Sunday, October 24, 2010

UCR Botanic Gardens Fall Plant Sale

Well, it's that time of year again - the Cal native plant sales kick off in the fall, and the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens is usually my first stop. This is the largest plant sale event in the Inland Empire. 


From their website http://gardens.ucr.edu/events/fallsale.html :

"A typical sale finds nearly 10,000 plants and more than 400 kinds available. All types of plants are to be had, from a huge array of cacti and rare succulents to hard-to-find water and waterside plants and unusual patio and houseplants to colorful landscape trees. The emphasis is on water efficient plants from around the world, but a variety of shade and water tolerant selections are always available. A fine range of choice California native plants are available at both sales, though more are sold for the fall planting season. Only varieties that can be planted at the time of the sale are sold. Miniature roses, hundreds of herbs, orchids and wildlflower seeds round out the choices."

10/23/10 

We got there this morning around 9:30am for the member's preview sale and picked up the following:

Non-Natives:
'Brightest Brilliant Rainbow" Quinoa (Chenopodia quinoa)
Boojum Tree (Fouquieria columnaris)
'Stripey' Rockrose (Cistus x argenteus)
'Fantasy' Grape (Vitis 'Fantasy')
Blue Texas Ranger ((Leucophyllum zygophyllum)
'Magenta Hope' Autumn Sage (Salvia x jamensis)
Yellow Rockrose (Halymium calycinum)

Natives:
Hollyleaf Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia)
Blue Palo Verde (Cercidium floridum)
Watercress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum)
'Louis Hamilton' Desert Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua)
Desert Ironwood (Olneya tesota)
Chaparral Coffeeberry (Rhamnus tomentella ssp. tomentella)
Mexican Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana)
Yerba Mansa (Anemopsis californica)
'Evie' Coast Silk Tassel (Garrya elliptica)
'Dark Lake County Strain' Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis)
Honey Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana)

And our cool, breezy fall weather made for pleasant planting today. Everything got put in the ground except for the Watercress and Yerba Mansa, which are in the pond, and the Boojum Tree, which I planted in a clay pot with gravel/sand/cactus mix. 

Next stop in November: the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden annual Fall plant sale. Yes! 

6 comments:

  1. Wow, what a haul! Congratulations. And what a perfect time to buy (I do hope you too got some rain ;->

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  2. It's a regular shopathon over there right now, isn't it! Go fill your boots...

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  3. Town Mouse, yes we got some rain! Not normal for October in SoCal, but we'll take what we can get. Great for the natives just newly installed.

    IG, our native plant sales are in full swing in the fall. I have every intention of filling my boots :)

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  4. Hi! I'm sorry I missed the sale, but it's probably for the best -- there isn't one square inch of dirt left around here. Riverside Botanic Gardens is news to me, so I must visit.

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  5. You picked up a really nice selection of plants! I've had to stop going to plant sales this fall, my front deck is looking like a nursery! No more sales, until I finish planting what I have :P Glad to see someone else shops like I do!

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  6. Altadenahiker, I'm starting to wonder myself if I'm overcrowding my plants (they look so little when you buy them). The UCR Botanic Garden is definitely worth a visit.

    Clare, native plant sales can easily become an obsession. Every spring and fall, my hubby just rolls his eyes and says, whaaa - again? I've half-jokingly suggested to him that, in a few years, he'll probably need a machete to find his way down from the house to the front gate.

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