Newsletter for September 2026
Here’s a taste for what good things to expect this fall. Vegetable gardeners are chomping at the bit! Get ready for fall planting at Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero. Lots of 6 packs are available – all the favorites and then some. Arriving are sugar snap peas, broccoli, lettuce, kohlrabi and more. We have Thai and dark leaved basil, some Italian is also on the way. In stock are 4″ asparagus and artichokes.
Garvineas are back at Bay Laurel Garden Center! These colorful daisy type plants are the hardy hybrids of the very popular Gerberas. Garvineas can withstand more cold and heat; they also make great cut flowers. We have added yellow, red and wine colors to the coral variety currently in stock.
One of the largest and well-known nurseries in California is San Marcos of Santa Barbara. We are sorry to see this venerable establishment close this year. They have been instrumental in introducing many new plants for the gardens of California. Their website is one of the best for plant information and they have agreed to keep it open. You can check it out at https://www.smgrowers.com.
Bearded Iris are the forerunners of the fall bulb season. Pictured here is the newest variety, ‘Persian Berry’. Iris are tough, long lasting rhizomes with a great color range. To encourage blooms, fertilize with a formula of 5-10-10 or bone meal. This is also the month to refresh old plants. Dig up the Iris, clean them up, removing all the old dead leaves. Divide them, leaving at least one healthy rhizome. Add some organic matter to the soil and replant.
Our website for the 2027 bareroot season is up and running. There’s no better time to put in your order while just about everything is available. You can order online, call us or come into the nursery. Just click on https://www.baylaurelnursery.com.
If you need some low maintenance plants for your shade garden, why not try some grasses. Lomandra is a great example, originating in Australia. There are several varieties with various heights and leaf color at Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero. Currently we have ‘Breeze’, growing to about 2 to 3 ft. tall with dark green leaves. Other choices are Carex divulsa (Berkley sedge) and Festuca glauca (Blue fescue).
Our newest Heliopsis, ‘Sol D’Oro’, is another tough perennial with golden yellow flowers and coppery centers. It has a long bloom period and the flowers are good for cutting. The estimated height is 15″ and other sources say 30″. Cut back close to the ground in late autumn or early spring.
We’re fortunate that the growers are still producing flats of ground covers – an economical way to purchase large amounts of plants. Creeping thyme is quite popular – the flowers vary from white to lavender and pink and red. The tightest ones are ‘Elfin thyme’ and ‘Woolly thyme’, particularly good for planting between stepping stones. They do require irrigation and are best used in smaller areas.
