they're in flower, using photos and quirky descriptions, so that the plants can get big and healthy in your garden instead of becoming stunted from blooming prematurely in the pot.
You can find annuals, perennials, and grasses from Annie's Annuals at many nurseries, or you can visit the nursery and demonstration garden in Richmond (closed Mondays) or attend the Big Fab Spring Party from 10 to 5 on April 12 and 13. See www.anniesannuals.com or call 510.412.4724 for more information.
That same Saturday, April 12, from 10 to 3, the local chapter of the California Native Plant Society will hold its spring plant sale at Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills. For the best selection, get in line before the sale starts.
At the garden show, the other standout was the booth for a new nursery that grows lots of natives. Gold Rush Nursery uses organic growing principles and carries water-wise grasses, perennials, and succulents, including many natives. I was delighted to find lewisias, dudleyas, and other natives in 4-inch pots at the show. Other natives included several sages, a few varieties of mimulus, grasses, bulbs, and irises.
The nursery, located in Soquel, is open by appointment only. This spring, selected waterwise plants, as well as plants valuable for wildlife food and habitat, will be available in retail nurseries with the Dig the Earth label. See www.goldrushnursery.com, or call 831.465.0314 for more information.
© 2008 Tanya Kucak