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February 2024 by jerry e.
TPF is the real deal. I have to say, though, do your homework. Study up at Calscapes.org. Only you know what your landscape looks like. You can bring a photo of what you are wanting to change. The local native plant nursery, which is privately owned, near Hahamongna, is not a good choice.
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February 2024 by Stephanie L.
A gift of a place. I'm a fairly diehard gardener. And even I only recently discovered this place. I've been trying to focus more on native plantings for our very barren, weed infested, hillside and through my research I discovered Theodore Payne Foundation. Way out in Sun Valley we made a bit of a day of it. Although we didn't hike and mainly just focused on perusing the plants, I did learn there are walking trails that go above the garden on the property. The layout of planting is helpful, somewhat divided by shrubs, shade, loving and loving plants. The docents are walking around are friendly And some of them are extraordinarily knowledgeable. If you look closely at the cards with the plant names, they have different icons, indicating features. I nose Nira flower to indicate a scent an image of pollinators to indicate its pollinator, friendly, etc. I didn't initially notice these, but they actually were quite useful. But more importantly, was the volunteer who helped us. We walked with her and spoke with her for about 15 minutes. Although I have list of plants I want to purchase my list doesn't have the requirements of the plants such as water or sunlight, nor does it indicate the benefits or the uses of the plants. Having someone there to discuss whether something is best for hillside erosion prevention was incredibly helpful because we were visiting the foundation to address very specific concerns in our garden. She also helped walk me through all the fragrant native plants, because fragrance is something I deeply value in my garden. If you are curious, I highly recommend checking out a fragrant picture Plant. In my opinion, they smell divine. They have many seeds and tubers here that are available for purchase. We also bought a mason jar of honey which might just be the best honey I've ever had. I used to buy exclusively from Ojai but I'm starting to think Theodore Payne Foundation may be my new go to for my honey purchases. Overall, we had a great experience here. They do allow well-behaved and friendly dogs to walk the grounds, (must be on leash), but this requires the owner to also be diligent about picking up any droppings. If you are in the vicinity, I highly recommend stopping in. Their prices are fantastic. I didn't feel the price gouged at all. The plants I've purchased all seem very happy and this is frankly a fantastic time of year to plant. The earth is moist and soft for digging, and your plants will be happy to avoid the beating sun while they get established. Stop by and support this wonderful foundation. And after your visit pop over to Pasadena for a bite since it's only about 20 minutes away.
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December 2023 by Liz F.
The location and foundation are not only remarkable, but Diego Blanco also proves to be a valuable asset to the TPF. Possessing a wealth of fascinating knowledge about wild native plants and birds, Diego enhances the experience at TPF. I strongly endorse participating in Diego's two courses offered at TPF: birding walk, and, separately, exploring beginning field sketching.
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December 2023 by Robert H.
I'm a member of TPF, and I bought most of the plants for my yard there. I have encountered a number of hiccups along the way. Most importantly, I found that at least one, and up to four, of the five one-gallon Melica imperfecta grasses I purchased were actually Festuca arundiacea, an invasive exotic species. After two unanswered emails, Diego Blanco on the TPF staff called and confirmed that my photos are of Festuca arundiacea. He told me that I should dig up the bunchgrasses I planted and separate out the Melica from the Festuca. But I see only the Festuca. I asked whether that's just my bad luck and he said yes. Update: I was contacted by the manager of TPF, who apologized and has offered to refund my purchase. I will accept his offer, and have changed my review from 2-star to 4-star, accordingly. Thanks for addressing a bad situation.
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September 2023 by Dani C.
Wow, this nursery is a revelation. Specializing in ONLY California Native plants, this is a fun nursery to walk through and the plantings are gorgeous. The prices are very low -- I suspect they are at-cost or subsidized. Buying their plants for your garden is cost effective both for plant prices and for water costs for the life of the plantings. But the real reason to shop here is the huge variety of absolutely stunning native plants. Whether you're xeriscaping, adding a little drought tolerance or going completely native or even just xeri-curious, this place is a dream. They also have beautiful mature LABELED native plantings outside the nursery proper with shaded benches. Would be a great spot for a picnic, a small group yoga or meditation class!
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June 2023 by Christopher Smee
The premier source of California native plants in LA, Theodore Payne has a wide variety of native plants and seeds in their nursery. They also have an established garden so you can browse the plants when they’re fully grown for inspiration. If you’re new to native plants then it’s good to view the garden, as the plants for sale are usually very young and it’s difficult to know what they’re going to look like if you’re unfamiliar with them. Each plant in the nursery has a very helpful sign with all the info you need to know, but ask the staff if you’re still not sure. They also offer classes here if you want to learn a lot more about native plant gardening.
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June 2023 by Tiffany S.
I love coming here to see what natives they have in store for my landscaping project. I did encounter a problem with one of my purchases. I bought two pigeon point from hahamongna nursery and decided to get one more to fill in a space. I was already in the area and decided to buy it from tpf. Fast forward a month, I noticed the leaves and growth habit was different from my other two. I think they labeled them wrong so I had to go out and get another from hahamongna.
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May 2023 by Tony N.
A sanctuary right outside of Los Angeles. Helpful staff with plenty of resources. Highly recommend.
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April 2023 by Matthew Graham
Beautiful garden with a great selection. Also, the people here are really helpful.
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April 2023 by Te-see B.
We are looking to replace our lawns with drought tolerant plants and ground covering to qualify for the "water rebate. It is imperative that you we only use California indigenous plants/trees or ones listed on the website. This nursery is known for carrying only plants from CA so today we took a drive over to educate ourselves. It was a beautiful location with a friendly and helpful staff. We didn't really find anything that made us do the "happy dance," but worth checking out. There were a lot of people out today purchasing plants. *Private parking lot *Plenty of Juicebox EV charging stations *Restrooms available for customers *Narrow street in and out of the nursery *Plants are a bit pricey Hours are Tuesday - Saturday 8:30am - 4:30pm *closed Sunday and Monday
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March 2023 by Trang Ho
Beautiful native and perrenial plant nursery with an amazing landscaping section for you to preview the plants.
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March 2023 by Renee D.
It's been a minute since I last visited Theodore Payne, but with all the recent L.A. rain, it's time to plant again! I bought a HUGE bag of California Poppy Seeds. Really a great value compared to what one can buy at the seed section in a garden store. I also am attempting to grow a California White Sage again. My soil isn't right, so i scooped up some DG from a local fire road landslide to give it a shot. I am so grateful for the phone ap navigation systems. I hardly remember Theodore Payne being in such a residential neighborhood. There is plenty of parking and there are many new car charger parking spots. The place is dog friendly so our guy really enjoyed the varied scents of native plants. We also grabbed a scoop of the FREE mulch to use as a topper for moisture retention, because soon the rainy season will be a memory and we will be back to water conservation! So scoot over to TPF and scoop up some drought tolerant plants while the earth is damp and ready to plant!
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February 2023 by Mireya R.
Amazing selection of native plants, knowledgeable staff and such a beautiful space. As if this place couldn't get even more magical, you can see the actual native plants growing in their habitat and you can see what the plant you might. Purchase will look like in the future. Also love that they keep a record of what you have purchased in the past.
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February 2023 by Lena S.
Cute hiking area behind the nursery and a wide variety of native plants to all regions of California
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February 2023 by Alex P.
Great place for any gardeners, either to shop the nursery or just using any of their educational resources. Great way to spend a Saturday-
