I'm so glad we've gotten a few days of sunshine mixed in with this rain. The weather is starting to gear towards our typical spring weather and with the ground soft and saturated it will make for a very nice spring, delayed or not. 

Plants are starting to show signs of life as the temperatures start to warm up. I've particularly noticed the natives springing to life and showing blossoms. Ceanothus/lilac in particular are one of the first California natives to bloom in the late winter and early springtime, followed closely by poppies (what a combo!) and others. Take advantage of our 20% in stock Ceanothus sale for the next few weeks. (Pictures above in first section, nice display of plants up at the front of the nursery near bedding.) 

Plant Talk...

I've observed a surge in hummingbird and bee activity recently. Here are some top pollinator plants in bloom right now: Kalanchoe manganii (in full bloom right now, red tubular flowers pictured below left), Grevillea (lots to choose from, 'Magic lanterns', Long Jon', King's fire', and dwarf rosmarinifolia below right).  Anigozanthos a.k.a. kangaroo paw is in with different colors and sizes.  Once the flower fully opens it's perfect hummingbird nectar!

Jasmine polyanthum, or pink jasmine, the first to bloom and very fragrant - in 4-inch, 6-inch hanging baskets, one-gallon staked, and five-gallon staked all budded and starting to open!

Salvia,  the wish series: 'Ember's wish', 'Wendy's wish' and 'Love and wishes' (below left) and  Justicia rizzinii  (below right with bunnies) are budding and blooming with tubular candy corn colored flowers.  Poppies  are great for bees (Icelandic, California, and Poppy Anemones) and others...there are just too many to name the all!

Here is a quick list of some of my favorite plants at our nursery right now: Our protea and Leucospermum collection is fantastic. The Leucospermums are currently budded and blooming! They have a reputation for being difficult to grow but if you have good drainage, plenty of sunlight, and room for them you shouldn't have too much trouble. 

Crassula 'Buddha's temple' are back in limited numbers, 4-inch plants are in the succulent section. Othonna 'Ruby necklace' (shown below) is a succulent growing rapidly in popularity. Its leaves turn purple in the sun, and has a trailing habit with yellow flowers.

Phormium 'Black adder' is one of my all-time favorite dark leaved plants. There is just something about plants with dark leaves, especially when paired with plants like Podocarpus 'Icee blue', Coleonema   'Sunset gold',  or  Senecio candicans 'Angel wings'  that really compliments a garden.  'Angel wings' is a newer plant but its attributes are very promising (big fuzzy white leaves, yellow flowers, low growing habit, moderate to low water).  See how the contrasting colors work together in this collection below:

Michelia crassipes, in the same family as magnolia, is one of Marc's favorite trees with its graceful habit and fragrant white flowers (they are budded up as you read this!) 

That will conclude my plant list for this week, stay tuned for the rose and fruit tree list in the next issue. Special order roses will be in soon - roses  in bud and bloom  will arrive in another week or two!  I look forward to seeing you all at the nursery well before I see a  leprechaun !