Questions

Answers

I would like to reserve 7 gallon pots of

Achillea millefolium lanulosa

for pick up Wed 2/2 at the Escondido nursery. Thanks.

sorry, it doesn't work that way, you have to call them
I'm up in San Luis Obispo, was down there this week but have no idea if they have any Yarrow 760-749-5930

Hello,
Would you please send us a catalogue of your current stock? I have just
discovered your website and am in love with your plants!

sorry no catalog
everything on web

My name is Michelle Brodie and I am a student at City College of San Francisco working on a degree in Nursery Production. I am writing a term paper for one of my classes on the feasibility of opening a native plant nursery. Can you help me with some questions I have? My paper is supposed to include an interview with someone in the field. It could be via email if you have the time and don't mind answering some brief questions. I would really appreciate it.
My questions are as follows:
1. How many employees do you have?
2. What are the requirements for employment there? 3. What is the range of salaries employees receive and do they get any fringe benefits? 4. What are working conditions like? 5. For a nine acre nursery what kind of ball park figure do you think would be needed as start up capital? 6. Other than land, what other equipment would be needed? 7. Is it necessary to have a greenhouse? If so, does it need to be heated? 8. Are you required by law to have a nutrient run off pond?

• 5

• working hard for low wages, a passion for native plants and not for food

• health and $8/hour with bonuses, more for experience and work ethic

• hell

• in the Bay area, $750,000

• irrigation, tractors, potting vehicles, mix, etc.

• nope

• getting there, not in SLO, but in San Diego
  
  it takes 10 years to develop a market, there is NO market for native plants
  in otherwords, no income for 10 years.

(1)have been looking at your web site. Very nice. It appears that your company has extensive knowledge about native California plants. I was wondering if you would mind giving me some assistance on a project that I am conducting.

I am conducting a wildlife habitat restoration project on 7,000 acres of high desert land that is located north of Susanville. The property altitude ranges from 5,400 ft. to 6,010 ft. Many of the tasks and the progress we are making is documented on my web site www.cooncampsprings.com

A major part of the project as a whole is to greatly reduce the population of Juniper trees and to restore the native plant species that have been greatly impacted by the Junipers and the drought years we have been experiencing.

As the Junipers are removed, I have been seeding the disturbed areas with the following mix.

Paiute Orchardgrass
Wheatgrass pubescent Luna
Wheatgrass crested, Hycrest
Wheatgrass interm., Oahe
California brome
Alfalfa, Ladak
Small burnett, Delar
Lupine Sickle keel
Blue Flax
Perennial Cal. Poppy
Yarrow
I would like your opinion on this mixure in regards to where,what and whenI am seeding. I did some seeding in the late fall before snow fell. The majority of of my seeding was conducted this springs. I spread 450 lbs. of this mixture over approximately 350 acres of ground that had become snow free and had a couple inches of surface that had thawed out.
This last seeding depleted my stocks. When I contacted my supplier about purchasing more, the new price was over twice the cost per pound. So, if you would favor me with your educated input, I would also appreciate pricing for the suggested species or a suggestion of where to obtain it if Las Pilitas does not carry those species.


(2)Well excuse me Mr. Wilson but your email indicates your level of ignorance. Obviously, you think you know more than California DFG, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and several universities who have been assisting me in this project. If you knew anything about Junipers you would not even make that statement.
Go on about your life thinking you are something special.

(We looked at his website and it was a few guys with bulldozers ripping up a clean juniperwoodland. Also pictures of mature junipers ripped out with guys leaning against their bulldozer with thumbs up, is there a God and lighting strikes?)
(1)please do not rip out a juniper woodland, replace it with weedy grasses and email it to us
your complete ignorance is depressing

(2)I've heard it all before, and I'm sorry but they are all wrong.
California seems to be off in left field on restoration, decades behind Oregon, Canada, Australia and Britian.
You are doing classic brush conversion. Their 'fire studies' are flawed and generate short frequncies when their own data shows long time periods.
Fish and game would love to plant the whole site in species for the browsers, that's not a real plant community.
Once you convert it, it does not come back. Very easy to screw up, very hard to fix.
Own own trials show that as little as a 5% introduction of alien species collapse the community.


[unfortunately any idiot can access a bulldozer, cheap seed and a hat that says restoration expert]

dear sir, would you defind the Salvia apiana leaf "fragrance/ scent" for me ((( we are trying to develop a Salvia apiana scented votive))).----our chemist has a "sage" scent --but I want the correct scent for Salvia Apiana..

coat a dead skunk with rubber and burn it

Hi,
I love your garden bench page..the long bench I would love
to make .Can you give me any rough ideas on sizes of lumber I need &
dimensions ?

I think bench height is around 18" or is this a little high?

Message understood.I wanted some idea on the sizes of lumber
I need (2x4 2x8 etc)....

I wish to make one for my local school...I guess any rough
sawn boards....studs..scaffold boards will do...

the whole point is to use what you have or can find cheaply
scraps often make a great bench, and if you screw them up, find more
scraps
as to height, how tall is the seat you're setting in?

I am an Italian translator, I am translating a script for dubbing. I can't find the translation for "nancy's petticoat". Can you tell me at least the scientific name of this flower? (I don't expect you to know the italian name). The flower featured in the film seems to be a rose. Is there a rose called "nancy's petticoat"?

Thank you all the same for answering.

sorry, can't help at all. We've never heard of it......

I am writing to you because I saw a listing for your Nursery on the CNPS website and was intrigued by the services you offer.  I'm currently serving as an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Marin Conservation Corps on the Habitat Restoration Crew and would like to continue working in California when my program is finished.  I am wondering if your organization will be hiring in the future because I'd like to continue the work that I feel is an important part of being a steward for the Earth.  I have experience in plant identification, seed collection, plant propagation, and vegetation monitoring and research.   If you could please pass on any information you have, I would greatly appreciate it.  I'd also be happy to send on my resume and other materials.  Thanks for your time and consideration, I look forward to hearing from you.  

We do not hire via email, phone or letters.

If you show up with a resume, are nice, a native plant nut that will weed for the cause

I just want to let you know I think you people are so funny.  I love perusing your website. Thanks for the humor.

Hi, my name is , owner/broker of Realty in
... near the beach.

My time here at the office seems to take up more and more of my time.
So I won't be able to spend a lot of time growing at this time. The
office here in ... is on a 50 x 100 lot with the building set on
the back of the lot. This leaves us with a parking lot in
front...And, a city "free" lot across the street. I have an idea of
selling native plants from our parking lot. I have a resale license
and a business permit here at the office. Would prefer to keep the
city out of this anymore than they already are. Or try it until they
catch me.
What do you think? How much would it cost to put in a hundred plants
or so for starters? Would you consider consignment?
What is your minimum for wholesale?
no real minimum, but we require an ad in the yellow pages. (Too many
people landscaping their home with the nursery license, and if their
not serious enough to be the phone book they usually are a pain.)

you'll also need a nursery licence and be zoned for retail.

no

ok, lossing money is a sure thing, the market is just not there. We have

to draw from hundreds of miles to survive.

Having said that there is a little nursery in Templeton that is pulling

it off with a combination of herbs, natives, fresh vegetables, fruits

and fruit trees. She is really a super saleman and does talks at the

garden clubs and fairs. But she's only selling about $1000 and month of

natives, $6000 in vegetables. If you planted some vegetables and

strawberries and such in the back, or across the street and did a

multiple draw you might survive. Maybe even a cut lavender stand? But

the numbers are staggering to be profitable and all the secondary stuff

would probably hurt the Real estate sales....

three weeks ago, on a lark, i attended a cal state fullerton arboretum presentation on natives...
somehow, i got "religion" at the class and since then, i have napalmed my lawn, cut down my eucalyptus trees (4 tall ones), yanked the ivy, pulled my shrubs & flowers, and dismembered my drip irrigation system (actually, quite new)... no second thoughts on this, as it just feels so "right"
but, i AM dreadfully ignorant :-(
went out and bought/read the books your site recommended, and have spent hours getting acquainted with your site (which i find infinitely more helpful than the books!! great job...great HUGE job!! can't even begin to imagine the man hours you must have logged creating/uploading all those pages)
anyroad, have decided to focus the energy of my midlife crisis on converting my back yard to orange county natives rather than buying a corvette, getting a toupe, and chasing young nubile girls half my age.....well, at least for now :-)
am in the process of creating my "orange county natives" list, and as soon as i have it completed, my pick-up and i will be hurtling down the 5 on our way to your nursery
in the meantime, three of those "dumb" questions
1. if i bring my list, a diagram of my design, and a handful of soil -- can someone glance at it and say: "Yeah! that will work." or "Whatever were you thinking?" and point me straight?
2. would i be correct in thinking that a weekday would be better than a weekend for looking at said diagram and determining whether or not i have been smoking crack?
3. read your site pages on oaks ---- and got really excited (please do not mention this to my teamster brothers) -- am even dreaming about oak trees (see #2 for drug testing)
have a spot 50' by 50' that would love to have an oak as a tenant...however...on one side, i have a neighbor watering a lawn and at the other end of that 50 feet is a neighbor's sewer line which cuts thru my property...and from the age of the house (20s) and by the way the grass and hedge was always greener above it - it's obviously fertilizing and watering along its route to the street main
i don't want to bring in an oak if this is going to injure it...but if one of those dwarf-like forms of the dumosa/berderidifolia would be be safe [from your site: Some forms of Quercus dumosa (Q. berberidifolia) looks very much like a dwarf Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia)] i'll start digging right now!
off to call state fullerton again this weekend (more "religion") -- finalize my list -- and then will be showing up at your eden californica
thanks a lot!

his reply/my reply

sometimes the plans are VERY screwed up and it is hard to not

cry or snicker according to the customer.

i cry and snicker at myself, so it's not anything i'm not used to...fairly simple plan with repeating motifs...and now center stage goes to the oak!!! am stoked!

If you are reading and trying

mynativeplants.com we're seeing some excellent homemade plans.

===================

believe in k.i.s.s. projects and plans...

and your web site (that thing is huge!) is really helpful with the companion plantings and it's encyclopedic iniformation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

call Valerie and find a day when they have nothing overwhelming and staff more than just the rabbits.

===================

perfect-o!

if you really like oaks, plant a few, they'll adapt and it really

doesn't matter that they'll live for only 50-100 years instead of

500-1000, think of the birds and bugs and the neighbors leaky sewer

line, you can CREATE life, even at your age.

===================

what? more of them little blue pills? and gingsing? in the planting holes or in my tea?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

when you are not raising Kane, (his name)

===================

kane raised...my baby is well into his 30s

what do you do as a teamster, break arms?

===================

glory days are gone ... anymore, mostly just break wind :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

thanks for unbelivably quick turn-around time (hey! how can i be sure the mimulus aurantiacus isn't the one who's really writing these replies?) especially for the green light on the oaks!!! am trying to convince my wife that we could tear down the house and plant even more....got the usual "we'll talk about that later" answer (along with the "usual" look)

see you in a two weeks...gives me time to get in the "2 weeks before" watering, finish my treasure map designs (x marks the oaks!), and figure out where to place the bird baths and butterfly water dished out rocks

i'll be the excited guy in the red chevy s-10 pick up, who's talking with the oaks

thank you! kind sir

How does one go about getting an entry level job in a nursery or
> greenhouse (watering, moving dirt, cashier, etc), but in a different
> state than one lives in?
>

I have no idea, we will not hire unless people show up with resume in hand

Recently the director of the school for whom I work, expressed an interest in planting palm trees as a
> > possible future "cash crop", i.e. the ability to sell them for funding
> > if necessary sometime down the road. Although I don't particularly
> > advocate that idea, I have suggested we plant the only native palm in
> > California, the Washingtonia filifera. I notice that your nursery
> > doesn't have any currently in stock, and am wondering why that is and
> > what the status and availability of those beautiful trees is. There
> > is a beautiful specimen at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 45
> > minutes north of us. Can you shed some light on the possibilities and
> > what would be involved in growing those palms?
> >
> > Thanks. I LOVE you website, and spend way too much time looking at it

Just curious... why do palms elicit your ire? Is there something I should
know, drawbacks, etc.? Unpruned, they do provide nesting sites for birds,
rodents (is that why?), bats, etc., and the unpruned "skirts" are quite
impressive. My brother did rip open his armpit on one (a long, deep wound
requiring sutures) while playing chase around it when we were kids, but
since you don't know him, that can't be it.
Aaahh, yes. My heart breaks too over the raping of habitat. From the
clearing of the land to the tree corpses that create framing for
ridiculously huge "better than the Jones'" homes... I get a sad, sick
feeling in my stomach. Our species has much to answer for. I hope we can
develop the strong compassion needed to cease this madness. As for me, a
straw bale house (or yurt with sustainably produced framing), solar power,
rain collection system, on 10 or 20 acres that could be purchased and
protected from further development and (except the veggie garden and
compost piles), shared with all our brothers and sisters of other species...
a dream that can only be realized with a dump truck full of cash.
Unfortunately, all we have now is an '82 Volvo wagon and paycheck to
paycheck subsistance. We do all we can, however. I continue to plant
natives around our rental in a small attempt to recreate some of the local
lost habitat... we won't be here long, but would like to leave something for
the wildlife that will last (hoping the next renters give a crap...)

Thanks for all you do at Las Pilitas. Another dream of mine is to open a
native nursery in our neck of the woods. The closest one is about 45
minutes away, a half-tank of gasoline...

yeah... sound like you guys really work very hard at what you do, what with
chasing deer away clad only in your underwear, etc. It takes a lot of
commitment and passion. Just the website alone is a HUGE undertaking. If I
had a bunch of cash, e.g. a lottery win or something, I'd send y'all some
"thanx" for your efforts. I know the Nature Intelligences appreciate you
(you know, Nature Spirits, Devas, etc... Findhorn, anyone?)

personally I HATE plams and the people who like them.....
> so I'm glad I do not have to work where you do.
> We've just have not got back to growing them, did in the past and never
> sold a one. Native plant people seem to hate them also.
> As to where to find them, seed is available(not from us but one the
> web), why do you not get the kids to grow them in small strofoam cups
> and plant them out as a class project.
> Or better yet, sneak down the the garden and get some dates for
> yourself, and share the seeds.
all of the above, but more
> The folks from the big city move into the clean chaparral, rip it all
> out and plant garbage with the biggest palm trees they can crane in.
> The ugliest houses seem to have the biggest trees and fort like fences
> around them
> we, and many of our customers have noticed the pattern
the other dream is easier and cheaper.

I had to laugh at ABOPS. Six months ago we bought this house in Santa Maria that the former owners had had it"landscaped" to better sell their home. I love the house , nice big sunny kitchen, room for the kids...BUT..you will roll your eyes... back yard is a "landscape" of ABOPS, drip irrigation, total lack of understanding of plant habits..(.apple tree planted in a raised flower bed under planted withVinca and shrubs and you guessed it-- more palms. Orange tree planted in a little dark corner ACK) What a well intentioned mess. So I had to laugh at your Palms comment. I have no less than SIX palms in my standard size back yard. Am not looking forward to moving all this stuff around, but I'm young