California native plant gardeners are well acquainted with the “Fall is for planting” mantra, giving new plants two seasons (winter and spring) to put down deep root systems before they need to weather hot summer days making them more resilient. That said, if there was ever a spring where you could get away with planting late and still reap most of the benefits of fall planting, it’s this one!

Take advantage of our heavy rain year by shopping at our chapter’s Spring Plant Sale which will feature well over one hundred species of native plants, many of which are new offerings for our chapter. Of particular interest will be a significantly expanded line-up of spring flowering annual wildflowers which provide instant garden color and diversity for pollinators. Many of these annuals are from locally sourced seed which means they were grown from seed collected from local lands around Santa Cruz County (with landowner permission, of course).

Because of our relatively cool spring, however, the plants are a bit smaller than in past years. Ready to put in the ground and thrive.

The sale will also offer a wider selection of spring flowering bulbs (Allium, Brodiaea, Dichelostemma, and Triteleia sp.) and both cool
and warm season grasses (Anthoxanthum, Aristida, Bouteloua, Festuca, Koeleria, Muhlenbergia sp. and more) which bring beauty and texture into any garden space.

The chapter received a generous donation of Dudleya, including highly sought after hybrids. A selection of these plants will
be available at the sale with more to come in fall as the seedlings mature.

Please check the chapter’s website (cruz.cnps) and Facebook group page for additional information including the sale plant list which will be posted one week prior to the sale date.