# Need help with Plants in So. Cal area



## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

I am starting my research into plants for my RR. I am in So. Cal, North Orange County. By going through the Archives and a Garden Railways Magazine I have come up with the following to start looking at:

Ground Covers[/b]
Mint
Elfin
Thyme
Sedum
Alpine Geranium (Erodium Reichardii)

DO NOT USE[/b]
Blue Star Creeper

Trees[/b]
Dwarf Alberta Spruce
False Cypress (Chameocyperus)
Little Jamie

Local Nursery’s [/b]

M & M in Orange

Nursery’s Online[/b]
Mini Forest by Sky
www.miniforest.com










Overall view.










One of the two hills I have.

I would like to actually go see the plants. Are there other Miniature Nursery’s in my area that I should be checking out? 

I know nothing about plants but willing to learn. The layout has an automatic drip system installed.
Thanks

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Also try Upland Nursery, about 3 miles north of M&M also on Tustin (just north of Katella). Also Flowerdale on Tustin just south of the 22 Fwy usually has miniature ground covers (thymes) as well as dwarf crepe myrtles.

I find that even though chameoperous are my favorite of all the miniature trees, they are very hard to grow and most of mine die over time.

I live near these various nurseries and you are certainly welcome to come over and see what we've done.

http://tortoiseandlizardbash.com


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Todd,

Thanks for the invite. I hope to free up some time in the next week or two. I will send you an e-mail when I figure my schedule out.

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## K27_463 (Jan 2, 2008)

Tommy, do NOT plant mint- never- no way. Second, since I live only short ways from you , I had no problem with Blue star creeper. Where we are Dwarf Alberta Take A LOT OF WATER, and even then may not make it. 

Jonathan/EMW


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By K27_463 on 10/01/2008 11:01 AM
Tommy, do NOT plant mint- never- no way. Second, since I live only short ways from you , I had no problem with Blue star creeper. Where we are Dwarf Alberta Take A LOT OF WATER, and even then may not make it. 

Jonathan/EMW


My Corsigin mint does great and stays put. My blue star creeper mostly died away. Dymondia diamonte does extremely well and you can walk on it. Also my various thymes (about half a dozen varieties) do fantastic.


You are certainly welcome to take samples/cuttings from my plants and see if they work for you in your location.


Dymondia (on the hill):











Elfin thyme:










Creeping thyme:


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Tommy, I have a list of plants and some pictures on my site, may help: 

http://www.elmassian.com/trains-mainmenu-27/plants-mainmenu-102 

Regards, Greg


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg,

Your list and organzation is outstanding. Seems I will be borrowing a few things to create my looking/propagating/shopping list









Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Also, if you are ever in the area, drop by, you know where I live! 

Regards, Gerg


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## hans911 (Jan 9, 2008)

Tommy, 
I highly recomend getting to know the owners and staff at M&M Nursery on Tustin Ave in Orange. They've been a reall help to me. Tell them you are a garden railroader. 

As for what's worked and not worked on my few year old RR varies. I have lots of shade to lots of sun in parts. Alberta spruce did not do well. I've used japanes boxwoods, serissa foteida (spelling?) mini pomegranite, and others. Mostly trial and error. Less error after talking to M&M and planting the appropriate plants (sun vs. shade) in the appropriate spots. Auto watering certainly helps but I water half or more by hand. 
I am in the north part of Orange near Anaheim Hills. 
Let me know if I can help anymore. Certainly no expert but I've learned a few things along the way while killing a few plants! 

By the way, "Toddalin", has a VERY nice layout you should make a point in visiting. 

Paul H.


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## astrayelmgod (Jan 2, 2008)

There are lots of thymes, and they have very different growth characteristics. Here in Ventura, I planted mother-of-thyme, and it completely took over. Choked out everything else that it came in contact with. On the other hand, it thrives under too little water, no care, and being walked on (a little bit, anyway). "Elfin" is a different variety of thyme that doesn't spread as fast, but needs more regular water. 

You might also look into herneria glabra, which works well with elfin thyme. Don't plant it near mother-of-thyme, it was the first to go on my layout. 

Alpine geranium comes in two colors, pink and white. For reasons I can't explain, the white is much sturdier, I still have lots of white, but no pink at all. 

Dwarf Alberta spruce grows well here, but needs part shade and more water at a friends layout in Burbank. Don't know about Orange County.


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## Guest (Dec 9, 2008)

NEVER EVER introduce Korea grass. It looks fine in the flats but it will completely take over everything.


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## mancosbob (Jan 5, 2009)

I do not know if things have changed much, but a few years ago I took my son to Legoland and they had a huge sceniced RR there and whats more, they had all the plants labeled as to what they were. If you got kids or grand kids, it is worth the look. They call it Mini-Land and it is mostly in 1/20th scale, but some of the really big structures use a combination of scales; and its all made from Lego's...it was my favorite part of the day.

I'm not saying to ignore the great info others have given you here, but the more ideas you can see the better I always say. There were some inspirational scenes down there...I just wished I had known what to expect; I would have brought a camera and notebook.


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## studeclunker (Mar 15, 2009)

Two places I'd recommend are the Orange County Aroreutm and the L.A. County Aporetum in Baldwin Park. They both have an excellent display of miniature plants and Bonsai. The O.C.A. is located on Coast Highway, I think in Corona Del Mar or southern Newport Beach. The L.A.A. is located near Santa Anita Racetrack and is well signed with directions from the freeway. It's the old Lucky Balwin estate. You just might recognize the guest house from the television programme 'Fantasy Island.









There used to be and excellent nursery located just up the road from Fashion Island as well. I can't for the life of me remember the name though. They had an excellent and knowledgeable staff.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I live about 2 miles from Legoland... yep the outdoor RR was fun to watch, although made of lego bricks. It's $63 for adult admission... ouch... 

Regards, Greg


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By studeclunker on 03/20/2009 8:30 PM

There used to be and excellent nursery located just up the road from Fashion Island as well. I can't for the life of me remember the name though. They had an excellent and knowledgeable staff.






Roger's Gardens. (They also used to do G-scale Christmas displays.)


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## Greg Stevens (Jan 3, 2008)

Just to clarify, the L.A. County Arboretum is in Arcadia on Santa Anita Ave, not Baldwin Park. Big difference in the towns and about 5 miles difference in distance.


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## studeclunker (Mar 15, 2009)

Sorry, Greg. I know how that feels. People used to ask me about that amusement park in LA, you know… Disneyland[/i]? Even the movie, Escape From LA[/i], placed Disneyland adjacent to LA. So, yeah… sorry. 
That’s right! Roger’s Gardens, now I remember. Nice place, that, is it still around?


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By studeclunker on 03/23/2009 11:40 PM
Sorry, Greg. I know how that feels. People used to ask me about that amusement park in LA, you know… Disneyland[/i]? Even the movie, Escape From LA[/i], placed Disneyland adjacent to LA. So, yeah… sorry. 
That’s right! Roger’s Gardens, now I remember. Nice place, that, is it still around?





Sure. But they don't have much in the way of miniatures. Great Christmas ornimant selection each year though.


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## studeclunker (Mar 15, 2009)

Sorry to hear that about Roger’s. There used to be a Japanese nursery across the street from the Nazerine church on Euclid Avenue about a mile north of the 22fwy underpass. They always had an excellent supply of miniatures as they also specialized in Bonsai, house plants, and ferns. I think[/i] it’s Garden Grove there…


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Thursday March 26th I went to M&M Nursery. They were very nice and a great help. There were so many plants to look at. Following are 20 plants that caught my eye.










01 Cham Ortusa Tetragana Aurea 










02 **** Pimeindes 










03 Cuphea White 











04 Catlin Elm










05 Juniperus Communi Compress











06 Juniperus Communis Little Pyramid










07 Juniperus Squamot Loderi










08 Santolina Little Nicky










09 Cotoeaster Gray










10 Juniperus Procumbens Nana











11 Scotch and Irish Moss










12 Thyme Elfin











13 Thymus SerpyllumElfin










14 Wooley Thyme 









15 Isotoma Lt Blue 









16 Coleonema Album 









17 Dwarf New Zealand Tea Tree










18 Colleonema Pulchurum CompacForm 










19 Copromo Ray's Red
















20 Bounce Rosemary 


Now I need to regrade my planter and reconfigure my track layout.

Then it is on to figuring how which ones I will plant, how many and where. 

Once again, Thanks to M&M Nursery for their help.

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

I found a Bonsai nursery on Western Ave just north of 182nd St in Gardena. They specialize in Bonsai so don't expect to find normal stuff there. 4" pots are about $10. The really old stuff can run into the kilobucks. 

The place is not obvious. It's on the east side of Western, immediately north of a gas station on the NE corner of Western and 182nd.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg, another selection for your "avoid at all costs" list is Vincas... they make ivy look tame. One spring my ex was given this little thing in a 2" pot by a 'friend'. She insisted on planting it just outside the retaining wall on my garden. -- By early fall I was pulling up buried runners from under the track as big around as your little finger and over 2 feet long at LEAST once a week -- every time the stuff popped up someplace new..... Round-up didn't work on it, either. I think the dog finally dug up the last of it, 2 years after I had to move out.


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## studeclunker (Mar 15, 2009)

Has anyone here had experience with Muehlenbeckia (Creeping Wire Vine)? I’d recommend it, except I don’t know if it would become an invasive problem in So. Cal. Creeping Wire Vine is a really nice, very small leaved (1/4th inch or less) vine that works very well as a ground cover or to cascade over a wall. Up here in No. Cal, I have to protect it from the frosts. Santa Ana would be almost a perfect environment. It doesn’t like to be dried out too much though, and likes a loose, loamy, well-drained soil. In partial shade it produces a large and softer, lighter, coloured leaf. In full sun it's leaves are darker and smaller.


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