‘Habitat Gardening to Promote Pollinator Populations’ Saturday July 15th at 12 noon. Learn how and what to plant to create gardens which support endangered bee populations, hummingbirds and butterflies.    Join us for a discussion of the basic needs of these animals and how to implement solutions to the ongoing crisis of habitat loss on the…

‘Occa’ is the Unusual Edible for June 2017 This potato like tuber from the Andes has been cultivated so long that no wild relatives exist in nature.   Introduced to Europe in 1830, Occa never really caught on until 1870 in New Zealand where production is heavy to this day. ‘Occa’ can be grown like a…

Formerly known as Asclepias physocarpa ,…. newly renamed  Gomphocarpus physocarpus ‘Balloon Plant’ is our pick for pollinator power plant for June 2017.  Monarch Butterflies  love this six foot tall milk weed and will choose to lay eggs on it.  Unlike the native milkweeds, this version provides copious vegetation to feed upon and amazes with it’s…

Sorry folks, closed this week until Saturday for inventory.   Lots of counting to do!

Buy two Heritage Raspberries for the price of one;  thats two for $18.00 Buy two Thornless Blackberries for the price of one; thats two for $18.00   Buy two 1 gallon Phlomis lanata ‘Jerusalem Sage’ for the price of one; thats two for $7.50  

June 2017 ‘Sage Advice Saturday June 24th 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sages represent some of the most attractive, drought tolerant yet least understood plants …. misconceptions about them abound.  Not all sages are created equal and there are some which prefer growing conditions which challenges our expectations.    Join Ploughshare’s staff for an introduction to…

Platanus racemosa or California Sycamore is our pick for California Heritage Plant for June 2017 This Sycamore is a common sight along city streets where it offers large shade canopies, requires little water to establish and no irrigation upon maturity, doesn’t disturb sidewalks much and has few pest and disease problems worth mentioning.  A mature…

Variegated Calamondin Orange is our pick for Unusual Edible May 2017 Characterized by small striped fruit, leaves with parallel yellow marks and compact growth habit, the Variegated Calamondin is an attractive small shrub which can be tucked into just about any small garden with a little ingenuity. Derived from citrus originally cultivated in China, Calamondin…

Enjoy a tour of Alameda Backyard Chicken Group’s clever, ingenious and just plain practical chicken houses.   Learn how easy it is to care for chickens and reap the benefit of eggs and fertilizer for your sandy depleted soil.  If you haven’t raised chickens before you’ll want too when you finish the tour! Visit the Alameda…

Erythranthe lewisii , formerly known as Mimulus lewissii, commonly called ‘Purple Monkey Flower’ (despite the fact it is more pink than purple) is native to mountainous riparian corridors from Canada down to California.  This is a great way to get some pink color in a moist shady or part-sun location while teasing hummingbirds who expected to…

Salvia ‘Bee’s Bliss’ is our choice for Pollinator Power Plant for April 2017 This hybrid of Salvia leucophylla x S. clevelandii or S. sonomensis is one of those ‘native’s’ developed in a Botanic Garden.  Growing 2 feet high and 5 feet wide, this low ground cover feeds bees and butterflies as well as receiving occasional…

Join us Saturday April 8th at 12 noon for a presentation on everyone’s favorite vegetable, ur, …  berry.  Learn how to grow great tomatoes in the East Bay’s cool marine influenced environment.   Topics will include history, horticulture and how to overcome challenges of less than optimal environments!   This is a free workshop, bring some gloves…

‘Hugelkultur Building Workshop’ Sunday March 19th 12-3pm at Ploughshares Nursery 2701 Main St. Alameda CA 510 755 1102 Tickets are $5.00 Do you ever feel ridiculous paying to have your tree trimmings hauled away?  Learn to instead put them to good use in your garden.   Hugelkulture (literally “mound culture” in German) is a time-tested method…

“Oh excellent, I love long life better than figs”! Five gallon container figs are on sale, buy one and get a second fig for free! Get two five gallon fig trees for $34.99! Figs love our climate, they can be shaped and pruned to fit any garden and the fruit is as expensive as heck…

STILL TIME FOR VEGETABLE STARTS BEGGING FOR THE LAST PART OF COOL WEATHER~! (plant now and harvest late spring) 4″ pots Jersey Knight Asparagus 6 packs Purple Peacock Broccoli 6 packs Early Wonder Beets 6 packs Giant Mustard 6 packs Romaine Lettuce 6 packs Speckled Romaine Lettuce 6 packs Speckled Bibb Lettuce 6 packs Cauliflower…

Wow this is a lot of rain, I hope people are keeping an eye on potted succulents and moving them under shelter or covering them to keep them from becoming over-saturated and rotting out. This is a good time to examine areas of the garden for standing water and observe which plants are growing there,…

Snowberry is our pick for California Heritage Plant 2017 Symphoricarpos albus  is common throughout most of the American North West.  This thicket forming native grows 3-6ft. wide and high spreading via rhizomes.  Pink flowers appear late Spring and early Summer giving way to white berries.  The berries contain saponins which have mild toxicity and many…

Big Jim Loquat is our pick for Unusual Edible February 2017 Eriobotrya japonica ‘Big Jim’ Loquats originated in China and were introduced  in Japan 1000 years ago during the T’ang dynasty.  Chinese migrant workers carried Loquat seed everywhere they went and it easily naturalized in moderate and tropical climates.  The fruit is 30% seed and…