Did She Say 'Plant Sale'?!

Monardella micrantha 'Marion Sampson'

Just in case you haven't left the cave recently, the East Bay California Native Plant Society plant sale is this weekend!  I'll be volunteering on Sunday in the loading area.  It's such a festive atmosphere with so many happy people- I highly recommend stopping by!  Make a day of it by strolling through the Tilden Botanical Garden (which I still can't believe doesn't charge admission!) and coming to Native Here Nursery to pick up a few plants.  Hope to see you there!

I've Caught Fall-Fever

 Many folks don't realize that us Californians have the advantage of two "Springs."  The conventional one that begins in March and the California Spring which begins when the rains come.  Manzanitas, Silk Tassel trees, Gooseberries and Currants begin blooming as soon as December and leaves begin to emerge after the sleepy late Summer heat has left us.  What does that mean for the significant others of garden geeks?  Well, they end up hearing all about the plants that will be planted, have to nod encouragingly at clusters of pots with spindly green things stuck in them (those are plants, honey!), and are left to their own devices when the plant sales come 'round. 

 Saturday found us at such a plant sale- the East Bay Wilds "everything must go, bring the truck" plant sale.  Lisa who I'm sure you're already aware of and Karen, my effervescent green-thumbed friend and I hopped into the Idora-mobile and headed out into the yonder of plant wonderment. 

Amorpha californica

 Poor Pete, running from end to end to help out his energetic and numerous clientele, hovered long enough to recommend a Pickeringia.  My response?  Okay!  And so it went.  The ladies scored some gorgeous pots and we filled the truck with armfuls of little green treasures. 

My haul includes:

the aforementioned Pickeringia, which through my obsessive Googling I have found attracts hummingbirds with its bright pink flowers.  It has a very fragile root system, which probably doesn't bode well for the number of times I've knocked the darn pot over.

Rhododendron occidentale

Rhododendron occidentale:  yes, California has a native Rhodie!  Not only that, but it's scented and has flowers colored like buttered popcorn.  Think I'll try this one in a pot.

Amorpha californica var. napensis or False Indigo:  a rare to the trade plant that attracts Bumble bees and hosts the California native insect, the Dog-Face Butterfly.  Cool!  Like the Pickeringia, it's in the pea family.

Dendromecon or Bush Poppy:  I think this is rigida and not hartfordii, but can't be sure.  What I do know is that the yellow poppy-shaped blooms pop against the blue-green foliage and will contrast nicely with...

Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman':  I'm aiming to get some Ceanothus Silk Moths in the back garden, not to mention a fast screen for privacy from the neighbors.  Oh, and it has lavender flowers that are lightly scented, bringing bees of all kinds from miles around?  Yes, please!

Penstemon centranthifolius or Scarlet Bugler:  Oh crap, I wish I had gotten more of these.  The perfect shot of red before the California Fuchsias appear and a natural hummingbird feeder. 

an unknown Dudleya:  my favorite kind, pictured up top.  What can I say, it's an addiction.  Perhaps he'll find himself in one of the terracotta tubes I've got sticking out of the garden.

Big 'ol mystery Wasp on a Cornus at the nursery

We capped the day with some Robb-made lemonade, with Lisa sending Karen and I home cradling jars of backyard honey.  As soon as the weather cools, I'll be in squirrel mode- digging around, planting and transplanting my Autumn away.  Thanks Pete of East Bay Wilds, for spreading that happy malady- Fall-Fever!

Breaking News! Blow-out Plant Sale of the Year!

 Alright, Fall planters get ready!  This weekend I received the following email from Pete at East Bay Wilds (via the EBCNPS google group):

Due to the sale of the property where my nursery is, I'm going to close my castro valley location in September.

I will have a big sale - 50% off everything on saturday and 75% off everything left on sunday until 3 pm on sept 25th and 26th.  most everything left at 3 pm on sunday, I'll sell for absolute minimal - $1-$3 or free!  I have moved plants, although many of my best ones are at my nursery in oakland - all the manzanitas, many ceanothus, dendromecons, pickeringias, etc..will stay in oakland. 

There are loads of others including many unusual plants at the castro valley location - many different coffeeberries, most buckwheats, mock oranges, penstemons, yucca whippleii and baccata, lots of native cacti, madrones, rhamnus illicifolias, many oaks, buckeyes, styrax, bay laurels, bayberries, mountain mahoganies, california walnuts, many ribes species, zauschnerias, eryngiums, goldenrods, asters, succulents, many, many grasses and many more plants of all kinds. 

If someone would like to know whether I have something in particular, I can answer people individually but I prefer email to telephone if possible.  I won't be able to reserve anything for pickup on that weekend or afterwards - just beforehand and not at the 50%/75% discounts. However, I will give 25% discounts on everything at the Castro Valley location until then.  in addition to the plants, I have lots of interesting garden props - pottery, antiques [old stuff is probably a better term], some fencing, gates, interesting rocks and wood for sale at the same big discounts.

In order to express my thanks for so many of you who have been wonderful customers over the years, I will be giving away one plant to everyone who comes [mostly soaproot lilies, but something similar, if I run out of those].

I'm going to keep my oakland nursery going and I'm still looking for a good location closer to my home in east oakland or alameda for a larger one - in case anyone knows of something.  it seems like w/ all these empty lots and warehouses everywhere around here I should have found something by now, but I haven't found the right place yet.  I just need lots of sun and water and if possible, a little office space.

Please help spread the word about the sale if you could.  Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

EAST BAY WILDS
CASTRO VALLEY CLOSING SALE

Saturday, September 25 from 10 am until 4 pm

50% off entire inventory

Sunday, September 26 from 10 am until 3pm - AFTER 3pm, prices will be slashed down to next to nothing.

75% off entire inventory

Directions will be posted at www.eastbaywilds.com on September 22nd.

I'd like to thank Bob and Caroline Sparks for so generously sharing their land in Castro Valley with us for the past four years.  They've been amazingly great  'neighbors' for all of us at East Bay Wilds and we will miss seeing them regularly.



Pete Veilleux
East Bay Wilds
510-409-5858
www.eastbaywilds.com

photo botanical guide of California Native Plants: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/
to see some photos of the spring bloom, 2010: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157623927299047/
to see photos of our new work, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/collections/72157600017422082/

Ok, me again.  Who's carpooling with me?  I've got a whole truck to fill and my honey will be very mad if I fill it all myself...

 

CNPS Plant Sale: So Good, the Cops Came

Not sure why a police officer was patrolling the plant sale, but there he was.  Do plant geeks really get that deviant?!  Regardless, the plant sale was tons of fun and even being the native plant nerd I am, I learned about a few new plants I'd never seen before.  I was really surprised how many of the plants offered were riparian (or growing near water) species.  Because I focus so much on drought tolerance, I tend to weed out the others (ok, that pun was intended).  A few newbies (to me)...

Scirpus acutus, or Common Tulle.  These can grow to 10 or 15 feet high!  But unless you happen to have a stream running through your urban jungle, you might be stuck watering them quite frequently.  Bummer.

Another plant for my future rotations:  Ninebark or Physocarpus capitatus.  Why didn't I learn of this sooner?!  Pretty leaves, gorgeous flowers, fall color and that peeley barky thing that I adore natives for...  what's not to love? 

It was a festive atmosphere, but I swear- folks were on a mission!  And tons of volunteers were helping educate local gardeners on the wonderful world of going native.  Next year, I think I'll finally get my stuff together and join them- it looked like they were having such a grand time!

CNPS Plant Sale!

Put on your running shoes, plantophiles!  The California Native Plant Society East Bay Chapter's Native Here Nursery is having their dreamy plant sale in Tilden Park this weekend!  I love how this nursery is organized by areas in the East Bay so you know exactly what grows where.  Although I don't usually garden that way, it's a great reminder of the importance of using plants that are made for your soil, weather, etc.
See you there!