Succulents and More™

I’ve known Australian-born plantsman extraordinaire Troy McGregor ever since he managed the nursery at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in the mid-2010s. He was instrumental in transforming what used to be a small plant sale area into a specialty nursery known all over Northern California for its excellent selection of succulents and water-wise plants, including a large variety from the southern hemisphere. After his stint at the RBG, Troy started Gondwana Flora , a design-build landscaping company specializing in frontyard lawn to garden transformations. Waltzing Matilija Nursery began in 2018 as an extension of Gondwana Flora. “I was unable to find many of the plants I love to landscape (and garden) with,” Troy says, “so I started to grow my own. One thing leads to another and now here we are.” Display garden at Waltzing Matilija Nursery In 2021, Troy moved Waltzing Matilija to its current location, a ½ acre lot in Pittsburg , about 15 miles from Walnut Creek. Nursery visits were by appoin...

In what has become an annual tradition, the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society (SCCS) went on a field trip to Poot’s Cactus Nursery in Ripon , down in the Central Valley. Poot’s is located on Highway 120; if you’ve ever taken route to or from Yosemite National Park, you’ve driven right by (here’s a Google map for orientation). Poot’s Cactus Nursery was started 35 years ago by Bill Poot (now 83) and his wife Roelyn Poot (now 74). It’s still in the same location, and Bill and Roelyn still live in the house on the 1-acre property. Their son, Brian, is managing the day-to-day operations, with 10 part-time employees helping out in propagation, sales, and online marketing. I haven’t been on every single SCSS outing to Poot’s, but I’ve been on a few: 2022 | 2018 | 2017 | 2011 . The first thing you see as you pull into the small parking lot is the display garden aka the “Poot’s Desert.” It’s filled with a variety of mature succulents, including many Echinopsis hybrids. These hybri...