Time to be thinking of next year's flowers - and getting them in the ground!

I've been thinking about spring, or more accurately called: next year's flower season.

I use photos a lot to help me think about how plants look throughout the seasons and it helps me to sort and re-sort them by season, or ecosystem, colors, sun/shade requirements, etc... which is why I really like using flickr. it helps me think about the possibilities for combinations that I might not have seen yet. I just put this set together of spring blooms which might be of interest to some of you.

SPRING BLOOM - http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157623927299047/

I wish that we had a louder bullhorn to tell folks that NOW is the time to plant natives of all kinds. it's so much more practical to plant now, than to wait until march when you have to jump thru hoops [and spend lots more $$] to get things to survive. some plants which are really important to plant now are: wooly blue curls, flannelbush, most manzanitas, some ceanothus, goldenbushes, most sages, and almost any large specimen plants.

I'm really looking forward to experimenting w/ quite a few new plants for next year - perennials, flowering shrubs as well as some really cool annuals. some of the new ones I'm working w/ are:

chinquapin http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157607584823491/with/5184277410/
chapparal pea: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157613525471088/with/2488170521/
golden fleece: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157608477859270/with/4967307340/
austin griffiths manzanita: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157623299735150/with/5184274558/
winterglow manzanita: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/5166375734/
morro manzanita: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157622877380042/with/4134660108/
hoover manzanita: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157623464742974/with/4367349288/
'Pinky' Manzanita: no pics yet!
this really nice coastal hairgrass: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/3778814116/in/set-72157621931010696/
Thurber's Reedgrass: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157611192080998/

and for annuals:
Turkish Rugging: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157624951939277/with/247284621/
Golden Yarrow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157619521159484/with/4744666145/
Grand Linanthus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157623809790647/with/2702505051/
Ruby Chalice clarkia: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastbaywilds/sets/72157619765369366/with/3627673411/
happy planting season! [thanksgiving too]

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/