

FOREWORD 
“No amount of description will indicate whether or not a plant has ‘quality’—that 
indefinable air of good breeding which we find only in the elite. There are many otherwise 
first-class plants which just lack quality.’ F. Kingdon-Ward. 
We particularly request those who have not had 
any previous volumes to read this page carefully. 
Although issued annually in February, this booklet is not a catalog. In each volume 
we describe as accurately as possible a limited number of the finer trees and shrubs with- 
out the customary florid exaggerations. 
Our production is now limited entirely to woody plants, including new items, things 
difficult to propagate, specialties, and varieties obtained in our plant-breeding program 
now in its 15th year. 
Every item offered is rated for hardiness. From the map (courtesy of McGraw-Hill 
Book Co.) find out what zone you are in. Everything rated that number or less should 
be safe with you. We have subdivided Zone 9 so that 
(9) indicates probably safe to 20° (Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, etc.) 
(9%) indicates probably safe to 25° or 26° (San Francisco Bay Region, etc.) 
(10) indicates will stand only very light frost (per map). 
As far as possible we have taken ratings from the Second Edition of Rehder’s ‘‘Man- 
ual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs” which stops with Zone 7. For 9, 9% and 10 we have 
given our honest opinion but can’t guarantee its correctness. 
To save space we have used the following abbreviations: 
* Indicates that the item so marked has not been mentioned in any previous issue of 
Garden Aristocrats and is probably but not necessarily new. 
** Indicates an entire novelty which has not been offered hitherto by anyone. 
A.M.R.H.S. or A.M.C.H.S. indicates that item so marked has received an Award of 
Merit from The Royal Horticultural Society or the California Horticultural Society re- 
spectively. 
F.C.C.R.H.S. refers to the rarely awarded First Class Certificate of the R. H. S. 
H.C.C. refers to the new Horticultural Color Chart which is somewhat rare in this 
country as yet, but will doubtless become standard in all industries dealing with color. 
G.A. ’42 etc., means Garden Aristocrats for 1942, etc. Some previous issues are still 
available and will be sent upon request. 
Part II contains a condensed price list of our available stock. We suggest that you 
look through it carefully as it includes quite a number of comparatively new and scarce 
items not described in Part I. 
Our business is almost entirely wholesale so that much of our material is available 
from the more progressive nurserymen all over the country. The main purpose, there- 
fore, of this booklet is to give garden lovers dependable information about the finer, 
rarer, and newer trees and shrubs, but as it costs us more to publish it than we could afford 
without some return we are glad to have direct orders for material not otherwise readily 
available. Customers east of the Rockies are urged to send their orders as early as pos- 
sible so that we may send their plants while still dormant. Spring comes early here. 
Our nursery is located on the Oakland-San Jose Highway, a mile north of the City 
limits of San Jose. Coming down the Peninsula take the Bayshore Highway. About one 
mile after going through the underpass near Santa Clara, the first paved road that crosses 
is well marked by a row of magnificent old Elm trees. This is the Brokaw road. Turn to 
the left there. This road ends at the highway directly in front of our nursery. The Oak- 
land-San Jose bus will stop directly at nursery on request. 
Nursery and office are closed Sundays all year except during Lilac Show. 
If you belong to a Garden Club and think some of the members would like a copy 
of this booklet, we will mail it if a list of their names and addresses is sent us. 
Please note that if you receive any volume of “Garden Aristocrats” by mail it will 
be sent to you regularly in future years as long as we decide to continue it, but please 
do not get impatient as it usually is not ready for mailing until late February. 
ARRANGEMENT. In both Parts I and II all items are grouped into general divi- 
sions which appear in the following order: Conifers, Broad Leaved Evergreens, Flower- 
ing Fruit Trees, Deciduous Trees, Lilacs, Magnolias, Quinces, Other Deciduous Shrubs, 
Climbers, Wisterias and Tree Wisterias. This plan seems to make an index unnecessary. 
