Get ready for a BIG SALE September 9th 12-5pm 40% OFF ALL PLANTS, POTTERY and SOIL! Bring the kids to explore with the Little Explorers Petting Zoo There will be over 25 animals including; an alpaca, a pot belly pig, a large tortoise, goats and sheep, chickens, ducks, and bunnies! Check out the Palomacy Aviary…

Need help planning the new garden space?  Want to conserve water and use plants which look good, benefit the environment and require little care? Check out Lawn to Garden!

‘Integrated Pest Management for the Home Gardener’ Saturday August 19th, 12 to 1:30 pm FREE WORKSHOP Integrated Pest Management or ‘I.P.M’ is an ecosystem based method for controlling pest insects and other problem animals, reducing infestation and damage caused by infestation via careful scrutiny of plants and the garden environment followed by application of methodology…

Drosera capensis, commonly known as the Cape sundew, is a small carnivorous species of perennial sundew native to the Cape in South Africa.  Because of its size, easy to grow nature, and the copious amounts of seed it produces, it has become one of the most common sundews in cultivation. It produces strap-like leaves, up…

Sweet Potato is our choice for Unusual Edible for July 2017 Sweet Potatoes ‘dig’ our Alameda temperatures and soil.  They prefer nutrient poor fast draining soil ….and that we have in plenty here.  Expect large vines which will sprawl over your entire garden if you don’t tie them up.  They reach maturity here in 90…

Want to make your own Tea Tree Oil?  Then pick up a specimen of Narrow Leaf Tea Tree in a five gallon container for $24.00 on sale during the month of July 2017.  Melaleuca alternifolia is a small graceful tree with lots and lots of white blooms starting in Spring.  Expect fast growth to 19ft…

Eriogonum parvifolium ‘Seacliff Buckwheat’ is our choice for California Heritage Plant for July 2017. Ever hear of the El Segundo Blue Butterfly?  They are almost extinct, they only lay eggs on this Cal Native Buckwheat.  Ten other native species of Butterfly and Moth use this plant.  Seeds and leaves are used by many other animal…

‘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…

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…