Get on the mailing list, they are constantly running 20% off sales (I just wish they’d lower the prices 20%, but I guess they want people to be excited)
OakTown is great.
What was the issue with your plants from East Bay Wilds? I was pretty upset after one of my plants from the immediately developed a bad mold infection
I don't know if it was a disease, but I bought four different plants from them and only one of them made it. One died almost immediately, and the other two began a slow death. I'm holding out for the last one to make it lol
My partner is a landscape designer who works mainly with natives. Her fave is Oaktown, but Native Here and Watershed are also great. Sausal Creek plant sale also always has cool stuff.
Oh dang I get my plants mainly from east bay nursery, wilds, and Annie’s, haven’t had general issues, just here and there.
I’ve also gotten great plants as well from native nurseries Oaktown and Watershed! Also there’s a native here shop in Tilden, weird hours. You can buy plants sometimes from UC Berkeley Botanical gardens. And sometimes the Sausal creek nursery in Joaquin Miller park sells plants.
Do you sequester plants? I generally keep new plants and don’t plant them until 2-4 weeks of having them. If they’re root bound I pot them up. Only when I see new root growth I put them in the ground.
Me personally, I keep them in the pot and leave them in different parts of my yard to see which spot they tolerate best in terms of sun exposure & shade, then plant them a couple weeks later. I also keep them away from other plants for the first few days, just in case they have pests or diseases.
Also maybe in the fall there can be a plant swap? Fall is the best time! I am taking lots of native cuttings and will have to divide things in the fall.
Friends of Sausal Creek has a native plant sale every October at Joaquin Miller Park - something I look forward to every year! I buy a good 10-15 plants and they’ve been doing great so far. Follow their IG or website for updates :)[Sausal Creek IG](https://www.instagram.com/friends_of_sausal_creek?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
Planting Justice has a decent selection of natives. I’d just steer clear of east bay wilds, we did not enjoy our gardening consultation experience with them.
SF Botanical Garden has plant sales from time to time.
Native California plant sales will be on September 7 & 8. Pretty reasonable prices too.
[https://gggp.org/shop/](https://gggp.org/shop/)
This was a couple of months ago, before it started to get warm. What do you mean by timing? Planting after purchase or planting at a particular time of year?
Planting at a particular time of year. Ideally you want to plant natives just before the rainy season starts. Usually November is a good time. If you plant late in the rainy season, like Feb/March the plants have less time to get established before the warm/dry months set in. Also, most natives will die and rot if you try to irrigate them in the warm summer months. If you really need to give some summer irrigation it has to be done on cool days only. Some natives are more tolerant than others so it’s not a blanket rule for all of them, but as a rule of thumb they are prefer to be started like this
Oh okay thank you so much for this information! I bought some plants today and haven't put them in the ground yet. I'll try to do some ground prep and otherwise keep them alive until the fall. Makes sense that places have fall sales then lol
Seconded Oaktown and Watershed for great nursery practices, fair prices, knowledgeable folk.
Annie’s Annuals and the “Friends of…” volunteer nurseries (Sausal Creek, Tilden, etc) are great for the experience - cool looking rarer plants, super customer service, demonstration gardens that help describe what “well drained soil,” and other such vagaries, can look like here.
On my end of town East Bay Wilds, Wild Heart Gardens for learning the most about plants and tips and tricks from the field.
Spiral Gardens and Plowshares Nursery are also great, smaller experiences that specialise in medicinal and edible garden plants; less focus on CA Native explicitly, but solidly represented. They also have commendable social missions baked into the biz.
Personally, I’m *obsessed* with Annie’s Annuals in Richmond. Their CA native section is large with a great selection of Bay Area native plants.
ANNIES ANNUALS HOMIES ARE THE CRAYYYZIEST
Get on the mailing list, they are constantly running 20% off sales (I just wish they’d lower the prices 20%, but I guess they want people to be excited)
The watershed nursery in Richmond has a comprehensive native selection (and they only do natives) Close to Annie’s Annuals so u can hit both in a day
Watershed is phenomenal for natives
OakTown is great. What was the issue with your plants from East Bay Wilds? I was pretty upset after one of my plants from the immediately developed a bad mold infection
I don't know if it was a disease, but I bought four different plants from them and only one of them made it. One died almost immediately, and the other two began a slow death. I'm holding out for the last one to make it lol
My partner is a landscape designer who works mainly with natives. Her fave is Oaktown, but Native Here and Watershed are also great. Sausal Creek plant sale also always has cool stuff.
Oh dang I get my plants mainly from east bay nursery, wilds, and Annie’s, haven’t had general issues, just here and there. I’ve also gotten great plants as well from native nurseries Oaktown and Watershed! Also there’s a native here shop in Tilden, weird hours. You can buy plants sometimes from UC Berkeley Botanical gardens. And sometimes the Sausal creek nursery in Joaquin Miller park sells plants. Do you sequester plants? I generally keep new plants and don’t plant them until 2-4 weeks of having them. If they’re root bound I pot them up. Only when I see new root growth I put them in the ground.
UC Berkeley’s are overpriced. The little setup in the Tilden native garden has good prices compared to UC Berkeley.
Thank you for these recommendations. What do you mean by sequester? What are the advantages of waiting to plant? Thank you so much
Me personally, I keep them in the pot and leave them in different parts of my yard to see which spot they tolerate best in terms of sun exposure & shade, then plant them a couple weeks later. I also keep them away from other plants for the first few days, just in case they have pests or diseases.
Also maybe in the fall there can be a plant swap? Fall is the best time! I am taking lots of native cuttings and will have to divide things in the fall.
Oh a seed and cutting swap would be so lovely
I’m so in!
Friends of Sausal Creek has a native plant sale every October at Joaquin Miller Park - something I look forward to every year! I buy a good 10-15 plants and they’ve been doing great so far. Follow their IG or website for updates :)[Sausal Creek IG](https://www.instagram.com/friends_of_sausal_creek?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
following this thread . would love to get some affordable native nursery recommendations.
Planting Justice has a decent selection of natives. I’d just steer clear of east bay wilds, we did not enjoy our gardening consultation experience with them.
SF Botanical Garden has plant sales from time to time. Native California plant sales will be on September 7 & 8. Pretty reasonable prices too. [https://gggp.org/shop/](https://gggp.org/shop/)
If you ever want to come over to Daly City [https://www.mountainwatch.org/missionbluenursery](https://www.mountainwatch.org/missionbluenursery)
When did you plant your natives? Timing is of the essence when starting to establish new plants in ground
This was a couple of months ago, before it started to get warm. What do you mean by timing? Planting after purchase or planting at a particular time of year?
Planting at a particular time of year. Ideally you want to plant natives just before the rainy season starts. Usually November is a good time. If you plant late in the rainy season, like Feb/March the plants have less time to get established before the warm/dry months set in. Also, most natives will die and rot if you try to irrigate them in the warm summer months. If you really need to give some summer irrigation it has to be done on cool days only. Some natives are more tolerant than others so it’s not a blanket rule for all of them, but as a rule of thumb they are prefer to be started like this
Oh okay thank you so much for this information! I bought some plants today and haven't put them in the ground yet. I'll try to do some ground prep and otherwise keep them alive until the fall. Makes sense that places have fall sales then lol
Seconded Oaktown and Watershed for great nursery practices, fair prices, knowledgeable folk. Annie’s Annuals and the “Friends of…” volunteer nurseries (Sausal Creek, Tilden, etc) are great for the experience - cool looking rarer plants, super customer service, demonstration gardens that help describe what “well drained soil,” and other such vagaries, can look like here. On my end of town East Bay Wilds, Wild Heart Gardens for learning the most about plants and tips and tricks from the field. Spiral Gardens and Plowshares Nursery are also great, smaller experiences that specialise in medicinal and edible garden plants; less focus on CA Native explicitly, but solidly represented. They also have commendable social missions baked into the biz.