Fall Plant Sale at the Arboretum on Saturday,
October 8, features Australian fuchsias and South African featherheads
By Tim Stephens
The UCSC Arboretum will hold its annual Fall Plant Sale on
Saturday, October 8, from noon to 4 p.m. The sale will take
place at the Arboretum's Eucalyptus Grove on High Street near
the intersection with Western Drive.
A South African featherhead
(Phylica pubescens) and a Western Australian bottlebrush
(Beaufortia sparsa), below, are among the new plants
available this year at the Arboretum sale.
|
For gardeners on the Central Coast, fall is always a good time
to get new plants established. The Arboretum offers a wide range
of plant selections, including drought-tolerant plants from
Australia and South Africa, as well as California natives. Knowledgeable
Arboretum staff and volunteers will be on hand at the sale to
answer questions.
Among the new plants available this year is featherhead (Phylica
pubescens), an attractive and unusual South African shrub
with soft, golden foliage. The narrow leaves are covered with
hairs, and feathery bracts surround the flowerheads at the tip
of each branch. The whole bush appears to glow when its golden
hairs catch the sunlight.
Another stunning plant available this year is swamp bottlebrush
(Beaufortia sparsa) from western Australia. This large
shrub sports colorful, bright-orange flower clusters that are
attractive to birds.
The sale will also feature several attractive cultivars of
Correa, known as Australian fuchsias. A new variety with
pink flowers, called 'Western Pink Star', is available this
year. Some of the Australian fuchsias are good winter bloomers,
and most will bloom well under oak trees.
A complete list of the plants available at the sale is
posted on the Arboretum's
web site.
The Arboretum's sale is held in conjunction with the fall plant
sale of the California Native Plant Society. Both sales are
open early (from 10 a.m. to noon) to members of the Arboretum
Associates and the California Native Plant Society, and to the
general public from noon to 4 p.m. Arboretum memberships will
be available at the gate on the day of the sale.
For more information about the sale, contact the UCSC Arboretum
at (831) 427-2998. The Arboretum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
every day. Norrie's Gifts is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Email this story
Printer-friendly version
Return to Front Page