It’s time for Spring Annuals!

Greetings Watershed,

Spring, spring, spring–at long last, it’s annual wildflower season! We’ve got quite a hefty palette of gorgeous spring wildflowers on our shelves for sale, from familiar favorites like Clarkias, lupines, poppies, to some new-to-The Watershed Nursery species (Phacelia distans, Pholistoma auritum, and more). New to growing wildflowers? Read on to learn more, and see some of our favorites this year.

Most of our native wildflowers in California are annuals, which have a remarkably efficient life cycle– germinating, flowering, and setting seeds in the span of only a few months! Our local annuals are adapted to our Mediterranean climate, sprouting with winter rains, blooming in spring and summer, and then producing seeds before they die in the summer heat. Having evolved in our climate, they require less water, fertilizer, are less prone to disease, and are more tolerant of pests than non-native annuals.

California native annual wildflowers produce abundant seeds, allowing them to sprout up new individuals each spring. Their seeds are also a source of food for many bird species! Our native annuals are incredibly important for a plethora of our native pollinators too, providing nectar, pollen, and even leaves as a source of food. These incredible wildflowers have evolved particular shapes, colors, sizes, and perfectly timed flowering seasons to attract their target pollinators. Lupines and other legumes can improve soil health, returning nutrients to the soil with each life cycle. And of course, the beauty of our native annuals makes spring the season of some of the most enchanting wonders that California has to offer!

Tips for Gardening with Annuals:

Predation: Many annuals will be nibbled on by snails, slugs, migratory sparrows, deer, and more! A lightweight netting or cage that still allows light through will allow your plants to grow without being munched to the ground. Otherwise, plant in containers closer to a building to discourage browsing.

Watering & Care: Fast growing annuals in containers or in the ground will need moisture to get established–either by your hand or the clouds. Frequent pinch pruning will encourage branching, and develop a sturdier main stem.

Growing from seed: A cost effective route for a showy spring garden, seeds are not without their challenges. Sow in a weed-free area, keep moist for 2-4 weeks, and protect from predation.

Design: Annuals look their best when planted en masse, so plant multiple of each species you’re interested in, and mix in a few perennials so you always have something blooming for pollinators. Successful plants will reseed best where there aren’t too many weeds.

The Watershed Nursery’s been in the News

In case you missed it, we were recently featured in an article with Project Equity recently–check it out to learn more about our journey to becoming an employee-owned cooperative and how they’ve supported us along the way.

There’s also a brief feature growing strawberries, including the native Fragaria vesca and Fragaria chiloensis in the Spring 2025 issue of Edible East Bay – we’ve got some copies available at the nursery if you’d like to take a look, and of course, native strawberries for sale as well 🙂

Common Meadowfoam

Limnanthes douglasii

Available in 4″ pots for $7.70 each!

• Also called “poached egg plant”, this low-growing annual meadow flower blooms from March – July.
• Adapted for the poorly drained soils of vernal pools and spring meadows, but is occasionally found in drier environments.
• A popular ornamental plant, the blooms of Meadowfoam make wonderfully petite cut flowers for a posy or nosegay. These fragrant yellow flowers are cup-shaped with white tipped petals.
• It is popularly used in the garden as an edge plant. It vigorously self-seeds, capable of forming a seasonal weed-suppressing groundcover.
• Promotes natural aphid control by attracting aphid-eating hover flies!

Point Reyes Meadowfoam

Limnanthes douglasii var. sulphurea

Available in 4″ pots for $7.70 each!

• Point Reyes Meadowfoam is a rare annual herb with sunny yellow spring flowers from March to May to the delight of bees.
• It is a compact (1.5 ft. tall) subspecies of meadowfoam with a distribution limited to primarily the North Coast and Central Coast regions of California.
• This cheery annual is the perfect addition to container gardens, and moist meadow gardens. In the wild, it can be found in wet meadows, edges of vernal pools, and seasonal streams.
• In the garden, it will grow best with moist clay or loamy soil and full sun. Reseeds readily.

Farewell-to-Spring

Clarkia rubicunda

Available in 4″ pots for $7.70 each!

• This annual wildflower grows to from 1 ½ to 2 ½ ’ high as well as wide.
• It is special because its flowers are so long lasting for an annual wildflower, where others can fade after a few weeks.
• This special gem is endemic to California with the greatest natural distribution around the San Francisco Bay area.
• The 2” flowers are pink to lavender and continuously bloom into late spring (sometimes longer near the coast), for as long as 3-4 months.
• It loves full sun but will also take light shade. It’s quite adaptable to a variety of soil types.
• Perfect for a pollinator garden to attract bees and butterflies.

Elegant Clarkia

Clarkia unguiculata

Available in 4″ pots for $7.70 each!

• An annual wildflower endemic (limited) to California, also known as Woodland Clarkia.
• Elegant Clarkia grows roughly 3 feet tall, and has very showy blooms, is easy to care for, and can tolerate partial shade.
• Pink to coral to deep fuchsia colored flowers bloom continuously throughout the spring and into the summer and it will reseed for next year’s spring color.
• Flowers of the genus Clarkia are primarily pollinated by specialist bees found in their native habitat, but also support butterflies and moths
• Makes a wonderful cut flower, with blooms lasting several weeks!

Happy Spring, ‘Bee’ Well, and Go Natives! from all of us at the Watershed Nursery Cooperative!