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September 28, 1998
By Tim Stephens
The UCSC Arboretum is holding its annual Fall Plant Sale in conjunction with the California Native Plant Society on Saturday, October 10, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Arboretum is introducing four new varieties of drought-tolerant plants at this year's sale--three Australian varieties and one variety cultivated from a Santa Cruz County native. The sale will take place at the Arboretum Eucalyptus Grove, near the intersection of Western Drive and High Street.
For gardeners on the Central Coast, fall is an ideal time to plant California native plants or South African and Australian landscaping plants. The cooler months after the last heat wave of summer passes allow plants to establish good root systems before the next dry summer season. By establishing drought-tolerant plants from California, Australia, and South Africa now, gardeners can have plants that look good for years to come.
The Arboretum specializes in plants not readily available in nurseries. Several of Sunset magazine's "best of the new plants" have been selections that were created or imported by the Arboretum staff. The Fall Plant Sale is an opportunity to buy plants now that may show up later on the "best of the new plants" lists. This annual event brings gardeners and nursery buyers from as far away as Sonoma and Santa Barbara.
The new Australian varieties include two drought-tolerant grevilleas long sought by Arboretum members. Grevillea 'Moonlight' is a cream-colored grevillea with very large, toothbrush-like flowers. It is thought to be a hybrid that arose in cultivation in Australia's tropical Queensland. It is a large, rapidly growing shrub that seems to require staking to help it get established and thrives in a fairly mild winter climate. Another new plant, Grevillea lanigeraprostrate form, has reddish-pink flowers, is fairly slow growing, makes a great groundcover, and seems to do well as a container plant.
The third introduction is a Correa called 'Ray's Tangerine,' developed by Ray Collett, director emeritus of the Arboretum. It is an Australian fuchsia that stays small and has bright, shiny, dark-green leaves and vibrant orange flowers that bloom right around Halloween.
Finally, Arctostaphlyos silvicola 'Alma' is a native silverleaf manzanita selected from Santa Cruz County and propagated at the Arboretum. It is named after Alma Schreiber, a retired schoolteacher who has been active in preserving habitat for silverleaf manzanita, wallflowers, and other rare native plants in the Ben LomondZayante area. Silverleaf manzanitas are only found on inland sandy soils in central Santa Cruz County. The silvery foliage and deep-red bark make these good specimen plants.
The UCSC Arboretum is joining with the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) for the fourth year to make even more plants available at the annual sale. The Arboretum's plants will be available to Arboretum members only from 10 to 11 a.m. You may join the Arboretum Associates on the day of the sale.
Local nurseries often donate additional plants to the sale. While you are in the Arboretum you may want to tour the gardens and see the butterflies, which have been abundant on warm, still days for the past few months.