|
Did You Know ... |
|
At its annual associates appreciation dinner in June, Miramar Wholesale Nurseries will honor a select group of five-year associates. Valued as original founding associates in the business are: Audberto Bailon-Mariano, Bernabe Mendez-Gonzalez, Josefino Vasquez-Ramirez, Alan Stockton, Ken Danzer, and general manager Suzie Wiest. Al Weber, owner of Western Pacific Landscape, conducts weekly seminars for homeowners at MWN facilities. Aimed at acquainting the homeowner with landscape professionals, the seminars are sponsored by Miramar Wholesale Nurseries, Southland Sod, KRC Rock, Hydroscape Products, RCP Brick & Block, A-1 Soils, Ezell Nursery Supply, and the Calif. Landscape Contractors Association. The San Diego County Water Authority agreed to terms for its long-term agreement with the Imperial County Irrigation District to provide for the transfer of up to 200,000 acre feet per year of conserved water to the San Diego region. As a founding member of the Alliance for Water Reliability, MWN has been an early supporter of this agreement. Through years of involvement in the water committee of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce, and as chair of the San Diego County Farm Bureau’s Water Committee, Tom Ewing has remained close to the issue and has worked to shape its effect on our industry. Tom also serves on the Agricultural Water Committee at CWA, working with other industry members to find long term solutions to this area's agricultural water issues. MWN’s web page has been expanded to provide for 24-hour placement of orders. Orders can be sent in for delivery or will-call. Additionally, customers can send in requests for job quotes, access current availability, and communicate via e-mail. Look us up at www.miramarnurseries.com. MWN is working with San Diego’s Metropolitan Wastewater Department to retrofit the nursery's irrigation system, allowing the nursery to utilize recycled water from its new North City Reclamation Plant. The $100,000+ capital improvement project will be completed for use by 1999. MWN recently hosted the landscape educational seminar for the San Diego County Apartment Association. Part of a regular educational series, the program is designed to further educate SDAA members about the care and maintenance requirements associated with their properties. The all day seminar, attended by over 85 persons, featured presentations by industry experts in all phases of commercial property landscape maintenance. |
|
Phormium
Cook discovered flax on his second expedition to the South Pacific in 1773. This tough plant, which can grow anywhere from beaches and river mouths to coastal cliffs and alpine lakes, made its way into cultivation in the United States in the late 19th century. Thanks to its indestructible sword-like leaves and low-maintenance characteristics, it quickly became a prevalent part of American landscape and began popping up everywhere from the side of freeways to home gardens. If not for the introduction of new cultivars and hybrid varieties, flax may have been a passing fad of horticultural trendsetters. But with a quickly broadening range of varieties and new introductions each year, today’s varieties are a far cry from those discovered by Cook some 200 years ago. Modern flax varieties feature warm hues of creamy white, brilliant red, glimmering gold, and vibrant pink and salmon. And, unlike their predecessors, many of today’s hybrids are stable, meaning that they will not revert to the colors of their ancestors.
For years, common flax varieties had limited use as large, dramatic accent plants, offering a contrast of color and foliage. The introduction of these popular hybrids has broadened the scope of the plant's use. Flax hybrids are now used as foreground plants, intermediate-sized accents, splashes of year-round foliage, as well as being nearly perfect container plants. You can find all of these varieties and many more at Miramar Wholesale Nurseries, which offers phormium in every color of the rainbow in heights ranging from arching forms measuring only 1.5 feet high to spreading uprights which can tower up to eight feet! With over twenty varieties to choose from, you are sure to find the perfect phormium to liven up your property with year-round color. |
When
you think of Captain Cook, stories of pirates, sword fights, and
sunken treasure are likely to spring to mind. But the never-before-seen
chapters from his South Pacific adventures include a chance run-in
with a plant variety that not only outlived Cook, but continues
to be a legend in its own time among horticulture experts. 
Many
of the hybrid varieties were bred from ‘Tricolor,’ a
broad plant with leaves edged in creamy white with fine red margins,
and ‘Cream Delight,’ a slightly smaller specimen sporting
broad creamy-gold stripes down the centers of its leaves. Some
of their most popular offspring include ‘Maori Chief,’
a large upright variety with wide green leaves and rose-red margins,
and its counterpart ‘Maori Maiden,’ a medium sized slightly
arching variety with wide apricot to rose-red leaves and thin
green margins. Another sibling of the Maori family is ‘Sundowner,’
a vibrant red variety with glossy bronze-green upright leaves
edged in rose-pink margins that fade to cream in the summer. There
are also miniature varieties under two feet in height, such as
‘Tom Thumb’ and ‘Jack Spratt.’ Both are uprights
featuring hues of red and brown.