The owner is a joy to talk to, however I would caution going here first if you're a planting…read morenatives newbie specially if you go in the summer when everything looks barely alive and is a few inches tall, the plants don't look retail ready like at the local nursery, freshly blooming, watered and fertilized. Nothing is labeled, the price list is online, and good luck trying to use your cell phone. One will have a hard time navigating rows of plants that could resemble weeds unless you know what you're looking at, but that's extremely exciting to me seeing a tiny plant that later would turn in a beautiful specimen.
If you did your homework on Calscape,, have a plan and a list, the owner is an excellent resource on growing natives, and he will help you pick out the best plants. I have bought here one gallon plants that have grown in 20' shrubs and many that have died because of my ignorance of caring for CA native plants like the plants you buy from Armstrong Nurseries, I overwatered, planted in the late spring-summer and used very little mulch. Sixteen years ago I bought here a couple of Matillija poppies plants in one gallon pot, that did horribly in the beginning thrusted in my nasty compacted clay soil but later that fall were transplanted in fallen rock hillside and now they cover a entire hillside.
The plants here are wonderful but like most gardeners I'm really impatient and want to hurry nature up to look like Santa Barbara botanic garden. Bob has his own variety of local Ceanothus that I can't wait to see bloom in my garden. FYI, I have planted about 500 natives, likely many, many more plants purchased from all over LA/ Ventura/ Santa Barbara nurseries. I killed a lot of natives, to the sorrow of my wallet as these plants cost $12-45 depending on the species. I continue to try my best to introduce native CA locally sourced plants with the scope of helping local ecology, save money on irrigation and possibly avert the fire reaching my house. Also, Bob's plants are really inexpensive compared to other nurseries, unless you get smart and buy most plants in 4" pots, but you won't find these here. I don't get carried away buying a plant unless I think it will thrive in my garden, experimentation leads to a lot of disappointments, unless you are blessed with great draining soil and have full sun and available water. The plants here are $8 for one gallon, a great price specifically if you get something a bit more established. Ask Bob if your desired plant been recently transplanted.
And Bob is right, visit the Santa Barbara botanical garden; it is the best inspiration because looking at newly sowed plants you'll never guess how big or invasive they will get. This place is a treasure and consider yourself lucky if you're close by, as you could do your plant purchasing in stages since most CA nurseries won't have a complete planting list.
