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Community Corner

The Seasonal Gardener

Cultivating ideas at San Diego nurseries.

In our kitchen, the month-at-a-glance calendar runs out in August. By mid-September I have purchased a new one, living dangerously for two weeks without my paper master.

With the new log book in place, we march forward, keeping the old one handy for a year in case of recurring events, repair reference and taxes.

From the calendar’s spot in the kitchen, I can see a sliver of the front yard. This is another schedule, of sorts, and an irresistible magnet. My outside month-at-a-glance "calendar" is currently a senescing vegetable bed. At this time of year, the garden is straddling two seasons: the dénoument of the long-day garden and the destination ahead.

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What will it be?

As Southern California gardeners transition to low-water landscaping, replacing lawns with edibles and groundcovers, planning is key. 

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An easy way to cultivate appropriate ideas is to visit botanical gardens and nurseries with demonstration gardens. Home garden tours are design bonanzas. But public gardens make plant ID easier than home tours.

Public gardens have labels abound, with botanic and common names, for list-making ease. Plants with similar cultivation requirements are grouped together, removing the guesswork for success.

Finally, garden professionals are standing by to answer questions. Botanic gardens and retail nurseries want to cultivate a relationship with you, so you’re doing them a favor by taking an interest and asking questions.

Cast A Wide Net

After collecting ideas at the L.A. County Arboretum, , , Lincoln Avenue Nursery, Burkard’s, San Gabriel Nursery-- and the October Pasadena Heritage Craftsman Weekend home tour, consider a drive further south. Recently my husband went to San Diego for work, and I tagged along to visit nurseries and gardens. Here are two worth mentioning:

- Summers Past Herb Farm

15602 Olde Highway 80 at Hawley Rd.

Flinn Springs, CA 92021

(619) 390-1523 

Closed Mondays & Tuesdays, 9 to 5 most days, call for seasonal or weekend hours.

This five acre family business was a vegetable truck farm 50 years ago. Owner Marshall Lozier explained, “What they grew here would be loaded into the pickup and taken to the roadside stand.”

The last 20 years has seen the farm’s evolution into a retail nursery, soap shop, garden shop and event center.  “Weddings, events, crafts fairs, anything we can think of,” Lozier said as he prepared a latte at the coffee bar. A multi-generational group of women sat nearby in large bent wood chairs with cold drinks, gossiping about family members. Geese and chickens roamed the lawn, a bride and groom scouted the faux Renaissance village, a family collected wisteria pods under a lengthy pergola.

Lozier dispensed planting advice, and in his spare time makes soap for the free-standing soap and candle shop. Lozier and his wife, Sheryl, offer classes and special events throughout the year. Local honey and jams are sold, along with seeds, tools, teas and a big selection of fairy garden items, if you go in for that sort of thing.

It's also a good destination for young families, especially for the pumpkin patch. Display gardens include a compost learning center, an English garden and stream, and sizable herb maze, flowering plants, fruits and vegetables.

- Exotic Gardens

2212 El Cajon Blvd.

San Diego, CA 92104

(619) 497-0860

Open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. but call first to confirm.

This artsy neighborhood is decked with mid-century modern buildings and a super cool “El Cajon” neon sign. 

Eccentric and lively Exotic Gardens fits the local vibe. The place isn’t fancy, and you don’t want to be in a cactus shop during an earthquake or fire, but keep your eyes peeled for some other-worldly plants.

On display is a reasonable inventory of affordable succulents, some crammed under tables. Look on the wall overhead for a nice selection of staghorn ferns.  Pottery, cactus and succulent soils, and composed arrangements are available.  The owner has an off-site growing yard, so if you don’t see what you’re looking for, ask.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the Pasadena Heritage's 20th Anniversary Craftsman Weekend takes place October 14-16. Tickets are available at www.pasadenaheritage.org. Call (626) 441-6333 for more information.

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