Some beloved Southern California gardening nurseries are closing

I received an email from Mark Gleason, who gardens in Costa Mesa, with the picture of a gorgeous plant that goes by the name of purple spur flower or Cape lilac (Plectranthus ecklonii).  

However, the email was tinged with sadness since it reports on the closing of a special nursery: “A little less than a year ago you wrote about Plectranthus ecklonii,” Gleason’s email began. “My next-door neighbor had just built an awful block wall that tore up my garden on that side of my house. I wanted some big...