Matilija Nursery

If you’re looking for CA native plants this is the place to go. Were not talking home depot succulents, these are true natives you can find in wild places throughout the state. The nursery itself is modestly sized, but is filled with natives which makes it a huge selection. The owner is very kind and extremely knowledgeable.
The only downside i found (reason for 4 stars) is that there are no labels on the pots. If you know your plants then it is no problem, but if you don’t then its a big deal. In the entire nursery only a handful of the planter pots had labels. Which meant no scientific name, common name, care instructions or price. This is a big issue, for me at least, considering how many plants you will be looking at and also not wanting to have to bug the owner every other minute.
Other wise this is a nice little nursery. But if you’re from L. A be prepared for a drive.

We recently completed Xeriscaping at our Ventura property with the Ventura Waterwise program and we visited Matilija on several occasions to get common as well as unusual native plants for the project. Bob was really helpful and has great native plant knowledge as well as butterfly and hummingbird garden tips and his prices are very reasonable. We bought about 30 plants from him and all are growing well in our yard. We bought several kinds of Eriogonum flowering buckwheats including some from the Channel Islands as well as Narrow Leaf and Balloon Milkweed which are host plants for Monarch butterflies. He also had some hard to find varieties such as Amorpha Fruticosa or desert false indigo which is one of the host plants for the California Dogface state butterfly and many nectar plants such as blue sage and California Fuschia, Sundrops, California Aster, and California Buckeyes among others. Our garden xeriscaping project was a huge success. We had countless generations of Monarchs and other butterflies in our garden this year and received the maximum refund from the Waterwise program and are saving on the water bill. Our garden also received a certification as an official Monarch butterfly waypoint. I highly recommend Matilija for native plant purchases and they are worth the drive out to the countryside. I understand they also have a large iris farm as well.

Robust, good looking natives and drought tolerant specimens. Saw a few really beautiful giant buckwheats but they were covered in aphids. Owner nice and responded immediately, saying he’d have to work on them before putting them out for sale. Darn– a long way to go to miss out on these — but he has the integrity to not sell when plants aren’t in season to be planted or aren’t ready. Lots of pretty mallows.

I decided to come here due to the cheaper price compared to other native plant sellers. Bit of a trek from Los Angeles, however, I own ½ acre and have planted hundreds of plants. Saving a couple of dollars per gallon plant starts to add up. The selection consisted of your mainstays: sages, ceanothus, etc., and some interested surprises. The nursery gives credit for used containers, which is a plus. I usually recycle my containers at another nursery, but saving a few bucks on the containers is an added touch. I’ll be back this fall to start planting when the cooler weather starts.

This is the best plant nursery in the whole world.
The owner is a very sweet man who takes great care of his employees and has the most beautiful plants.
It is family run and very easy to do business with.
They are very friendly and asked if I needed help loading the plants onto my car!

Healthy plants, great information. Sounds simple, but when it comes to natives, it’s not so easy to find. If you are transitioning to natives, save yourself some grief, and come to Matilija. If you have had lots of loss from other «native» nurseries, go see Bob. Hah, sounds like a car commercial. Love this place.

For California & Ventura local native plants plus planting know-​how find your way on country roads to Bob’s Matilija Nursery in Moorpark. If you are looking to begin transitioning from lawn to lower water native plants, including BEAUTY, COLOR, SHADE, STRIKING lines, maybe even attracting NATIVE BIRDS to your yard — then don’t miss out on this secret of the «trade» — Bob sells to us civilians and not just on contract for restoration projects.
Almost all my front & backyard natives have come from Matilija Nursery over about 20 years now. Recently my yard achieved Certified Advanced Bird Habitat through the National Wildlife Federation. I have this nursery to thank for plants that don’t harm the bug-​bird or bug-​butterfly ecosystem.
Be sure to check days of week open to regular folks, and the hours because they are not open for retail after stated hours.
Also, if you’re on FB you can friend & learn about special sales, plant lore and even contests (!) from time to time.
(Also — Bob loves reblooming irises, even creating his own crosses… For color, aroma, frequency of rebloom: just check with him or the FB page for characteristics along with fab photos.)

My boyfriend and I randomly found this place on Google. We were looking for Roger’s Red Grapes, and we had called so many places and they didn’t carry them. We’re in process of creating a full CA native garden, and we were in heaven.
It’s in Moorpark, but not any part of Moorpark that I’ve seen before. It’s near a ton of farmland, with cute windy roads. These people are living the life!
The owner was really nice and helpful, he suggested what plants should go where/​how much light/​water they need, etc.
The place was huge, and the prices were awesome. We had actually gone to Armstrong the day before and everything was so expensive there, and it was mostly the Monrovia brand that they carried.
Picked up some Yarrow, and buckwheat. After we’re done planting this set, we plan on coming back here for more!

Picked up some plants for a friend back in Santa Barbara. This place was really nice. friendly guy greeted me at the front and asked me If i wanted help loading the plants onto my truck. It’s a little far off the beaten path but great little trip through many different orchids.

Bought a Groupon for this nursery and did not read the fine print. They only have California native plants. If you want roses or tulips or anything traditional, this is not the place for you.
The drive out to the nursery was a pleasure. Felt like I had gone to the countryside, and kept driving further and further back into horse properties and fields. Low hills all around and nice trees. Really lovely.
Met the owner, Bob, at the nursery and soon the penny dropped for me that I was not going to find what I had hoped to pick up. However, that said, it was a fascinating place and Bob knows his stuff. If you want to plant up your garden with drought resistant native plants, he can tell you what is best for shade or for full sun, and the Irises are really beautiful.
For my personal taste the Irises were the only really attractive flowering plant I saw. I came home buying a few pots of Columbine, but now I regret this as even Bob said they look like weeds and have to be cut back hard every so often. An iris would have been a better choice. I recommend going here just for the drive and experience, and if I were starting from scratch with my garden, I would definitely do it to have lower water needs and this would the best place to start.
I’m giving it a 4 because it is a specialty place and Bob is terrific. But if you want a variety of flowering plants to choose from, this is not your place.
Prices are very good.

If you are into native plants especially native iris this the place to go. Bob is an incredible resource of iris knowledge. Ask Bob about iris and be prepared for a fountain of knowledge. If you are lucky you can even pick up an iris or two that have not been named and nobody else has. That alone is worth the trip.
Be prepared, the prices here are outrageously low, almost wholesale prices. They don’t have a wide selection of natives, but what they do have is good quality. You won’t find the latest and greatest in cultivars. What you will find is good quality foundation stock for landscaping your water-​wise native garden.
Yes, the nursery is rustic, the ground a little muddy but when you want «that» iris, the one you have to have then you don’t really pay attention to the grounds.