Virtual Tour Menu View Photos View Movie: Martial Cottle Native Plant Garden, a talk by Stephanie Morris
While this garden is open all year round, visiting it during the tour day provides an opportunity to ask the docents about any particularly interesting plants or features.

Address: Chynoweth (Between Snell and Duisenberg Dr.), San Jose (click the address to show it on a map).

Directions: From Hwy 85, take the Blossom Hill Road exit and go east on Blossom Hill, keeping left. Take the first left onto Snell Ave, and go for about 1/2 mile. Turn left onto Chynoweth, and go for about 0.4 mile, then park on the right. The entrance to the Martial Cottle park is a large gate, which will be open to pedestrian traffic only; the garden is about 400 feet north of Chynoweth, on the left of the service road. When searching Google or Bing maps, use these coordinates: 37.2591,-121.838175 to pinpoint the exact location of the entrance to the garden.

Showcase Features: The Master Gardener Demonstration Garden is located within Santa Clara County's newest park, Martial Cottle Park. There are two demonstration gardens included on the tour, the Natives Garden and the Habitat Garden. The Natives Garden is 100% native and displays two distinct areas. The first area is directly to the right as you enter the gate and is planted with a more formal, urban look in mind. A large mound features Redbuds, a Desert Willow, a Blue Ray Ceanothus, and an Island Bush Poppy. The flowering perennials and subshrubs include Salvias, Buckwheats, Lupine, Penstemon and Monkey Flowers. A meandering path through the garden crosses a dry creek bed spanned by a large redwood slab. The second area of the Native's Garden, further along the fence line, mimics a more natural chaparral environment. These plants thrive in hot, dry, inland gardens. Once established, volunteers plants will naturize the area, and irrigation will be discontinued. The larger specimens include a Valley Oak, several Toyons and Coffeeberries, St. Catherine's Lace Buckwheat, and Mallows, and is intermixed with native grasses and wildflowers. Also included are Ceanothus, Manzanita, and Salvia.

Other Garden Attractions: Master Gardeners offer seasonal hands-on workshops on native plant installation, growing and pruning, as well as gardening for birds, hummingbirds, native bees and other beneficial insects.

Gardening for Wildlife: The second garden on the tour is The Habitat Garden and Pollinator Hill, on the left and left center as you enter the demonstration garden gate. This garden was specifically designed to attract and provide water, food, cover and nesting opportunities for wildlife. The garden is 85% native and 15% non-native, low water, Mediterranean plants. The garden is young but has filled in nicely and is attracting many different species of native bees, birds, hummingbirds, lizards, and beneficial insects. A winding path on the far left near the entry gates takes you by 8 different types of native Salvias, Buckwheats, a Joyce Coulter Ceanothus, and large swaths of California Aster, Gum Plant, Seaside Daisy. All are great pollen and nectar plants for native bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. The shrubs and perennials are intermixed with California wildflowers, including Tansy Leaf Phacelia, California Poppies, and annual Lupine. Beyond, a corner area is planted with trees and shrubs to provide seeds, berries, insects, cover, and nesting opportunities for birds. The self-designed birdbath, providing fresh dripping water for birds and insects, is surrounded by a Mexican Elderberry, Coyote Brush, Quail Bush, a Julia Phelps Ceanothus, Buckbrush, Mountain Mahogany, a Howard McMinn Manzanita, Toyon, and a Mound San Bruno Coffeeberry. The center of the garden, the Pollinator Hill, features a burgundy-flowered Desert Willow surrounded by large swaths of flowering perennials for pollinators. Included are California Fuchsia, Buckwheats, California Goldenrod, California Aster and Cleveland Sages. Tansy Leaf Phacelia is growing between the perennials and is full of busy native bees foraging for pollen and nectar. At the top of the hill, there is a bee condo for cavity nesting bees.

❀ Plants Available: Seeds of CA native plants will be given away at this location (while supplies last).

Years of CA Native Gardening at this Location: 10

Garden Size: 2/3 acre

Designer: UC Master Gardeners
Installer: UC Master Gardeners

Click here to display the plant list in a printer-friendly format (from year 2023).