Visiting Cistus Nursery over the summer, I was struck how walking its paths was so reminiscent of visiting Western Hills, a Northern California garden and nursery founded by Lester Hawkins and Marshall Olbrich in 1959, and which I visited regularly in the ’80s and ’90s. After the inevitable ownership changes began in the 2000s, Western Hills fortunately weathered the evolution from a beloved private garden and nursery to now a non-profit educational institution of inestimable horticultural value.
And that strong connection I feel between Cistus and Western Hills is not all in my nostalgic imagination. Sean Hogan knew the original Western Hills through his work in Bay Area botanical gardens in the ’80s and ’90s and is currently on Western Hills’ Horticultural Advisory Committee. If you can go, I wouldn’t miss the chance to hear him speak at this garden he knows so well.
There are still some great gardens with nursery operations, and the PNW has a fair share of them, including Cistus. If you have such a destination available to visit, you know what a treasure these places are. Walking the garden, dashing to the plant tables to check availability, chatting with staff about horticultural minutiae and new plant acquisitions. There is no other garden retail experience that can match it.
Perhaps more important than the benefits to personal gardens, these horticultural hubs educate and inspire future gardeners and nursery people. Visiting Western Hills last July it was clear the current owners and board members are making the most of the legacy opportunities the garden offers for building a thriving horticultural community. You can sign up for their monthly newsletter here and apply to their horticulture intern position here.
Western Hills currently offers a few plants for sale, but nothing like the offerings in the heyday of Hawkins and Olbrich. And I’m not clear if that will eventually be part of the vision of the nonprofit foundation. If you go to the talk, ask Sean!