Blog
Splash of Color from Down Under
By kerra
One of the winter highlights here at Magnolia is the flowering of our very graceful, very under-rated Grevillea shrubs. Originally hailing from Australia, there are over 250 species and varieties of this versatile plant. They vary in size, color and...Read More
Why Quality Pays Off
By abigail
If you ever visit Magnolia, and find co-owner Chris Hunter in a somewhat petulant mood, don't take it personally. It just means the north wind has been blowing. Sited as we are on the outskirts of Chico, the nursery frequently takes the brunt of...Read More
A Touch of the Orient
By Editor
Among the loveliest landscape specimens in old-town Chico, the Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum cvs.) has become an iconic Oriental accent. With slow, hardy growth and lacy foliage, this diverse species ranges from stooped, gnarled pondside specimens...Read More
Hit the Bottle
By Editor
Already a top-shelf destination for gorgeous imported pottery, Magnolia has been expanding its selection of container trimmings. Bottles—decorative mulches made from 100% recycled, tumbled bottle glass, that is. An eye-catching...Read More
It Isn’t Dirt…
By abigail
It is a seemingly harmless interposition of terms, but it carries a weighty implication. Never ask a gardener how their dirt is. Healthy soil is arguably worth its weight in gold. Perhaps the most crucial component of vigorous gardens and vibrant...Read More
What is With the Mushroom?
By abigail
If a curiously spotted dome of tangerine orange and golden yellow rising over the wall of the nursery has recently arrested your eye as you approached East Avenue on Mariposa, then let us put your mind at rest. No, the Mothership hasn’t landed. ...Read More
To Our Customers
By Editor
February 26, 2011 To our customers: Effective March 1, 2011, Magnolia Gift & Garden will no longer carry Bayer yard care products. Over the past decade, international research has accumulated extensive data to suggest that neonicotinoid...Read More
Patio Perfect
By Editor
There’s a bite in the gray air today—a reminder after a mild week not to get too comfortable in my t-shirt and garden clogs. Winter is about to tighten its grip on northern California again. The bees have taken cover, leaving the porcelain...Read More
Looking Ahead
By Editor
Dusk is falling on an unseasonably balmy January day, the cloudless sky reflecting swaths of pale apricot and carmine onto the puddles of stale rain that dot the garden. A welcome reprieve to steely weather and biting cold, even the honeybees...Read More
It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas
By Editor
The pallid sun is peeking through the clouds, but on earth, Autumn is losing ground in its perennial rivalry with Winter. A chilly breeze is stirring the frost-nipped maple leaves that cling stiffly to branches drained of vitality. Harried, gray...Read More
Tidings of Convenience and Joy
By Editor
We’ve had a few frosty nights in Chico, a good thunderstorm. Already, some of the trees so brilliantly robed a week ago are lifting bare limbs to the pale November sky, heralding the earnest approach of winter. And with winter comes the impending...Read More
Plants of the Week: Spring Bloomers Worth Waiting For
By Editor
It’s a perfect October afternoon in the nursery. A cool breeze is stirring the leaves of the trees, and bending the blooming Salvia ever so gently. From where I’m standing, I can hear the massive pentatonic bass chimes outside the gift shop...Read More
Monocot Madness: Grasses to Know and Love
By Editor
Whether spilling from an urn or bordering a stone walk, fringing a shaded pond or covering a sunny hillside, there are few plants in the garden that impart the sense of grace or the fluid motion of ornamental grasses. Their fine, linear structure...Read More
Plants of the Week: Flowering Maple Shines
By Editor
Shade has met its match. The brilliant array of bloom colors, fantastic foliage and superb performance that have earned the Flowering Maple (Abutilon hybrids) a prominent position in our inventory brighten dim corners, treed borders and containers...Read More
Garden Whimsy
By Editor
It all started with a plastic dinosaur. Anyone who knows Magnolia’s co-owner, Chris Hunter, understands that he can be a bit… shall we say, obsessive?—when it comes to gardening. While making deliveries one day, he happened upon said...Read More
Plants of the Week: Year-Around Beauty
By Editor
As much as we relish the colors and scents of the garden, the buzz of bees weaving between blooms, or the flash of a hummingbird’s bright throat, let’s face it: there aren’t always flowers in the garden. That’s why texture and structure...Read More
Tight and Happy
By Editor
One of the most common dilemmas that we hear in the nursery is, “I need a privacy hedge, but the space is just a few feet wide. What is evergreen and won’t have to be hacked back with a machete every week so I can get to my gate?” Well,...Read More
Plants of the Week: Silver Takes Center Stage
By Editor
The end of another warm week in Northern California—would it be overly optimistic to call it the last fit of summer? Each morning, dawn breaks just a bit later, as if the sun doesn’t begrudge me the luxury of a few more moments of sleep. And...Read More
Expand Your Palate
By Editor
It's not every day that you walk into a garden, and see a Smoking Tobacco plant lifting velvety, tongue-like leaves to the warm sun. But you could; one of the diverse species of Nicotiana is among the recently-arrived specialty perennial herbs at...Read More
Plants of the Week: ‘Summer Chocolate’ and ‘Irene Nuss’ Steal the Show
By Editor
On the eve of the last weekend in August, wind chimes are resonating peacefully in the nursery, as plants and people alike take a respite from the heat. With the arrival of this cool spell, thoughts turn quite naturally to the approach of autumn,...Read More
Oh, August…
By Editor
English-born writer and clergyman Sydney Smith could have easily been referring to the burning breath of August in Northern California when he famously exclaimed, “Heat, ma'am!” I said; “it was so dreadful here, that I found there was...Read More
Branching Out
By Editor
Hi, my name is Abigail Whittaker, and I am a gardening addict. I don’t attempt to deny my vital dependence on the living, growing world around us—in fact, I revel in it. As a little girl, I was always afoot in the garden, helping (or hindering!)...Read More
Five easy steps for planting in the summer heat
By Chris Hunter
1.Do not plant in the heat of the day. Early morning or late evenings are best. If you do buy plants when its hot, put them in the shade for a day and drench the entire plant with water. 2. Make sure the plant is acclimated to the climate and...Read More
Early Bird Special Back for Summer
By Chris Hunter
Get a jump on a wonderful day of gardening! Receive 20% off all plants and pottery through August when you come in 7-10am Tuesday through Saturday....Read More
Seeds of Change
By Courtney Paulson
Just in! We are so happy to announce we are carrying SeedsofChange. These seeds are all certified organic and in environmentally friendly packages that are resealable! Now is the time to get those seedlings going......Read More
Bare Root Fruit Trees and Berries
By Chris Hunter
They have arrived! Now is a great time to be planting bare root trees. We have a great selection of fruit trees and berries....Read More
Introducing the Magnolia Gift Shop
By Chris Hunter
If you haven't seen it, we have completely remade our old offices into a beautiful gift shop. Here are some of the offerings we have for your holiday shopping: - A great line of gardening books from Timber Press and Storey Publishing. Easily the...Read More
In A North State Garden Interview
By Editor
Local Garden Aficionado Jennifer Jewell from KCHO 91.7 FM invited us into the studio to find out more about our love of tropical plants. Check out the interview HERE....Read More
Spring
