Fall planting season is here, the perfect time to plant native plants. Learn why fall is the best, and some basics of plant selection and proper planting technique, at our November Workshop "Planting Natives" on Saturday, November 12, 2005 at 11 am.

We will continue our workshop series with "Christmas Crafts with Native Materials" on Saturday, December 10, 2005 at 11 am.

...continues to arrive at the Casa La Paz to inspire your holiday shopping. We are very proud to feature fine art prints, silk scarves and other products featuring A.R. Valentien, as introduced by the San Diego Natural History Museum.

A.R. Valentien, a prominent artist of the American Arts and Crafts movement, was commissioned by Ellen Browning Scripps in San Diego in the early 1900s to create watercolor paintings of all the native California plants. This monumental work of 1094 original paintings, which took him 10 years to complete, came to the San Diego Natural History Museum in 1933 after Miss Scripps' death. These exquisite paintings, breathtakingly fresh and lifelike in their color and detail, had previously been seen and appreciated by only a handful of people.

Now we are offering the unique opportunity to purchase full-color, fine art reproductions, framed and unframed, of a selection of these stunning original paintings. Overall size 13" x 19"; image area 9.75" x 15.5" with white border. Reproduced with great attention to detail by fine art photographer Philipp Rittermann, these state-of-the-art giclée prints are as close as possible to the original watercolor. Through the use of archival inks and high quality, acid-free paper, the prints have the potential to last 100 years, assuming they are cared for properly. Celebrate the incredible richness of California's native plant diversity in your own home or office with these beautiful reproductions.

To kick off the fall planting season, don't miss Tree of Life Nursery's opening day. Saturday, October 8th is our first Saturday open this season. Plants and books will be 10% off in the Casa 'La Paz'. Nursery staff will be available to help you choose plants and give garden advice. We look forward to seeing you!

One of our best-kept secrets is a researcher on our staff named Lea Corkidi. She is not really a secret, but her quiet and unassuming manner makes her hard to notice.

What really stands out is her career in plant ecology with work in both Mexico and California. Her expertise in mycorrhizas, her post-doctoral research at UC Riverside with a PhD from the National University of Mexico, her publications, and her practical work at Tree of Life Nursery speak for themselves. Lea is highly respected among her colleagues in the field of mycorrhizas and plant ecophysiology and we are very fortunate to have her as an integral part of our team.

We have received permission to reprint from the journals in which Lea has recently published. Check out the abstracts and see the two papers here on our website. We’ll include more in the near future as Lea has a manuscript in the International Plant Propagators Society, and a submittal to California Society for Ecological Restoration.

Also, if you would like detailed information about mycorrhizas and native plants, please contact us with your questions.

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Tree of Life Nursery is Proud to announce a very special FEATURED PLANT –

Rhamnus californica 'Eve Case'

click on Rhamnus californica, CALIFORNIA COFFEEBERRY

New Plant?
Not at all!! We just wanted to focus your attention on a great plant choice for any project. Now is an excellent time to stock up on fantastic specimens of this useful shrub that can handle full sun to part shade. We want you to know more about our beautiful, abundant crop of 5-Gallon size Rhamnus 'Eve Case'.

Why 'Eve Case'?
This is a horticultural selection of Rhamnus californica that is a bit more consistent in size and shape, making it ideal for a landscaped setting. Place it in a foundation planting, on a slope, as a screen, in a parkway or border. 'Eve Case' provides not only valuable wildlife habitat with a great display of large berries, but garden interest as well, since these berries change color from green to red to black. It is clean, and sharp-looking. Since we so often think of natives only for hot, dry sunny places, 'Eve Case' is useful for its fine finish in shade or sun, and its tidy appearance. This coffeeberry selection can be trimmed or left to grow naturally into a 6-8 foot shrub.

This plant is an alternative to replace thirsty exotic shrubs such as Carissa, Cotoneaster, Ligustrum, Myoporium, Oleander, Photinia, Pittospurum, Raphiolepis and Xylosma. All of the same-old, same-old. Try installing this one and see how much less water you will need to maintain it. Then, sit back and watch as a variety of nesting songbirds and butterflies come to visit your garden!

Factoid, (for those of us who enjoy this sort of thing!):
Rhamnus, (Coffeeberry), belongs to one of the only plant families that 'fixes' atmospheric nitrogen. Like Legumes, (Pea family), this means Coffeeberries, (and, believe it or not, Ceanothus), stay green in poor, nitrogen deficient soils. Therefore, they need less fertilization.

Tree of Life carries at least three other varieties of Coffeeberry that are horticultural selections of Rhamnus californica. R. 'Bonita Linda', has a slightly gray-green color, while R. 'Little Sur' and 'Mound San Bruno' are both low-growing, compact forms. Please refer to your Tree of Life Catalog for more details on each selection, or call the office for more information.

If you need Rhamnus 'Eve Case' soon, act now! We are selling our 5-Gallon size, a premium quality crop at a ridiculously low price:
$10 wholesale AND direct to general public. Excellent price for such truly beautiful 5-gallon stock.
We also have 1-gallon plants available at regular prices.