About Las Pilitas native plant nursery

Writers and Contributors

Bert Wilson

Born 1952 Died 2014

Two years college classes, Bakersfield Junior College 1970-1972, worked his way through Cal Poly as a gardener 1974-1976, Bachelors of Science degree in Chemistry from Cal Poly, SLO 1976

Graduate work on Cadmium Accumulation in Agricultural Soils, 1976-1980, (The 1980 recession finished the thesis..)

California Licensed Landscape Contractor, specializing in native plants of California, 1977-1994. Moved the license to inactive, C-27 license number 345678. Yes, really.

Volunteer Fire Fighter, EMT, San Luis Obispo County Fire Dept, 1980-1994

Oversaw numerous native plant restoration and mitigation projects. 1985-1995. Stopped to keep remaining hair.

Opened Las Pilitas Nursery at Escondido, California, with Valerie Phillips as manager. 2000

Plant Production

Web Site development. After a terrible series of disasters with MS products moved to linux and other opensource software. (We have not had a windows machine for more then a decade.)
Supports Opensuse, Gentoo, Python, Postgresql, Mysql, and Tryton

Photography

(The mad scientist that practiced altruism)

We can ship native plants to most states as we have an interstate, sod and apple certificate. - grid24_12

We can ship to most areas of the US. We do not ship to the Southeastern States as the plants commonly die before they get there.

We grow California native plants.

We get insected every year for all sorts of stuff, but our climate is so bad about all that lives here are crazy folks and native plants and animals. - grid24_12

Ian Wilson

Accounting

Website functionality

Shopping cart integration

He is trying to update the website to preserve all of Dads content but it is very slow going. Dad was very busy

Ian tries to rein in all Penny’s “great ideas”, keep the bills paid and runs triage on all the day to day nursery disasters. He keeps the place running.

Technical support ( " please tell me you didn't break it again") Fluent in Java, Java script, Gentoo, Python, Css, Postgresql, Mysql, Tryton, and, of course, basic html.

*Is delighted by his position next to the family pets*

Mathematics degree from Cal Poly, SLO

(our geek, in charge of database and code since he was 14, really bad code, but still better than Bert's)

Penny Nyunt

penny@laspilitas.com

Currently runs The Nursery with her brother Ian
Propagation of all the cuttings and seeds
Online Inventory maintenance
Pulls most of your online orders
Wrote lots of funky web pages (many of the bird and butterfly pages)

Loves all her baby plants as well as driving the tractor while listing to "Girls just want to have fun"

Photographer: She and her dad took the photos and videos on the website

Writes off and on for several magazines. Has had articles in Fine Gardening, and other publications.

Cuesta Community College 1996-1998
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences 2003 (was driving from King City to school (80miles each way) and working two jobs so it took a while)

Celeste Wilson

Retired 2023

2 years classes Bakersfield Junior College- 1970-1972, Bachelor of Science Biology, Cal Poly,- 1978

Masters in Biological Sciences from Cal Poly, SLO-1999

Biologist, conducted numerous biological surveys

Plant Taxonomy (tried to figure out what the wilted dead stick we brought her is) we try to check every species we grow. Sometimes we miss something.

Quality control (had trouble keeping up with all of Penny and Bert's "great ideas") The unly one hair who could spel. As she has retired Penny is now to free to mispell everyithing unhindered

Harry Potter running through the field of Lupines - grid24_12

Harry Potter our top dog for the moment. Found abandoned under bridge, Gonzales,California resident greeter likes everything humans find disgusting (horse poop, road kill etc.)

Anabell smelling the poozzies - grid24_12

Annabelle, Dogus domesticus Found abandoned in ditch near artichoke field, Castroville, California Obsessed with rabbits Penny's poodle, only here when Penny is here.

NiNi the House Cat Found abandoned in King City, California A highly superior being known as BAD Cat!

Carry a big stick and bark softly. Can't bark loud because of stick... - grid24_12

Carry a big stick and bark softly.
Found abandoned under bridge, Gonzales,California resident greeter likes everything humans find disgusting (horse poop, road kill etc.)

Foxxy was a pound save that is very friendly to humans or dogs she likes. She hates rodents, skunks or salesmen. - grid24_12

Foxxy was a pound dog that got saved. Sometimes she remembers this, sometimes she runs off looking for the dog catcher.

This area was not quite level enough for pots so it was grade in about 1985. - grid24_12

This area of the nursery was graded in about 1985.

Here is what the 1984 grading looked like 27 years later. The nursery has gradually filled with tress, shrubs and wildlife. - grid24_12

This is about the same spot in the nursery in 2011.

Las Pilitas Nursery after the 1979 fire before we got the first water tank up. - grid24_12

In 1979 we had got the water tank delivered. A wind picked it up and blew it across the field, fortunately away from the house, Then the place burned. Where the photo was taken was 15 foot manzanitas before the fire.

The nursery in 1984. We had to abandon most of these lower areas as the cold was too low. You can't grow live plants in containers at -4F, (-20C),. You sure can grow some dead ones though.

The nursery looking down towards the front gate on a cold winter morning in 2011. The white row cover can keep the gallon plants a few degrees warmer. They still freeze, but stay above about 20F. This is why our plants grow when others fail. - grid24_12

The lower areas of the nursery were planted in motherstock.The 1984 picture in 2011.

Here are the principals of the nursery in 1988 or so. - grid24_12

Here is the Wilson family in about 1988.

Celeste and Penny weeding while Ian was supervising in about 1992. The photos were not dated, so just a guess. - grid24_12

Picture taken by Bert, rest of family out in the nursery on a winter day about 1992.

The front of the main nursery house in 1985. - grid24_12

The front yard of Las Pilitas Nursery in 1985.

The front of Las pilitas Nursery house 2011. - grid24_12

The front yard of Las Pilitas Nursery 2011.

A photo of the green bridge in 2011. - grid24_12

This is the green bridge that we drove across for the first 25 years we lived out here.

This was the back on one of our price lists in about 1985 - grid24_12

The back of one of our price lists in 1984 or 1985. Hand drawn pictures of native plants by Ann Cochran of the Carrizo. We think she had a gift and we should share it.