Canadians inspired by protea garden to make Ramona their home

The 26-acre assets Daniel MacDonald and Stephen Leonard get in touch with residence is on the northwestern slope of Mt. Woodson overlooking Lake Poway and the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve.

On a crystal clear working day they have unobstructed sights to the ocean.

But it was not just the breathtaking see that prompted the two Canadians to shift from Toronto to settle in Ramona. They were being also drawn by an exotic yard planted with 5 acres of proteas, which are brilliantly coloured flowers with abnormal designs and textures.

In the early 2000s, the associates had been looking for a trip household in an area with a warm climate exactly where they could be “snowbirds” in the wintertime months, MacDonald mentioned. For the duration of their look for, they visited Florida, Texas and Arizona but none of them had what they had been looking for — a property surrounded by character, lots of land and access to the mountains and ocean.

Daniel MacDonald and Stephen Leonard are expanding a wide range of Proteas on their house found on the northwestern slope of Mt. Woodson.

(Courtesy Daniel MacDonald)

When MacDonald was attending a meeting in Rancho Bernardo for his occupation as a portfolio supervisor at a community pension prepare in 2005, he known as Leonard and asked regardless of whether they’d take into consideration Southern California for their next home. MacDonald had hardly ever been to San Diego County just before and Leonard experienced only been there after in advance of, so they gave it some assumed.

“In 2005 authentic estate was nuts highly-priced so we started out our search immediately after that,” explained MacDonald, who previously had done a presentation on proteas for the Ramona Yard Club). “We to start with visited Ramona in 2007. We have been wanting for property in San Diego County with acreage.”

A serious estate agent took MacDonald and Leonard on excursions of space properties and the partners also drove around hunting on their have. They identified 15 acres in the vicinity of Lake Sutherland that suited them, but three months after they obtained the open up land the October 2007 Witch Creek hearth went via and burned a ton of the trees, MacDonald explained.

“In 2008 and 2009 we designed a modest home that was intended to be our winter put as snowbirds,” MacDonald mentioned. “We have been going back again and forth.”

Then in April 2009, MacDonald and Leonard observed an announcement about the Ramona Back garden Club’s yearly backyard tour in the Ramona Sentinel and determined to go. They have been awestruck by 5 acres of proteas on the property of Joann Cruz on the self-guided tour.

“I thought, there’s no way these can increase on earth Earth,” MacDonald claimed. “I considered they have been so attractive. It was really inside 15 months following that that we observed the house for sale and jumped on it.”

Rather of coming to Ramona as snowbirds, the two made a decision to remain. Apart from the yard, the house had a Southwestern-fashion household with a wraparound deck, and a few of h2o features in a secluded site. In 2016 they acquired their inexperienced playing cards to stay in the United States total time.

When continuing to work in their fields, MacDonald as a marketing consultant in the expenditure industry and Leonard as a residential house manager in San Diego, they grow protea, Leucospermum (pincushions), Leucadendron (cone bushes), Banksia, Grevillea and other African and Australian indigenous crops for the cut flower sector.

Their flowers are lower on and off all through the calendar year by the worldwide wholesaler Resendiz Brothers Protea Growers, primarily based in Rainbow close to Fallbrook.

“The bouquets are in this sort of superior demand and they have longevity in floral arrangements,” MacDonald explained. “They ship perfectly and last extensive.”

Proteas make wonderful, extended-long lasting floral arrangements.

(Courtesy Daniel MacDonald)

MacDonald and Leonard also propagate by cuttings and seeds and offer you a compact choice of protea and Australian native plants for sale at their household-dependent Mt. Woodson Flora business. Later this 12 months, they system to offer crops, minimize bouquets and seeds as a result of the Etsy on line keep.

The Ramona Backyard garden Club requested MacDonald to give a presentation on protea at the May possibly 11 assembly, held at Mountain See Group Church. During his slideshow of colourful flowers in the Proteaceae loved ones, he gave recommendations for increasing them. Among the those highlights had been Banksias and Grevilleas.

Most species of Banksias are from Southwestern Australia and can range from groundcovers to manageable huge bushes to trees. They involve properly-drained soils, entire sunlight, fantastic air circulation and very low humidity, he claimed. Whilst they are not drought-tolerant, they never require a large amount of h2o, primarily in the winter months. Various species flower during the calendar year and appeal to hummingbirds and bees.

Like the Banksias, most species of the Grevilleas are from Southwestern Australia and can assortment from groundcovers to compact bushes to trees. Grevilleas are reduced maintenance and produce vibrant, spiderlike or toothbrush-formed flowers.

Southern and central California parts are between only 3 % of the entire world that has a local climate where proteas can improve and thrive, MacDonald reported. Other spots are Chile in South The usa, Southwest Australia, the Cape area in southwest South Africa, and the Mediterranean.

In addition to Mt. Woodson Flora, proteas can be acquired at Gnosis Nursery and Farmstand 67 in Ramona, at Walter Andersen’s Nursery in Poway or on the net at eBay or Etsy.

For additional information, MacDonald recommends the books “A Tutorial to Cultivated Species and Versions of Protea,” by Lewis Matthews, and “Proteas of the Earth,” by Lewis Matthews with illustrations by Zoe Carter.

To obtain proteas from MacDonald and Leonard by appointment, call 760-315-2260 or email them at mtwoodsonflora@gmail.com.