April 2026 Plant Availability

View our ‘currant’ inventory on our website

View our ‘currant’ inventory in spreadsheet format

Greetings ,

There’s much buzzing around the nursery this spring! Spring fever is upon us in the garden–bees are all over our Hollyleaf Cherry, Purple Sage, and California poppies. Keep an eye to the sky on your next visit to the nursery–we’ve also been seeing the ospreys building a nest across the street.

Our April Bringing Back the Natives Extravaganza is right around the corner, with a new speaker and artist tabling. We’re excited to be hosting Stephanie of Bowerbird Atelier. Check out our flyer, below, for more info.

You may have noticed that some of our plant signage now includes Chochenyo names. Chochenyo is the ancestral language of the Ohlone people who have lived in what is now known as the San Francisco East Bay, since time immemorial. We started this project to acknowledge that we live on unceded Ohlone land, and to recognize the significant cultural and spiritual relationship CA Indigenous people including Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone people share with the plants we grow. Our new signage was created in collaboration with Deja Gould of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation and Sogorea Te Land Trust. This is just one part of our commitment to an ongoing relationship with Sogorea Te.

If your organization is interested in incorporating Chochenyo in your signage, please reach out to Sogorea Te Land Trust. We invite you to support Sogorea Te through Shuumi Land Tax, a voluntary annual contribution that non-Indigenous people living on the Confederated Villages of Lisjan’s territory can make to support the critical work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. For other ways to support, visit Donate!

And, you may be seeing a few infrastructure updates taking place around the nursery. We’ve been weeding, pruning, and planting in the beds (both inside our gates and along Canal Boulevard, see the stunning Desert Penstemon, above). Fingers crossed our gopher & deer neighbors let them be. And, at long last, our parking lot is getting reworked as well. We hope y’all will appreciate the additional space & navigability!

And of course, plenty of wildflowers, perennials, native succulents, and more are adorning our shelves. We’ve listed a few of our current favorite species below for your perusal, enjoy!

šiska (Chochenyo)

California Milkweed

Asclepias californica

Available in 1-gallon pots for $16.30 each!

California milkweed is a perennial that can reach 3 ft. tall and wide. It has thick stems that often creep along the ground and are covered with white soft woolly hairs.
The lavender to magenta pink flowers resemble a cluster of stars, and bloom in the spring and summer.
The foliage of this plant is an important food source for Monarch caterpillars early in the year before many of the other California native milkweeds emerge from dormancy. It is also summer semi-deciduous.
A great option for containers and butterfly gardens.

ša:wana (Chochenyo )

Fuchsia Flowered Gooseberry

Ribes speciosum

Available in D-40 pots for $12.30 each!

Fuchsia-flowered gooseberry is a semi-evergreen shrub growing 4′ tall by 6′ wide.
This popular shrub is one of our showiest natives. The plant’s spiny, arching branches are covered in inch long, dangling cherry red blossoms from January – April.
Thrives in partial to deep shade, though its leaves will be glossier in sunnier spots.
Great hummingbird plant, and larval host to two species of butterflies and moths, including the Tailed Copper.
The flowers are followed by spiky red fruits which persist through summer.

California Buttercup

Ranunculus californicus

Available in D-16 pots for $8.20 each!

A perennial 1-3 feet tall, goes deciduous in summer.
Along with blue-eyed-grass, buttercups are the first color of spring in our local meadows. A must have addition to any bay area meadow garden.
Prefers clay/serpentine but can grow on many soils.
Buttercups are prone to self-sow so you can have returning spring color every year.
Bright, shiny yellow flowers April – May

Checker Mallow

Sidalcea malviflora

Available in 4″ pots for $8.50 each!

An herbaceous perennial that grows 2 – 4 feet tall.
Without summer water they will go dormant and reappear with fall rains.
Does well in grassy areas or in borders. Combine with blue-eyed-grass, seaside daisy and native bunchgrasses.
Large delicate showy pink flowers in the early summer.

Narrowleaf Mule’s Ears

Wyethia angustifolia

Available in stub and D-16 pots for $3.10-9.60 each!

Narrowleaf mule’s ears is a deciduous compact perennial that grows to 1 – 2 feet tall.
It late spring it will produces large 3 inch yellow flowers that last through the summer. It dies back to the ground each winter and comes back in the spring with strap-like green leaves.
It is an attractive drought tolerant flower for any native meadow planting, and can be used easily in almost any native garden.

Desert Globemallow

Sphaeralcea ambigua

Available in D-16 pots for $9.60 each!

A woolly perennial that grows to 3 feet tall and almost as wide.
Earning its specific epithet “ambigua,” Desert Globemallow’s flowers vary in color from orange to a rose-like salmon-color. The large flowers appear in loose clusters from spring to late fall.
It can bloom nearly year-round in the warmest regions and is native to the dry regions of the US and Mexico. Low maintenance, can be cut back periodically to maintain shape.
Works well in beds and borders as well as in a container. A superstar in a drought tolerant garden. Hardy, beautiful color and butterfly magnet!

Douglas Iris

Iris douglasiana

Available in D-16 and 1-gallon pots for $8.20-16.30 apiece!

Douglas Iris is an herbaceous perennial that grows 1-2′ tall and will spread and self sow.
It can grow in dry shade under oaks. Other uses include planting in a container, rock gardens, slopes, massing together to form dense clumps. Combine with woodland strawberry.
The large dark purple flowers (occasionally white, rarely yellow) are seen late winter – spring.
Divide every few years to encourage blooming.

Yellow Bush Lupine

Lupinus arboreus

Available in D-40 pots for $12.30 each!

This fast-growing evergreen shrub grows 4 to 5 ft tall, and is identified by its large canary yellow flowers on 6″ spikes that flower from February to July.
This plant is quite stunning and great for coastal gardens.
Please only plant it in it’s native range: along the coast and San Francisco Bay-side from Bodega Bay southward.
Yellow bush lupine has become invasive after being planted outside of its range in Mendocino County and northward.

Native Succulents

Fingertips

Dudleya edulis

Available in 4″ pots for $8.50 each!

Fingertips are slow-growing succulents that are named for their upright, fleshy, finger-like leaves that grow up to 4-8 inches tall and 1 ft. wide from just below the soil surface.
The leaves are typically pale green or yellow-green, but turn shades of orange and red at the tips in the summer.
Small white flowers emerge in the spring in clusters atop stems that peek out above the foliage up to 1 ft. high to the delight of hummingbirds.
Like other Dudleya species, fingertips are extremely drought tolerant and thrive in containers or rock gardens.

Bluff Lettuce

Dudleya farinosa

Available in 4″ pots for $8.50 each!

This dudleya grows about 1′ tall and 1′ wide. is variable in appearance, growing from a branching caudex and forming a basal rosette of wide, pointed, spade-shaped leaves, each up to about six centimeters across.
The leaves are generally very pale green but they often have edges or tips of bright colors, particularly bright reds.
The plant erects a tall stem which is pale green with pink or red tinting, atop which it bears a branching inflorescence with many pale to bright yellow flowers.
In horticulture, dudleyas are planted at an angle. This allows accumulated water to drain from the nest like center of the plant, thus preventing microbial decay.

Rock Lettuce

Dudleya cymosa

Available in 4″ pots for $8.50 each!

This colorful succulent is found in rock areas in the low elevations of the California mountains. It will grow to about 12″ tall.
The red-orange stems are topped with yellow-red clusters of flowers that attract hummingbirds from March through July.
Dudleya cymosa is also the larval host plant for the Sonoran blue butterfly.
It would do well in a rock garden or in a container with well-draining soil.

Island Green Dudleya

Dudleya virens ssp. insularis

Available in 4″ pots for $8.50 each!

Island Green Dudleya is a rare succulent perennial that is native to the Catalina Islands, and naturally occurring in LA county. California Rare Plant Rank: 1B.2 (rare, threatened, or endangered in CA and elsewhere)
It spreads slowly, forming pups that clump up to 4 feet across. Space 6-12″ apart. Yellow flowers appear in the spring, attracting hummingbirds.
It will do best with well drained soils or conditions that mimic the rocky cliffs that it natively grows in.

Poppy Paradise

Coastal Poppy

Eschscholzia californica var. maritima

Available in D16 pots for $8.20 each!

A beautiful variety of the California poppy, this coastal species has bright yellow petals with an orange center, and is a favorite of bumblebees. It grows 1-2 ft. wide and 1-2 ft. tall.
This long-lived perennial, low-growing coastal form is fast growing, and tolerates almost any soil type, although it prefers well-draining soils. Roots are sensitive to transplanting, so handle with care.
Once established, these flowers attract bees and butterflies, and provide color throughout the spring and summer.
It will also re-seed well where it gets full sun and very little water.

Moonglow Poppy

Eschscholzia californica

‘Moonglow’

Available in D16 pots for $8.20 each!

This herbaceous perennial wildflower is a color variety of our beloved California state flower.
A form of the California poppy with cream to white flower that seem to glow.
It is drought-tolerant, self-seeding, and easy to grow in gardens. To avoid the self-seeding, simply remove the old flowers.
Blooms close at night and during cloudy weather. In the landscape, use in borders, bulb cover, in containers, massing, bedding, and in rock gardens.
Blooms March to October.

California Poppy

Eschscholzia californica

Available in D16 pots for $8.20 each!

This herbaceous perennial wildflower is our beloved California state flower.
Blooms close at night and during cloudy weather. In the landscape, use in borders, bulb cover, in containers, massing/bedding, and in rock gardens.
Plants will re-seed readily! Plant accordingly–this is a great option for hard to manage areas of the garden–sidewalk strips, sunny, windswept corners, rock gardens. We love California poppies paired with annual wildflowers or perennial shrubs like Monkeyflower.
Blooms March to October.

Mahogany Red Poppy

Eschscholzia californica ‘Mahogany Red’

Available in D16 pots for $8.20 each!

This selection of Eschscholzia californica was bred in England for its deep-red flowers.
Like its golden counterpart, Mahogany Red will bloom through the summer with a bit of regular water. Remove spent heads to promote another round of blooms.
For those concerned with cross-pollination: You can preserve the red hues of successive generations by removing flowers that are varying in color.

Happy Spring from all of us at the Watershed Nursery Cooperative!

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