On September 17,  the  Southern California Horticultural Society will be honoring Dave Fross, founder and president of Native Sons Nursery in Arroyo Grande, as our Horticulturist of the Year.  The annual award ceremony is back as a live event for the first time since 2019, and we are expecting a big turnout to celebrate and honor Fross.

It was during his time as a graduate student at San Jose State University that Fross made the acquaintance of Cliff Schmidt, Lester Rowntree, Carl Sharsmith, Wayne Roderick, Ken Taylor and Gerda Isenberg.  He credits their individual and collective influences for sparking his idea to form a wholesale nursery specializing in plants native to Mediterranean climate regions of the world.  The idea became a reality in 1979 when Fross established Native Sons Nursery on a single acre, producing California native plants for the landscape trade and retail nurseries. Since then, the nursery has grown to 14 acres, and its selection has expanded to include plants from other Mediterranean climatic areas.

Over the years, Fross has introduced a number of cultivars that have become common in the California nursery trade, including Chondropetalum ‘El Campo’, Ceanothus maritimus ‘Point Sierra’, Arctostaphylos ‘Austin Griffiths’, Sesleria ‘Campo Azul’, and Salvia leucophylla ‘Point Sal’.   His expertise with native plants led to the publication of the following books which he co-authored:  California Native Plants for the Garden, Reimagining the California Lawn and Ceanothus.

In addition to  his work at the nursery, Fross  also taught horticulture for 25 years at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, and with his students developed the California native collection in the Leaning Pine Arboretum on campus.  When Fross is not busy with his  duties as CEO of Native Sons, he spends time developing a 3.5-acre garden on a sandy hill down the road from the nursery, as well as working in the gardens near his home, continuing to learn from and test plants that Native Sons offers.

On the occasion of the SCHS Horticulturist of the Year banquet, Fross will be sharing some of the breadth and scope of his acquired knowledge as he presents a program titled “Home Ground” wherein he will reflect on 43 years of growing plants for the California landscape.  You can register online to join us for this festive evening, or by printing and returning this form.  We are looking forward to celebrating Fross’ achievements in horticulture with like-minded friends and hope you will be able to join us!