Published 7:00 am Thursday, August 10, 2023
FULTON, Calif. — Josh Williams, owner of California Flora, remembers his earliest adventures exploring the Golden State and its native plants.
“Through these experiences, my parents gave me an appreciation for nature and an attraction for wild plants and how they grow,” he said. “As a child, I wanted to emulate what I saw in my garden, even if that meant surreptitiously painting mountains and forests on our back fence.”
His grandfather, a botanist, encouraged his interest in plants and would spend time after school with him, working in his garden and learning about the different species.
That fascination came at a critical junction in Williams’ life.
“I studied classical trombone performance at Monterey Peninsula College,” he said. “But, I was always torn between that, botany and horticulture.”
He chose native plants.
In 1981, Sherrie Althouse and Phil Van Soelen opened California Flora in Sonoma County. Williams joined the crew in 2009 and became the nursery manager. He purchased the nursery in 2020.
The focus is on plants native to California; the list is long, from box elder and hummingbird mint to common manzanita to California sagebrush.
The nursery’s catalog lists perennials, shrubs, trees, vines, annuals, deer resistant plants and other categories.
The nursery crew grows most of plants on its one acre site.
What does “California native” mean? Simply put, it means plants that occurred within California before its settlement by Europeans.
Cal Flora credits the nursery’s growth over the last few years to an increase in demand for native species and their benefits and the locally suited nature of natives. Many gardeners are looking to provide habitat in their landscapes for pollinators and other wildlife. Native plants are good resources.
“They have evolved to grow in our climate and are specifically adapted to our region,” Williams said. “The growing demand for plants which support native habitat has also contributed to the success of native gardening. Others are simply attracted to our native flora and want to include it in their gardens.”
Several of the species are challenging, “but perhaps the most ornery is the bush poppy (Dendromecon rigida),” Williams said. “As a fire follower, it requires just the right amount of burning to initiate germination.
“When we propagate these species we have special techniques for getting them to germinate. It doesn’t need a wildfire to grow them in a garden setting. We use a combination of white gas and liquid smoke as a pre-treatment.”
They don’t need fire to live, only to germinate.
The rare Franciscan manzanita (Arctostaphylos franciscana) is unique. It was believed to be extinct in the wild until it was rediscovered nearly 15 years ago.
As a group of plants, Cal Flora sells more manzanitas, due to their all-year appeal.
The most popular single species is Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii), an attractive woodland groundcover with a minty scent.
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