The entire green industry and those who love plants are mourning the closing of San Marcos Growers. When I attended a garden tour in Santa Fe, New Mexico, last year, the owner (a landscape architect) asked where I was from. When I said, Santa Barbara, he launched into a lament about the loss of San Marcos Growers, which he relied on for excellent, unusual, and drought-tolerant plants.
Matt Kettmann did a great job describing Santa Barbara horticulture and the loss to the community of San Marcos Growers, but he didn’t capture Randy Baldwin’s sense of humor. A few years ago when Matt Ritter of Cal Poly SLO posted that he had found the largest dragon tree in the State, Randy said, game on. He and his merry band of pranksters found not one, but two dragon trees, that that were much bigger. Based on the fact that Jeff Chemnick was in numerous photos, Randy devised “Jeff Units” to measure the size of the trees.
Randy’s website is essential reading for any plant question. John Greenlee is correct: “Randy Baldwin is a national treasure.”
