September 2026 Plant Availability

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Greetings ,

This is Aaron from the retail team, coming to you for a special ‘Silver Jubilee’ edition of our newsletter. As hard as it is to believe, The Watershed Nursery will be celebrating our 25th anniversary this month!

I checked in with our cofounder and Project Supervisor, Diana Benner, about the early days of the nursery. “The Nursery quite literally started as a dream, Laura’s dream.” (Laura Hanson, our cofounder and Diana’s business partner–pictured to the right in their first DIY work toolbelts). Laura dreamt that she lost her vegetation monitoring job, and to make a living, started a nursery. She reached out to friends and coworkers to see how to bring the nursery to life. Both Diana and Laura had ecology backgrounds, but no formal horticulture experience, so the early days were filled with trial and error. Curious what they were growing in those early days? There’s a few included in our featured species list below. Diana and I reflected that part of the magic of TWNC has always been its grassroots origins and experimental spirit:

“It kind of felt like raising a child…that is one of the things that I love about this work, is you are never bored…the plants always keep us on our toes. There’s always something new to learn. Always some new challenge… some propagation technique that you think you’ve got all figured out. And then the next year, they respond completely differently!”

Another key aspect? The nursery has been a collaborative touchpoint for so many community partners. From our humble roots operating out of a tennis court in the Berkeley Hills, building from the ground up at our current location in Richmond, developing and implementing phytosanitary Best Management Practices (BMPs), to becoming a worker owned cooperative, growing hundreds of thousands of native plants, we have always had a support network in the wider community. The overwhelming feeling we’re having celebrating this anniversary is a sense of immense gratitude for all the support we’ve received from our advocates and collaborators through the years. A small subset of those early supporters is below:

John Anderson of Hedgerow Farms, an early advocate of site-specific material!
Tom & Shirley Butt
Tom & Jane Kelly
Friends of Five Creeks
Friends of Alhambra Creek
Save the Bay Foundation
Native Here Nursery
Mt. View Sanitary District
Waterbird Regional Preserve
Marin Audubon
John Muir Land Trust

It’s galvanizing to feel that our little nursery is a part of a larger community of restoration heroes, our plants supporting wildlife across the Bay Area for generations to come. It is so fulfilling to work in a mission-driven environment that continues that ethos of community connection to this day. One such connection we’d like to shout-out is Peralta Creek Restoration Project, an ongoing collaborative project to provide flood protection and restore green space along Peralta Creek in Oakland’s Fruitvale district. Our Propagation Manager, Jessica, has donated her time, given extra seedlings from the nursery, and grown out hundreds of plants for this community-led riparian project. Through regular volunteer workdays, they’ve removed over 2,000 pounds of non-native species from the creek. In addition, over 300 native riparian plants gave been planted at Peralta Creek during the initial phase of restoration efforts (fall ’25-summer ’26), a few of which we’re highlighting below as our featured species for this month. Learn more about the project & how to support via Peralta Hacienda Historical Park.

Want to learn more about local watershed restoration efforts? We’re hosting a panel of local watershed restoration heroes on September 12th–check out the flyer below & mark your calendars. We hope to see you there!

Pictured above: Hard at work estoration work day at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park’s Creek Restoration Project, a collaboration between Frontline Catalysts, Water Keepers/Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, Piedmont Garden Club, and the Watershed Nursery Coop!

California Buckeye

Aesculus californica

Available in TB4 and TP4 pots for

$4.13-17.70 apiece!

This drought tolerant deciduous tree grows 15-40′ tall with a spread of 30-60′. A moderately paced grower, it will reach about 20′ in 8 years, growing at a rate of about 3′ per year. Space 30’ apart.
California buckeye provides year-round beauty to the garden. During the dormant season, the handsome, thick-stemmed silhouette and silvery smooth bark is revealed. Apple green foliage bursts forth in early spring. Beautifully abundant candelabra-like flowers bloom from April -June and visited by nectar seeking hummingbirds.

Common Aster

Symphyotrichum chilense

Available in D-40 pots for $10.90 apiece!

This perennial grows to 1-3 ft tall and makes a flower bed come alive in late summer through fall, when planted with California fuchsia and California goldenrod.
It spreads by rhizomes, likes moist soil but can also go without summer water, and is common on coastal grasslands and marshes.
In the garden, prune plant to the ground after flowering in the fall and it will reappear late winter.
A great habitat plant, native moths and butterflies use this plant as a nectar source and birds eat the seeds. Host to 63 species of bees, butterflies, and moths, Common Aster is a pollinator powerhouse.

Lippia

Phyla nodiflora

Available in 4” pots for $8.50 apiece!

This spreading mat-like ground cover is a fan favorite among those delving into lawn conversion, as it’s sturdy and resilient enough to withstand foot traffic and pets.
It’s also a fantastic nectar source for butterflies and native bees!
Very drought tolerant, but looks best with an occasional deep watering in full sun. Does not grow well in shade.

Quailbush

Atriplex lentiformis

Available in D-40 pots for $12.30 apiece!

This evergreen shrub grows to 8 ft. tall and can be used as a border or windbreak. Beautiful silvery gray foliage provides visual interest.
The yellowish flowers are small, but the blooms are followed by an attractive and abundant display of pinkish fruit.
A great plant for tolerating salty soils, and excellent for bird and butterfly gardens!
Quail and other birds use its seeds for food and its foliage for cover. Rabbits like it too, so protect the plant until established if you have bunnies on your block.

Gray Rush

Juncus patens

50% off in D-16 containers for $4.10 apiece!

This evergreen clumping perennial grows 1-2 feet tall and has steely gray-blue stems and tan flowers
Gray rush can be used in different garden situations from a dry garden in shade (once established) to 4″ deep in a pond. Gray rush evokes the presence of water and looks beautiful in Japanese-style gardens.
Combine with Western columbine, island alum root, seep monkeyflowers, and most low-growing species of ceanothus.
Adapted to our dry summers and wet winters.
Flowers and fruit capsules visible February to October.
For maintenance, rake out old stems once or twice per year; no need to cut back.

California Wild Grape

Vitis californica

25% off in D-16 or D-40 containers for $6.15-8.18 apiece!

A fast-growing, dioecious deciduous vine to 30′ tall, that blankets landscapes in twisted ropes with large, deeply veined heart-shaped leaves. In the fall, these leaves turn many rich shades of orange and yellow.
Bees relish their yellow flowers from spring to summer. These blooms give way to bunches of small, edible purple grapes in autumn, which birds and other animals rely on.
CA Grape is noted as one of the best plants for supporting butterflies in the Fall!
Prefers regular moisture but is highly drought-adapted once established.
In a home garden scenario, this fast-growing vine needs frequent pruning back. Deer will browse on tender young leaves.

Saltgrass

Distichlis spicata

Available in stub and TB2 pots for

$1.30-5.78 apiece!

Rhizomatous grass grows 6”-1′ tall and is the only host plant for the larvae of the wandering skipper butterfly, Panoquina errans. A valuable food source for waterfowl and livestock as well.
Adaptable and resilient, it is a workhouse for restoration projects along coastlines, rivers, and wetlands.
Found in salt and brackish coastal marshes, this plant can tolerate poor, salty soil and will grow into large monocultures. This species can grow at levels of high salinity, by removing excess salt from their tissues by the way of salt glands.
Saltgrass has historically been an important source of food and salt for California indigenous people such as Kawaiisu, and Yokuts peoples.

Hemp Dogbane

Apocynum cannabinum

Available in D-40 pots for $10.90 apiece!

Deciduous, strong, erect perennial plant that reaches 3-4 ft. tall with a moderate growth rate. Can spread aggressively from underground rhizomes. Well adapted to rocky and disturbed sites.
The small cream-colored flowers are clustered at branch ends or on stalks from leaf axils. They provide abundant nectar and are pollinated by moths, butterflies and many different types of bees. A monarch favorite!
Apocynum means “poisonous to dogs.” All parts of the plant are poisonous and can cause cardiac arrest if enough ingested.

Mulefat

Baccharis salicifolia

Available in D-40 pots for $9.23-12.30 apiece!

This deciduous perennial shrub is fairly drought-tolerant, and exhibits rapid growth to 8-10′ tall.
Mulefat grows in dry rocky arroyos with an upright open form. It sprouts suckers, forming a graceful thicket which can provide good cover for birds.
Excellent screening replacement plant for Oleander.
Good for habitat gardens as both cover and food for birds and insects.

Sticky Monkeyflower

Diplacus aurantiacus

Available in D-16 pots for $9.60

This sub-shrub grows to 3 to 4 feet tall and is an excellent choice for a hardy, deer resistant
Sticky monkeyflower blooms prolifically with one inch orange flowers that attract hummingbirds.
For the best care plant in well drained soil and give very little water once established – too much water can cause root rot. Cutting back spent flowers flowers can provide a longer blooming time.
Plant on slopes for erosion control. Cut back hard to renovate plant at anytime during growing period. Flowers April to October.
Previously named Mimulus aurantiacus var. aurantiacus

Resources

Cheers to 25 years of the Watershed Nursery!

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