Soquel Nursery Growers
September 2008 Newsletter
Click here for an index of back issues of the newsletter.
BACK TO TOP
Home   Availability  How to buy   How to Find Us   Email Us
Soquel Nursery Growers 3645 North Main Street Soquel, CA 95073
(831) 475-3533 (800) 552-0802 (831) 475-1608 fax
We are not open to the public.
We sell to wholesale and retail nurseries, landscape contractors,
and landscaping professionals.
Greeting!!!

My name is Barry Hartsock and I am the new Production Manager here at Soquel Nursery Growers.  I have been in the
nursery business since my father and I started in 1976.  I have been in California since 2005.  I fell in love with this
beautiful nursery on my first visit. I am very excited to join the team.  It is my goal to bring you a great selection of
high quality plant material.  Stop in soon and say hey.
Podranea ricasoliana
Podranea ricasoliana (Port St. John's Creeper) is a hardy
new arrival to our nursery this year. Keep an eye out for its
glossy foliage and large pink trumpet flowers. Native to
Africa, Podranea is an anagram of Pandorea, the species with
which it was first associated. The vine grows well in full sun
with regular watering, and can reach heights of 30' if left
unchecked. We recommend it as a showy vine, for use on
arbors or trellises where it can be tied back. The flowers
smell like sweet perfume, but you'll have to get close to notice.
We hope you'll give this hardy perennial a try in your next
full-sun garden.
Perilla ‘Magilla’

Perilla ‘Magilla’ or Beefsteak Plant has deep burgundy foliage splashed with pink. It looks like a Coleus but is
hardier, more vigorous, and can tolerate more sun and heat than Coleus. Other varieties of Perilla can be invasive, but
‘Magilla’ is a sterile-seeded hybrid with a few, small flowers. It can be grown in many soil types including heavy clay.
It likes filtered bright light best. It has a mounding habit and fast growth to 2’ x 2’. Perilla ‘Magilla’ looks absolutely
smashing with chartreuse Chrysanthemum parthenium ‘Aureum’ and silver Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’.  In mild climates
it will survive the winter.
Grasses

We have a marvelous selection of 1 & 5-gallon grasses. Grasses add an intriguing kinetic element to your landscape,
waving and shining in the wind. We have many colors and textures to enhance any design. Mix some of our grasses
into your flowerbeds. The linear element and subtle coloring of grass accentuates the colors of flowers the way
eyeliner brings out the beauty of the eye. Never underestimate the importance of texture in a landscape design.
Wispy, bristly, feathery, shaggy, shiny…you can have lots of fun mixing and matching grasses with shrubs.  We have
grasses with soft moplike shapes, bold upright shapes, and everything in between. We have little grasses for a
meadow or a California-style cottage garden and great big grasses for bold effects and fast-growing screens.
Cyclamen

It is hard to believe fall is already here. Fall and winter are
Cyclamen time, and some of ours are ready. We have the classic
Sierra series, the miniature Sterling with marbled leaves, and some
Fancy varieties with stripes and fringed petals. You can keep them
alive in the garden if they have dry shade in the summer for their
dormant time. All are available in 4”. We are growing the Sierra in
round 6” pots for the first time this year.
Asters

Our Asters are looking very nice. We are growing the Milka
series in lavender, light pink, and dark pink. You will find
them all listed together on our availability as “Asters
Assorted.” Milka Asters are double and grow to about 24”
tall. They do well in containers or in the garden. When in full
bloom the plant looks like a big powder puff.  Plant them in
full sun with moderate water.
Philotheca myoporoides

Philotheca myoporoides or Long-Leaf Wax Flower is an
Australian shrub with narrow, dark green leaves. In the winter
and spring it is covered with small starry white flowers. It has
a dense, mounding habit to about 3’ – 4’ tall and wide.  Its
flexible stems make it wind resistant. When established it will
tolerate drought and frost. It likes dappled shade or sun, well-
drained soil and moderate water. Philotheca responds well to
pruning and shaping.
Veronica ‘Georgia Blue’

We grew a small crop of this delightful little trailer last winter. It
survived repeated freezing so beautifully we grew a larger crop this
time. Veronica ‘Georgia Blue’ forms a dense mat of bronze-tinted
green foliage covered with vivid sky-blue flowers. Let it trail over
the edge of a pot or ramble around grasses, stones and taller plants.
Cut it back when it stops blooming to refresh it.