I am truly lucky to have a career that I am so passionate about, being a Landscape Designer I am able to create amazing Garden Design every day. I have a huge support system starting with family, colleagues, clients and the cherry on top is fantastic vendors. I was invited to join a group of Landscape Professionals to tour the Visalia Growing Grounds of Monrovia Nursery.
The day started off in Glendale in the early morning hours as I parked my car and found the buses that would drive us to Visalia. In addition to the buses leaving Glendale, Monrovia hosted Designers, Contractors, and Architects from Orange County and Oakland as well. What a treat! I was lucky to bump into my friend and fellow APLD & NAPWL member Magda Lane, so the trip was made even more pleasant as we chatted about our projects, the plants we love, and then more plants.
Once at Monrovia, we participated in a Design Challenge; we were divided into groups and were asked to design a series of containers. Our group came in second, but we had a lot of fun in the three minutes they gave us to create our masterpieces. I love Garden Design! Next we were introduced to a number of new plant introductions (super exciting), were given a tour of the propagation department, and learned about some outstanding vines.
Now that I’ve got your attention, I’m going to share a few plants with you, that I just loved.
The photo up top is an amazing Hibiscus (not brand new but certainly outstanding) it is called ‘The Path’ – what a beauty this is. Tropical Hibiscus is a welcome addition to a tropical setting, and in addition to the larger spreading ‘The Path’ Monrovia also has two beautiful upright Tropical Hibiscus called Erin Rachel and Red Darling, both of which would be outstanding as a container plant or as a hedge (don’t trim off those blooms!)
When we visited the vines we were introduced to this wonderful Bougainvillea ‘Golden Jackpot’ this is a sport of ‘Purple Queen’ so the flowers are long lived and brilliant in color. Add this amazingly stunning variegated foliage. and the fact that the vine is only 8′ and the shrub only 4′ tall you have a real keeper. Imagine this cascading over a low wall!
We also met a wonderful new addition, Drimys lanceolata or Mountain Pepper. This is from their Oregon location but it is for zone 8-10 so Santa Clarita heat and cold – he it comes. This plant makes a dramatic statement with showy red stems and glossy dark green leaves. If you attended my Design Seminar today at Green Thumb, you got to see this baby in person.
They also have some other great plants that have been around for a while, and as usual Monrovia has “perfected” them. Take a look at this beautiful creamy yellow Clivia. Perfect for a shade garden.
I also took a shot of an impossible combination – but couldn’t resist the colors together. Bougainvillea ‘Purple Queen’ next to Clivia miniata (the Belgian orange variety). Love, love the look – but of course sun and shade plants shouldn’t be planted together so … don’t try this at home kids!
If you would like help beautifying your home, and want to create the garden of your dreams, please give me a call 661-917-3521, or visit my website. I’d love to collaborate with you!
Well, I hope you enjoyed looking at these photos half as much as I enjoyed spending time with the plants. As always, I’ll be out there searching for more new plants to put into your gardens (and mine).
If you found this interesting, you might want to read a little more about my adventures with plants. Take a look at My trip… to buy your tree.
