After the spring days of planting and tending, the garden rewards with a delightful array of offerings; some please the eye, others delight the taste buds, and still others engage the senses. Lush verdant foliage, large showy blooms of bright colors, and indelible fragrances: these are the marks of summer in the Southern California landscape. They also sum up the attributes of the tropical plants that thrive in the rising temperature of our summer days. The dazzle of a double-layered hibiscus with its large, brightly colored petals against the lush backdrop of deep green leaves elicit wonder from admirers. Varieties that, raised and tested in the heat of Texas, will prosper in our similar local conditions are now available.

Plumeria, synonymous with perfume and forever associated with the leis of Hawaii, have adapted successfully in Southern California. The incomparably and intensely fragrant clusters of waxy blossoms evoke the tropics, stir up memories of languid days and heady evenings. At its best during the early summer and through the early fall months, the plumeria displays its potent power to stop passersby.

While it may not stand out in the scent department, the heliconia vies for attention in other ways. In essence, the tropical plant is but bracts, or flower heads, on stems emerging from clumps of banana-like leaves. But these are no ordinary flower heads! The bracts may be erect, pendulous, or spiraling in the shapes of fans, or bird’s beaks, lobster claws. Furthermore, the heliconia, in a range of reds, pinks, golds, oranges, or of a mixture of colors, simply inspires awe.

At Burkard Nurseries, the choice of tomatoes, summer vegetables and culinary herbs will amaze. The varieties of orchids, bromeliads and houseplants that have taken over the shop interior will astonish. With an emphasis on season-appropriate plants, as well as garden furnishings and accessories, the useful and the exotic, and the reliable amendments, gardeners will find all the basics, and more.

A family-owned nursery that was opened for business in 1937, Burkard Nurseries is well known as the nursery with a personal touch because of the wide selection and the quality of its plant inventory, and because of the service that a customer may rely on. The quality of seasonal stables, from vegetable seedlings, bedding plants, seeds, citrus, fruit trees, to perennials, will convince the gardeners of the wisdom of their choices. Tags and information labels answer basic questions. Additionally, the staff's horticultural knowledge is particularly useful to the gardeners uncertain about the care of a certain plant or interested in the finer points of companion planting.