What sort of plants are you looking for? If you want low-water California natives, try this place. They are in Sun Valley.

Regards, and good luck with your project.

Here is a link that might be useful: California Natives

The Home Depots have good prices.
But not all are equal in terms of plant selection or staff
who knows plants. Same applies to Orchard Supply Hardware.

I have found Armstrong Garden Centers to be pretty consistent and reasonably priced.

If you want Camellias or Azaleas...Nuccio's up the street from me in Altadena is THE PLACE. Has worldwide reputation.

Try freecycle or craigslist for free plants. Someone on los angeles craigslist just offered free iris bulbs - Lankershim/Vineland.

While I don't live in your area, my daughter does. When I go visit her in Encino there are two nurseries that are a must-do before I go home.

The favorite -- never to be missed -- is (I think) Tarzana Nursery; it's around the 19100 block on Ventura in Tarzana on the north side of the street... it's kinda below street level.

Then there is Sperling Nursery in Calabasas...... 24460 Calabasas Road. I like to go there if I have the time to go that far west.

I've never had any problem with the plants I've gotten at either nursery; and, since I live so far away, that's important

Thanks for all the suggestions. I was looking around for some fruit trees: Cherimoya, longan, lychee, persimmon, and guava. I wanted to cover the front two columns of my house with a climbing vine that is going to be in the shade, Im not sure which one would be best yet. I am building a patio and wanted some bougainvilleas or star jasmin to climb the columns and cover the lattice. The backyard really needs some trees and some good bushes and shrubs to set the background. Maybe some boxwoods or something.

I see sperling nursery on my way to work everyday. I'll check out all the nurseries suggested. There's just so much that can be done it's really confusing as to make the garden come together. thanks.

Try the San Gabriel Nursery. They have a lot of Asian fruit trees, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: San Gabriel Nursery

Save fuel and go to Green Arrow in Mission Hills and Green Thumb in Canoga Park. Except for lychee which is too tender for Northridge, you can get the others (not sure about longan, it could be too tender also). Green Thumb has a few more obscure tropicals and Papaya Tree Nursery in Granada Hills specializes in them although they're pricey. Another excellent tropical supplier is Roger Meyers in OC (by appointment). If you wait until January, you can get a persimmon bareroot (just about any nursery), a nice thick caliber one. I've even seen them at Home Depot but they go fast so you have to be Johnny-on-the-Spot to get one (Fuji/Jiro and possibly Hachiya). If you're willing to drive to San Diego county, that is the mecca for tropical fruit nurseries, Pacific Tree Farms, Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery, Ong, California Tropical Fruit Tree Nursery and even Walter Anderson has a nice selection.

Here is a link that might be useful: California Rare Fruit Growers source list

Just up the road from you is WorldWide Exotics. Good prices and many plants you won't find at big box stores. You have to visit frequently because they keep rotating their stock from the growing grounds into their nursery when the plants are looking their best. Their address is 11157 Orcas Ave in Lake View Terrace. (818) 890-1915. They are open Wed-Sat. Turn up the long dirt road to get to the nursery. They don't have any fruit trees that I recall.

There is a nursery in Sun Valley that was sold recently and may still be offering plants at greatly reduced prices.
Goto Nursery at 9336 Telfair Ave in Sun Valley.
818-767-8938

thanks guys, thats why I love this forum. Im going to go to all of the nurseries and look at all the plants before I plan out the backyard.

Has anyone been to Desert to Jungle? I believe it's similar to Worldwide Exotics and sells plants collected by Gary Hammer. I am going to be down there soon and want to check both out.

I believe the name "Desert to Jungle" was owned by Del (prior owner) and the new guy at the same location probably has a different name for the business. I visited there about 5 or 6 months ago and I was very disappointed. The variety of plants wasn't as good as when Del had the business and what really irritated me was that many of the plants had no labels or prices listed. The girl working there at that time did not know anything about the plants other than what they cost..... The place was cleaner but that was the only improvement I saw. I was so displeased that I obtained the name and telephone number of the person running it and complained to both him and WorldWide Exotics who apparently is also a supplier. I haven't been back since. Hopefully things are better and I look forward to a positive report. - Mike

I found two numbers for it on the web (third-party info), but one is busy constantly, the other rings once and then hangs up automatically. This way, there is no way to know their hours. It sounds like Worldwide Exotics is a better bet.