Old California Botanicals

Los Angeles’ Skid Row gave birth to one of the world’s most famous oranges. A man named William Wolfskill changed California forever. Watch to the end to find out what this famous Orange is! Hint, it’s not from Spain!

Welcome to Old California Botanicals
This page is where California citrus history, heritage gardens, old landscapes, and small-batch botanical goods all come together.
Here you’ll find stories from the groves, forgotten corners of California history, heirloom fruits and flowers, and the products we make from that world - including award-winning marmalades, lip balms, perfumes, essential oils, and other goods inspired by the old Citrus Belt.
We’re rooted in Redlands, California, once one of the great citrus capitals of the world - and we’re here to share the beauty, flavor, and history still growing all around us.
Follow along for California-grown stories, botanical products, citrus lore, garden history, and a little old-fashioned sunshine.

California trying to pick the “perfect” street tree.
Too spiny. Too leafy. Too rooty. Too fruity. Too weird.
At a certain point it starts to feel like the only tree everyone agrees on… is the stump.

Our award winning marmalades are now available at all 3 Clark’s Nutrition locations! Clark’s has helped southern Californians live well for decades through natural foods, organic produce, vitamins, supplements and more. Check out a location near you!

Cheap lettuce can have a very high price.

Mexico supports its farmers with subsidies that lower growing costs. Some farmers can receive up to 95% off the electricity used to pump irrigation water.

American fruit and vegetable growers are left out of our main farm price-support programs. We also lost nearly 20 million acres of farmland in just five years.

Since 2000, U.S. imports of Mexican fruits, vegetables and other horticultural products have more than quadrupled.

Now Mexican iceberg lettuce has been linked to 1,644 illnesses.

The cheapest food today can cost us our farms—and control of tomorrow’s food supply.

Should America protect the salad too?

This weekend, Washington did something unusual: it updated a food rule to reflect what is actually happening in American groves. 🍊
For 63 years, pasteurized orange juice had to meet a 10.5° Brix minimum. As citrus greening and severe weather lowered the natural sugar content of Florida oranges, processors increasingly relied on sweeter imported juice to satisfy the rule.
On Friday, the FDA lowered the minimum to 10° Brix—allowing more American-grown fruit into American orange juice. That is a real win for domestic citrus.
Now consider the bigger picture: the new food pyramid puts fruits, vegetables and other whole foods at the top, where they belong. Yet the specialty-crop farmers growing them still operate without the same farm-policy safety net built around major commodity crops.
Updating one outdated regulation helps. Next, we need an agricultural system that protects the American farmers growing the foods Americans are being told to eat.
Should farm policy match the new food pyramid?

Ready did a double header this weekend? OCB is going to be doing 2 meet the maker events!
Saturday July 18 we will be at Louie’s Nursery in Riverside.
Sunday July 19 we will be at the Potting Shed in Old Towne Orange.
We will be showcasing our complete collection at both events. Looking forward to seeing you all there!