May 2026 Plant Availability

View our ‘currant’ inventory on our website

View our ‘currant’ inventory in spreadsheet format

Greetings ,

Spring is well and truly here! We hope your garden is flourishing following the last few rains we’ve had. Check out the springtime glory in our nursery gardens the next time you visit–the Red Maids (Calandrinia ciliata ), to the right, are putting on a show!

Of course, our minds are on the spring Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour this weekend, May 2nd-3rd! You can learn more, register, and plan your route through their website. The Tour is a wonderful way to meet other native garden enthusiasts, get some inspiration, and get to know your neighbors. We often hear from folks that the tour was their introduction to native plants–it certainly is a source of inspiration for us each spring!

Let’s talk Local

As one of the most biodiverse regions in North America, California is truly a hotspot for an immense array of native plants. This can be a little overwhelming when first getting into native plant gardening, but there are lots of helpful resources out there to help you find what might be native where you are planting specifically and what would do best in that exact environment. When in doubt, species that are locally native to you will do best! But how to figure out what’s native in your neighborhood? Or how to choose from the hundreds of options?

We’ve listed a few tools below – let us know if they’re helpful for you! Plus, stay tuned to the end of this newsletter to check out a few new-to-TWNC species.

Gilia capitata ssp. staminea, or Bluehead Gilia, being visited by a green sweat bee (Halictinae family).

Calflora “What Grows Here?”

To discover exactly which plants are native to your area, the Calflora “What Grows Here?” tool is extremely helpful. A step-by-step guide to this process is below. We’ve used this tool to put together this month’s featured species–a few Point Richmond locally native options. Take a look–you may see a few familiar friends!

Navigate on your browser to calflora.org and select from the left side menu “What Grows Here?”
Under the Plant Criteria drop-down, select “Native”
Go through the Criteria and Plant Filter drop-downs to determine if you would like to filter to show plants by any other specific criteria.
There are a number of options to determine the area you’re searching in on this page. I have found it is easiest to determine search area by drawing a polygon on the map. To do so, zoom to the area on the map you’d like to search, click the “Area” drop-down and click “Draw a Polygon.” Click the “Start Drawing” button that appears, and click on the map to set the corners of your search area. Adjust as needed, when you are satisfied click “Stop Drawing.” Next, click the Search button near the top of the page.
You can also zoom in to roughly the map area you would like to use as your search boundaries and under the Area drop-down, select the “In Map Area” option. Or type in a location directly to the Location drop-down.
Your results will appear, sorted by lifeform (Annual/Perennial Herb, Grass-like, Shrub, etc). These results may not be comprehensive for all of the things that have grown in your area currently or historically, but they do contain records dating back to the 1800s(!) and are updated by community scientists.
Browse through your results, find some favorites, and make a list! Feel free to come by, give us a call or check our online inventory to see if we have anything you’re looking for in stock.

Calscape Garden Planner

Calscape now has an extremely easy-to-use tool to help you design your dream garden: The Garden Planner! First, navigate to the website. Click through to describe your garden priorities, growing area, and which native habitat type you’d like to emanate in your planting. It’s fairly self directed and once you’ve finished the brief survey you’ll be given a list of plants generated specifically for your gardening conditions and goals.

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

Available in D16 pots for $8.20 each!

This semi-evergreen herbaceous perennial grows 1-3 ft tall and is a perfect choice for growing in a meadow garden.
The ferny foliage will stay green all year with some summer water and the white umbels make good cut flowers. Cut back after blooming which takes place from March through June.
Yarrow spreads by rhizomes, a characteristic of a good slope stabilizer. Larval host to five species of butterflies and moths, a frequent landing spot for Lady beetles, and a favorite of Checkerspot butterflies.

Deerweed

Acmispon glaber

Available in D16 pots for $9.60 each!

A drought-deciduous perennial herb forming 3′ by 3′ mounds.
Burdened by the common name of Deerweed, this plant is very popular with wildlife, providing food for hummingbirds, bees, butterfly larvae and deer.
From spring through summer this plant is covered in small yellow flowers.
Deerweed can be very useful in restoration or in a garden situation. You can use it to help establish your new garden. Very drought tolerant, and host to over 16 species of butterflies and moths!

Soap Plant

Chlorogalum pomeridianum

Available in 4″ pots for $7.70 each!

Soap plant is a bulb that grows 2′ tall by 2′ wide.
It is a superb plant for evening flowers since the flowers only open late in the day or when it is very overcast.
For a dramatic effect, plant in a meadow garden where it will go dormant during summer and fall.
This easy to grow bulb has 2′ tall spikes of small white flowers that bloom from May-August.
Bulbs are an important food source for Native Americans and may be eaten when roasted.

Blue-eyed Grass

Sisyrinchium bellum

Available in 4″ pots for $7.70 each!

This 1′ tall perennial with 1″ blue flowers is a horticulture favorite. A great plant for borders, containers, or massed on a grassy slope in the garden.
This plant has small, iris-like leaves, and can be very drought tolerant but will flower longer with some summer water. It flowers January to June.
Blue eyed grass prefers some moisture and good drainage, but will tolerate summer dryness
Blue-eyed grass is widely distributed in California on open, grassy slopes.

California Fuchsia

Epilobium canum

Available in TB2, D16, and 1-gallon pots for $7.70-16.30 each!

This attractive herbaceous perennial grows 1.5 feet tall and 2 feet wide. Space 36-48″ apart.
In the garden it is well-suited in containers, rock gardens, informal gardens, and cascading down rock walls. It is particularly stunning when planted on a rocky slope nestled between boulders.
A terrific hummingbird plant, California fuchsia blooms during the warmest part of the year, August to October, to coincide with the south migration of hummingbirds.
Prune to the ground annually and as needed for best appearance. It will re-vegetate rapidly.

California Bee Plant

Scrophularia californica

Available in D16 pots for $8.20 each!

A 2-4’ perennial with three foot spikes of reddish flowers.
Great for shady gardens and a prime choice for a butterfly garden. Drought tolerant but will look good longer in the season with a bit of summer moisture.
Attracts butterflies and bees, is a good source of nectar for hummingbirds, and is also deer resistant. Larval host to seven species of butterflies and moths, including the Orange Tortix Moth and Geranium Plume Moth
Slope bottoms, north facing slopes, slightly moister places that receive 11-85 inches of rain per year.
Blooms February through May

Coast Buckwheat

Eriogonum latifolium

Available in D16 pots for $6.15-8.20 each!

Coast Buckwheat is a small evergreen sub-shrub, usually on coastal bluffs. It grows quickly to a nice mound about 2′ tall and wide. Space 2-3′ apart.
The round clusters of cream-colored flowers bloom April – September, turning rusty pink as they dry. A favorite of butterflies and honeybees!
Its form, foliage, and flowers are attractive additions to rock gardens and mixed borders. This also is an excellent plant for erosion control and is tolerant of poor soils.
Partners well with seaside daisy, sandhill sagebrush, quail bush, and reedgrass.

California Phacelia

Phacelia californica

Available in 4″ pots for $7.70 each!

This herbaceous perennial grows to 1-2 feet tall. Plant in rock gardens or on a slope with good drainage. Space 1’0″ apart.
Purple fiddle neck flowers are in bloom from March to September.
The flowers provide an important nectar source for the endangered Mission blue butterfly. The flowers also provide for lots of native bee pollinators including bumble bees and honey bees.
Be careful of the leaves, the tiny hairs can cause skin dermatitis in some people. Use gloves when gardening with this pollinator powerhouse.

California Buckeye

Aesculus californica

Available in TB4 and TP4 pots for $17.70 each!

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. If that isn’t enough, large chestnut-brown seeds then appear in the fall. Little pruning needed.

California Honeysuckle

Lonicera hispidula

Available in D-16 pots for $8.20 each!

A climbing deciduous shrub with large pink flowers, native to most of CA and extending northwards into WA. Very drought tolerant and good in shade to part shade to full sun areas of the garden.
Its pink flowers are used by hummingbirds. The red berries are eaten by birds.
Great plant for around oaks with snowberry, coffeeberry and toyon. Often found growing in woodland openings, streamsides and slopes. Does well in clay soils.
Pink flowers spring-summer, red berries late summer through fall. Berries are edible, though best left for the birds–they’re quite bitter.

And now, for a few new-to-TWNC species:

Two-Lobed Clarkia

Clarkia biloba

Available in D16 pots for $7.70 each!

New to TWN this year!
Two Lobed Clarkia is a California endemic annual wildflower reaching up to 3 feet tall when in bloom. Space ~1 ft apart.
Named for the lobes on its pink heart-shaped petals. Native to the Sierra Nevada foothills and the East Bay Area, and found on slopes of chaparral and woodland habitats.
Clarkias are wonderful additions to wildflower gardens, meadow, or container plantings. Pinch pruning will encourage a bushier form.
Two lobed Clarkia appreciates well-draining soil, and should reseed well if happy in its site.
Protect young plants from nibbles by deer and birds to ensure success. Two Lobed Clarkia is a larval host to five species of butterflies and moths, including the White-lined Sphinx moth and Mariposa Forester.

Woodland Layia

Layia gaillardioides

Available in 4″ pots for $7.70 each!

New to TWN this year!
Woodland Layia or Woodland Tidytips is a California endemic annual wildflower reaching up to 3 feet tall when in bloom. Space 1 foot apart.
In spring, Woodland Layia sports sweet scented bright yellow and cream colored blooms atop waving stems with hairy foliage.
A lovely addition to butterfly or bee gardens, Woodland Layia is tolerant of most soil types as long as it isn’t overwatered.
Likely host to the small Heliothodes moth.
Its seeds are favored by finches and sparrows. Woodland Layia is a cheery addition to a wildflower patch, and should reseed well if it is happy.
Pairs well with native clovers, Gilia, and native grasses such as Purple Needlegrass.

Cow Clover

Trifolium wormskioldii

Available in 4″ pots for $8.50 each!

New to TWN this year!
Cow clover is a petite winter deciduous perennial herbaceous plant, reaching ~1 ft tall. Native across western North America, and found in many plant communities.
In CA, Cow Clover is found across much of the state in moist or marshy places. The form differs depending on its elevation–coastal and lower elevation populations form a low mat, at moderate elevations it will have longer, lush stems. All bloom in spring, with striking deep pink flowers.
Native clovers are a bee’s paradise, and Cow Clover is no exception. Larval host plant for the Western Cloudywing and Greenish Blue butterflies.
This is a great option to include in a native meadow or lumpy lawn planting. Protect young plants from birds and foot traffic during establishment period.

Parry Ceanothus

Ceanothus parryi

Available in D-16, D-40 pots, now 25% off for $7.20-8.59 each!

New to TWN this year!
Parry Ceanothus, sometimes called Ladybloom, is an evergreen shrub reaching 8-16 feet tall and up to 12 feet wide.
Native to the canyons of coastal mountain ranges in Northern California and Oregon.
Parry Ceanothus grows clusters of long, narrow spring blooms in a medium to deep blue, which are heavily visited by butterflies, moths, and native bees.
Parry Ceanothus is a wonderful option for a hedge, screening, or as a statement shrub in a sunny habitat garden. Provides excellent cover and nesting habitat for birds.
Needs little to no water once established, and can tolerate inland heat. Pairs well with Yerba Santa, Monkeyflower, Yampah, CA Bay, Madrone, and Soapplant.

‘Bee’ Well and Happy Spring from all of us at

The Watershed Nursery Cooperative!

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