Our Hours
Mon- Sat 8am to 4:30pm;  Sunday 9am to 4pm.

Myrtle Creek Nursery
A full service nursery serving Southern California

2940 Reche Road, Fallbrook, CA 92028
(760) 728-5340

www.MyrtleCreekNursery.com

                                             Email: Please click here.

February:
Plant of the month: California Lilac

This time of year, from February through March, here at Myrtle Creek we get a lot of questions about the vivid blue shrubs blooming in the native chaparral of the local San Diego foothills and mountains. These are the California native species of wild lilac called Ceanothus. Ceanothus goes by several common names depending on the specific variety, such as California Lilac, Carmel Creeper, Ramona Lilac, Buckbrush, etc.

Ceanothus are very drought tolerant and in fact do not tolerate very much irrigation. It is best to plant them in well drained, sandy soil on a slope if possible. They thrive in full sun on the coast, and inland they like full sun to part- shade. In Inland desert areas, they require more protection from the sun. They flower from Late February to May depending on the weather conditions.

Our most popular variety of Ceanothus here at Myrtle Creek, is the Ceanothus g.h. Yankee Point. This is a low growing variety that grows quickly to 2’-3’ tall and 10’ to 12’ wide. The flowers are intensely blue and are among the first lilacs to bloom in Late Winter. Yankee Point is a developed variety taken from the native plant growing at Yankee Point in Monterey County California. It is hardier, and easier to grow in garden conditions because it can tolerate a bit more irrigation than most varieties. They are great to plant in an area of your garden that gets little or no irrigation and plenty of neglect.