September 2, 2026
Monrovia Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary
One of my trusted sources for shrubs, perennials, ferns, and conifers is celebrating a milestone: its 100th anniversary.
Not long ago, the wholesale plant company, Monrovia, hosted a Centennial Celebration Expo at their Dayton, Oregon location – a week-long open house that welcomed customers, industry professionals, and garden enthusiasts. More than 1,000 guests attended, enjoying expert talks, guided tours, and gardening demonstrations. The event also included an exclusive luncheon to celebrate “Landscape Legends” who have helped shape the horticulture industry over the years and inspire Monrovia’s extensive plant selection – I was honored to be one of those recognized. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the festivities, but my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, was there to tour the showcase, participate in some of the activities, and explore potential additions for my gardens.
Enjoy these photos.
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- This Monrovia Nursery is located in the Willamette Valley, southwest of Portland. It is where many of the company’s conifers, maples, broadleaf shrubs and other cold-hardy plants are grown. Plant displays like this one are created especially for the annual open house event.
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- Monrovia Chief Marketing Officer, Katie Tamony, took Ryan for a tour of the fields. Monrovia’s nursery is spread over more than 1000 acres.
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- This is Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar, Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca Pendula.’ It is a striking evergreen conifer known for its cascading branches and vivid steel-blue needles. I have several of these trees growing in my living maze.
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- Another section was filled with Golden Globe Thuja, a widely admired variety known for its vibrant color and dense, yellow-golden foliage.
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- This is Daub’s Frosted Juniper. Ordinarily, this is a type of ground cover, but Monrovia grafted it onto another juniper variety to create these beautiful “trees” – perfect for containers!
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- Challenges were special to the week-long event. These mini workshops allowed visitors to get first-hand training from Monrovia’s own horticultural experts.
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- This is a topiary training challenge. Topiary is the practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs, and subshrubs to develop and maintain specific shapes. The term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way.
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- Here’s Ryan grafting. Ryan practiced grafting Japanese maples under the watchful eye of master craftsman, Antonio Ceja. Monrovia promised to grow the Japanese maple and send it to us when it’s ready.
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- Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique where tissues of various plants are joined to grow together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion while the lower part is called the rootstock. These are scions ready for grafting.
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- At the breeder showcase, Ryan sampled new varieties of berries for 2028! Here, he tried the sweetest, most golden raspberries, which are thornless. Ryan is with breeder, Robert Bett from Plant Haven, Katie, and Monrovia CEO, Jonathan Pedersen.
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- This is something new at Monrovia – Frye Wing Heuchera from Terra Nova. I have lots of heuchera at my farm. Heuchera, or coral bells, is a colorful perennial, with attractive foliage and bell-shaped flowers. It comes in an array of colors and forms, and grows wonderfully in shade gardens.
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- This Heuchera is Frye Wing ‘Amber.’ It has autumn tones of honey, copper, yellow, and orange, and deeply cut lacy foliage.
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- This is Hot Rocks™ Dark Leaf Red Sedum, Sedum telephium, with its a compact habit, and vibrant deep red flowers on dark chocolate foliage.
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- These are Jurassic ferns from the Dan Hinkley Collection at Monrovia.
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- These are different types of Royal Hawaiian Colocasia – tropical, compact, clumping plants with striking variegated foliage. I love Colocasias and display mine outdoors in ornamental urns every summer.
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- Guests were invited for lunch under a large outdoor tent. Guests included garden center customers, media, plant breeders, and friends.
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- Look familiar? Andrew Beckman, on the right, was a longtime garden editor for my magazine, Martha Stewart Living. Here he is with his husband, landscape designer, Bob Hyland.
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- My friend, plantsman Dan Hinkley, gave an interesting talk about his latest finds and memorable adventures hunting plants in China, India, and Nepal.
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- While I was unable to attend the event in person, I did address the group via Zoom, and shared photos of my living maze, which Monrovia helped me complete. This photo was taken from the carriage road of my Boxwood Allée, high up in my Hi-Lo tractor looking at my three-acre maze.
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- It was a very successful, interesting, and productive visit. Happy Centennial, Monrovia – here’s to another 100 years.
This story originally appeared on Martha Stewart Blog
