Bountiful Exotics Nursery

08/07/2026

Did you see the fall gardening forecast?
(From the NOAA NWS Weather Prediction Center)

08/07/2026

I have figs and pomegranates starting to color right now in my yard in Bountiful. Come take a look — visits are by appointment.

Maybe your apricots and peaches need a new yard friend for inspiration.

08/05/2026

Always a wonderful evening at the Botanical Garden!
See you tonight?

07/23/2026

Be wise. It's hot.

07/23/2026

Pioneer Day video drop.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DHLTA7fnA/

07/23/2026

Counting down to the 26th. That one is a special edition — Utah's first ever fig tasting.
The Utah Hardy Figs Community are bringing the figs. Utah grown, out of local growers' own backyards. Taste the varieties that actually ripen here and talk to the people growing them. Glad to be doing Fig Night alongside the Botanical Center. It is going to be good.

Taste, Tour & Ta-Dah! is back for August 🎶

Every Wednesday, grab a blanket or your favorite lawn chair and head to the Edible Garden for our free summer concert series. Each week, we'll kick off at 6:30 pm with guided garden tours, then it's on to fresh produce tastings before the music takes over until dusk.

The lineup:
🎸 Aug 05 — Eli and the 2nd Chance Band
🎷 Aug 12 — Northview Jazz Band
🎤 Aug 19 — Lars Yorgason Singers Jazz Ensemble
🌬️ Aug 26 — Harmonic Winds of Utah & Fig Night

It's FREE, it's family-friendly (leashed pups welcome too!), and picnic-cooler-approved for a relaxing alfresco evening.

📍 USU Botanical Center, Edible Demonstration Garden
🕡 6:30 pm – dusk, every Wednesday in August

Big thanks to our sponsors, Discover Davis and Goldenwest Credit Union, for making this one possible. 💛

07/16/2026

Well-- It's officially summer today.
Proof right on the bush.

They're as big as a dinner plate and so tropical-looking. I love them.
Hibiscus 'Cherry Choco Latte.'
The whole family of Hibiscus hybrids: Lots of colors, lots of foliage and height choices, and "oh-so-hardy" as a perennial in Utah.

Needs 'ample water,' as that's the new go-to question we ask in our trials.

Is it a "native?" Lots of stuff packed into that...

One: Needs 'ample mositure."
There is a slight misconception out here in dry Utah that "native" automatically equals "drought-tolerant."
Of course, don't make your yard a swamp for it, just don't let it wilt as they can cease blooming for the year.

Our modern hardy hibiscus traces its lineage through Hibiscus moscheutos, a native wetland species commonly known as swamp mallow back east.

So yes, it is a native hybrid, but "native" can still mean it needs wet feet. so, know that when deciding where it lives at your place.

Two: feeds pollinators
That native parentage also means it feeds the bugs. Single-flowered hybrids like this keep their fertile, pollen-rich anatomy fully intact. Fully a hybrid, fully pollinator-friendly.
Who knew?

And to beat a dead horse... back east where this native parent plant grows wild, it has its very own specialist pollinator—the Hibiscus Bee (Ptilothrix bombiformis)—which feeds almost exclusively on it.

We might not have that bee here, but our local bumbles and pollinators absolutely love the massive pollen and nectar payload anyway.

Three: Houses the garden helpers
The dead winter branches double as the insectary for those overwintering insects that create the culture you want in your gardens. Don't chop them until late springtime and enjoy the 'season of the sticks.'

Hardy hibiscus is an addiction you can feel good about, and just can't stop...
so let's get you going properly.

Can I help?

06/06/2026

Hot weather advisory from Bountiful Exotics — this weekend is a stress test for new plants.

Today may hit 95 F in Salt Lake, humidity at 9%, winds gusting to 30 mph. Well above normal heat for early June on top of what has already been a dry spring.

If you picked up plants from us recently, here is what we want you to know.

Any plant in the ground less than 6 to 8 weeks still has a compromised root system. It cannot fully anchor and draw water yet. In normal summer heat that is manageable. In conditions like today — extreme wind driving transpiration, near-single-digit humidity, and well-above-normal temps — the demand on those roots exceeds what they can supply. Wilting is the symptom. It is the plant asking for help. Even if you just watered.

The National Weather Service has fire weather warnings posted for central and southern Utah through Sunday. Fire danger conditions and plant stress conditions are the same thing — extreme wind, extreme dryness, extreme heat. If you see a fire warning alert on your phone this weekend, think of it as a plant alert too.

Our recommendations for this weekend.

Water deeply early morning — before 8 am if possible. If you see midday wilt, move pots to a sheltered spot out of the sun and wind, but not somewhere that traps heat. A shade cloth or even a bedsheet might seem good, but wind can knock these over onto those babies- Ask me how I know! Do not fertilize until temps drop — no stress additions this weekend. Wilting that does not recover overnight is a warning sign worth acting on.

We watch conditions closely because it matters for the plants we grow and the plants we send home with you.

Questions? Reach out — we are here.