Theodore Payne Foundation
Sun Valley, California
About
Theodore Payne Foundation is a premier nonprofit dedicated to educating Southern Californians about the beauty and ecological benefits of California native plants. Located in Sun Valley with an additional location at Los Nogales Nursery in Montecito Heights, the Foundation offers an extensive retail nursery featuring native plants, seeds, books, and garden tools. With expertise in wildfire resilience, native plant landscaping, and seed conservation, Theodore Payne Foundation serves as a vital resource for both homeowners and professionals seeking to restore and enhance Southern California's native plant communities. Their comprehensive offerings include educational classes and workshops, professional landscaping services, and a robust online store for convenient shopping and home delivery.
Specializations
Services Offered
Reviews
The Theodore Payne Foundation is a great organization. They have an awesome nursery where they sell all kinds of native plants, trees, bushes, groundcovers, etc, etc. They also sell seeds, have a great bookstore with lots of interesting gardening books and gardening tools, and a number of other things. I also noticed that all of the staff were very helpful and friendly! The grounds are also very attractive.
The plants and environment are terrific. The service was insulting, especially because most native plant places are run by such wonderful people. The whole time we were browsing, we listened to a loud posse of young women employees gossiping and dissing people, even slagging another employee after he walked away. When I asked help finding a plant, one of them, her feet literally stretched in front of her with ankles crossed where she sat, looked at me and drawled, "Well, I could show you if you want." Yikes. How did she get the job? Such a fine organization as Theodore Payne deserves better representatives.
Lots of native plants. Good prices, informative and helpful staff.
Great selection of native California plants. Organized by different habitat types (chaparral, riparian woodland, coastal sage, desert) & with signs explaining plant care & requirements, it's easy to find what you need for your garden & at inexpensive prices. The employees are knowledgeable & very helpful. * During the COVID-19 pandemic, they are taking precautions with reservations of time slots to visit the nursery, brought their indoor store to outdoor stands, have signs all over to ensure patrons wear masks, & sanitizing stations throughout. They also offer online purchases with pick up as an option.
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.