Your Independent Neighborhood Garden Nursery

Beautiful Plants and Inspired Designs since 1954

Dear Friends of Anderson's La Costa,

Happy Spring!



It has officially arrived...springtime! And what a glorious one we are having this year. Some rain, but not too much, warm sunny days, but not too many. It has been one of the best springs I can remember. Oh, and the nursery, it's looking spectacular.

We are thrilled to announce that the wonderful Mia McCarville will be joining us this month on Wednesday evening, April 24 at 5:15 p.m. to speak about Blueberries (and all berries)! You don't want to miss this. A master gardener at a whole different level, Mia will teach you exactly what you need to know to be successful in the garden. With great stories and years of experience as a local garden designer and landscape consultant, including ownership of the former Cedros Garden in Solana Beach, Mia comes full of amazing gardening intel and tips for you to take home.

There is no cost to attend this special event, but because our parking is limited, your reply is required for admittance. Please kindly RSVP by sending us an email to andersonslacosta@gmail.com with the number of people in your party - this will be your ticket.

We can't wait to see you and to hear Mia's talk!

20% Off

All Bromeliads

Indoor Pothos

All Bromeliads (outdoor and indoor) and all cool varieties of Pothos such as Golden, Hawaiian Golden, and Golden totem, Neon, Marble Queen, Green Queen, Cebu Blue, and N'Joy are now 20% off during the month of April. So much to choose from and so tropical and cheerful!

Steven has an amazing write-up coming up next with so many plants to talk about, and then on to your April Gardening Tips.

Please come visit us and see the abundance of plants that have already arrived for spring and summer! That and loads of pottery, fountains, garden decor, even t-shirts, hats, and tools...everything to make you and your garden look magazine-ready. We look forward to seeing you soon.



Best wishes,

Your Anderson's La Costa Team ~ Steven, Manny, Tandy, Hanna, Jen, Madeline, Grace, June, Cypress, Courtney, Marc and Mariah

Photo Credit this section and all new images this edition by Grace Neal

Also starting to fruit, one of my favorite plants, blueberry bushes! Such a nutrient-rich fruit, and with southern highbush varieties, we can grow them right here in Southern California. Choose from Misty, Emerald, Jewel, Biloxi, Sharpblue, and Oh My Darlin - but just remember to add acidic soil when planting. The key is to keep the soil pH down (acidic) with all berries including blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry. I do this by continuously adding acidic soil to the top layer and using acidic fertilizer regularly (my favorite is a combination of Agrowinn acid plant fertilizer and Ultra Bloom 0-10-10 which has sulfur as well for acidity). 

And then, don't miss Mia speaking on blueberries later this month! Hope to see you all on Wed, April 24 at 5:15. Please RSVP by email - more info in the top section.

Vegetables and herbs for the warm season are now in full swing with new shipments arriving every week. We have received tomatoes galore including cherry types (Sweet 100, Sweet baby girl, Sungold, Rapunzel, and Chocolate sprinkles) to tried and true (Celebrity, Early girl, Better boy, Roma, San Marzano, Jetsetter, San Francisco fog), and even the more unusual types (Black from Tula, Black beauty, Lava flow, Berkeley tie dyed, Blue berries, German Johnson, and Garden peach).

Cucumbers are one of my favorites to grow because I eat so many of them and a fresh cucumber is the best! Try varieties like Muncher a.k.a. Persian for thin skin (the Persian types have many varietal names now), English (larger fruit), Japanese (Natsu Suzumi or Tsuyataro) for longer crisp fruits, and pickling cucumbers are great for eating or experimenting with your own pickling recipes.

Squash take up lots of room but make up for it with their production. Zucchinis like Black beauty, Ball's green (more silver leaf, less mildew) and Mexican grey are some of my favorites. Squash varieties like Yellow crookneck, Straight yellow, or the Patty pan types will produce plentiful through the spring and summer months. 

Strawberries from the store are one of the most-sprayed crops (pesticides), so if you're looking to enjoy fresh strawberries without worrying about chemicals then it's time to grow your own. Strawberries are best grown on hills or mounds but can also be grown in containers. Keeping pests like snails, slugs, and pill bugs (rollie pollies) away from the sweet fruits is the most difficult part. Diatomaceous earth and crushed eggshells work, as well as Sluggo Plus and mulching. Some of my favorite varieties are Seascape, Chandler, Sequoia, and Eversweet. 

We have lots of other vegetables and herbs including, garlic, onions, lettuces, kale, beans, peppers (try shishito!), basil (lots of varieties), chives, mint, sage, French tarragon, lemon balm, lemongrass, lemon verbena, dill, fennel, thyme, and more (I know I'm forgetting a few).

Remember when growing edible plants, the key to success is amending the soil and using fresh soil, applying a slow-release fertilizer throughout the growing/fruiting season, plenty of regular watering, and IPM (integrated pest management). 

Roses are officially here and starting their first spring bloom. Hybrid tea types with fragrance seem to be the most popular. There are so many to choose from and our grower has over 500 varieties! Some of my favorites include: Pope John Paul II (white and highly fragrant), Mister Lincoln (classic red, large flower and fragrant), Neptune (large lavender colored flowers with a strong fragrance), Chris Evert (great sunset colors), Fragrant Cloud (good repeat bloomer with coral/red flowers and excellent fragrance), Heavenly Scented (a newer rose with great blossoms and scent), Desdemona (a white/light pink David Austin rose, excellent bloomer), Olivia Rose Austin (great pink David Austin with high petal count and fragrance), and so many more it's difficult to choose one favorite. If we don't have a particular variety remember we can most likely order it for you. 

As with most roses, the more sunlight and air circulation the better. They also don't like it when there are lots of other plants growing around them (groundcover for example) so just using mulch or compost is even better.

Fertilizer and pest control is a must-have for healthy roses. Everyone has their own blend of fertilizer for roses so I say just experiment and see what works best for you. I use Agrowinn Rose and Flower as my main fertilizer and supplement with Sul-Po-Mag throughout the growing season. This early in the season there aren't a ton of rose pests out yet, but it's still good practice to check regularly. Fungi such as rust and powdery mildew are usually the first to rear their ugly heads. 

Now for a list of some fantastic plants you will find at the nursery this month:



• Anigozanthos (Kangaroo paw) have new colors from the Celebration series (Carnivale is purple, and Masquerade is blue/teal)
• Paeonia 'Bartzella' (yellow Itoh type that will bloom in our climate)
• Salvia leucantha 'Danielle's dream' (a light pink flowering version of Mexican sage - the one in the photo still has a white bloom)
• Cistus 'Blanche' has a more upright growth habit and large white flower
• Grevillea 'Peaches and Cream' is not always available but we have and with buds/bloom!

California Native Plants have also been growing in popularity across the county. Most people are noticing the wildflower blooms in the desert but also locally, ceanothus (California lilac) are covering the local hills with large swaths of blue flowers.

A few of the best spots I've seen ceanothus are on the northeast side of San Elijo (San Marcos area) as well as Dixon Lake/Daley Ranch which is also one of my favorite places to hike. At the nursery, we have Sierra blue, Puget blue (from Santa Barbara), Joyce Coulter, and Concha that are all currently blooming.

Other notable natives we have are a special selection of red flowering buckwheat called Eriogonum grande rubescens 'Red Ranger' (I had to get one for my garden), Lepechinia fragrans (fragrant pitcher sage, fuzzy aromatic leaves and spikes of lavender tubular flowers), Sphaeralcea ambigua (apricot desert mallow, one of my favorites), Lyonothamnus (Catalina Ironwood tree).

In addition, there's Erigeron 'W.R' (a low-growing purple daisy flower, excellent coastal plant), and Salvia clevelandii 'Winifred Gilman' (more upright and much darker purple flower than clevelandii). Leucadendron 'Hawaii Magic' are in bloom and is a great showy, more compact form of Leucadendron. Aloe 'Red Coral' is a hybrid selection with remarkably red margins on the leaves. Echeveria 'Fireglow' must be one of the reddest-leafed echeverias I've seen! 

Believe it or not, lots of other plants will still be coming in and part of the fun is discovering something unique here at the nursery almost every day.

So glad it's April and I look forward to seeing you all soon! 

Your Local Horticulturalist,

Steven

P.S. Thank you, Grace for all the new plant images. :)

April in the garden means warmer weather and longer days with no fear of frost. We are overflowing with flowering plants and herbs and vegetables - the selection is incredible. Anytime this month is a great time to start incorporating soil amendments, sowing seeds, and putting in transplants. The soil is dry enough to be worked without compacting it, the air is warm enough to enjoy working outside and the soil temperature is ideal for germinating all kinds of seeds and getting transplants growing well.

Herbs: If you haven't already, it's time to start a culinary garden with basil, cilantro, chives, curly or Italian parsley, lavender, oregano, sage, and thyme!

Vegetables: There's just a little time left to plant beets, lettuce, and radishes. In late April plant only the heat lovers: beans, corn, cucumber, eggplant, melons, okra, peppers, summer squash, and tomatoes.

To continue reading April Gardening Tips, click here.

N E W S L E T T E R

S P E C I A L S

20% Off

All Bromeliads and Indoor Pothos

Offer good through April 30, 2024

Keep your eyes peeled for significant changes occurring on La Costa Avenue! With his beautiful designs and whimsical colors and lines, we are so excited to showcase internationally renowned local surf artist Andy Davis working his magic right here in Leucadia at the entrance to the nursery. This must be a dream come true! www.andydavisstudios.com

Instagram @andydavisstudio