Ready, set, plant!
Thursday, April 2, from 4 to 6 PM, is our members-only 30% off Spring 2026 Native Plant Pre-sale, at the Shasta College Farm greenhouses, 11555 Old Oregon Trail, Redding. Please bring your membership card or address label from Flora Magazine to verify membership, or buy a membership at the gate! (See first-time-member discount special!)
Members also get 20% off at the public sale, which will run Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4, from 9 AM to 5 PM both days. Here is our Plant Availability List for your garden planning.
March madness
March has been quite a month, I think anyone would agree. It was the hottest March on record across the western U.S. That certainly affects plants and gardeners of all stripes. But relief is arriving as rain on the last days of March and April 1. By April 2, we might be lucky enough to have one of those most beautiful days as the rain tapers off. Over the sale weekend, temperatures will be ideal for buying native plants and planting!
Besides defending our plants from a summer-like heat wave that hit while many tender leaves were first emerging, March was, of course, a very busy month of preparation for the spring sale. There was a well-attended tour of the nursery at our monthly meeting on March 19, and propagation events on Sundays through March 22. Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped in the nursery and to the tour participants who brought up interesting questions.
For example, there was the question, or assertion, that buttercups make very pesky seeds that ruin socks. I replied with an admittedly decades old recollection about a non-native buttercup that does just that. Since then, I’ve confirmed that the seeds of the buttercup we carry, Ranunculus occidentalis, are smooth and would not adhere to socks in a troublesome way. However, there is indeed a non-native buttercup, Ranunculus muricatus, that is common in moist swales on ranchland whose seeds are described as, “coarsely papillate, each papilla tipped with a hooked bristle,” in The Jepson Manual. That’s the sock hitchhiker. Rest assured it is not the charming native buttercup growing in our nursery!
New in the nursery
Our spring sale dates coincide with Shasta College’s Horticulture Department spring sale at which many vegetable plants and ornamentals that are grown by students can be purchased. It is the biggest event of the year for horticulture students, who also help maintain our nursery by irrigating the plants. Students with a specific interest in native species can and do also help with native species propagation through a work-study program. This spring semester, we’ve enjoyed assistance from Angel Ladd, who also leads the Horticulture Club on campus. Here she is checking out the first open flowers on our common madia, a pineapple-scented sunflower that is visited by many pollinators.
Photo taken by MaryAnn McCrary on March 26, 2026.
See you at the plant sale! ~MaryAnn McCrary, Nursery Manager