Nursery Happenings May 2026

Spring plant sale

We held a very successful Spring 2026 Native Plant Sale! That was Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4, at the Shasta College Farm.

Spring 2026 Native Plant Sale. MA McCrary. — We are so happy our volunteers came together and made the Spring 2026 Native Plant Sale an awesome success! Much gratitude to all and to our customers! Photo taken April 3, 2026, by MaryAnn McCrary.

Over 400 plants left the nursery to be planted where they will someday bloom like these in the following slideshow, which are just a few of the species sold at our spring sale that happen to bloom in April. (All photos are by MaryAnn McCrary, taken in April 2026, in Redding gardens or at the Shasta College Farm.)

For a fun look at plant sale day activity, please see the video by Action News Now, Shasta College Holds Annual Spring Plant Sale, posted on April 4, 2026.

From the north

In other news, our April Chapter meeting featured two speakers from Siskiyou County organizations: Ada Rubin with Siskiyou Arboretum & Native Plant Nursery, and Kathleen Perillo from Guys Gulch Ecological Reserve. I was happy to learn that we have a collaboration on the horizon. New things keep us inspired!

Ada Rubin speaking at our April 2026 Chapter meeting. D. Burk. — Ada Rubin, volunteer lead at the Siskiyou Arboretum & Native Plant Nursery in Yreka, entertaining us with her fascinating talk entitled, *The Siskiyou Arboretum and Native Plant Nursery & Me,* at our April 16, 2026, Chapter meeting. Photo by Don Burk.

Speaking of Siskiyou County, we will be selling native plants that are particularly suitable for that area at the 33^rd Annual Siskiyou County Mother’s Day Wildflower Show.

Kathleen Perillo speaking at the April 2026 Chapter meeting. D. Burk. — Kathleen Perillo, co-founder of Guys Gulch Ecological Reserve in Siskiyou County, presenting her talk on the restoration work they are doing there, entitled, *Plants and the Pollinators Who Love Them,* at our April 16, 2026, Chapter meeting. Photo by Don Burk.

Earth Day Festival

The nursery also supplied the Shasta Chapter CNPS booth at the Earth Day Festival in Caldwell Park on April 18 with a selection of plants recommended for pollinator gardens, including local milkweed species, coyote mint, valley gumplant (a sunflower), sticky cinquefoil, purple haze coast aster, and creeping sage.

Now and in the future

Our nursery activities at Shasta College are now focused on growing plants for the fall sale, coming in mid October. And there is quite a lot to do! Stay tuned here for possible “Action in the Nursery “ dates.

And don’t forget, our plants are always available to walk-in customers during regular Shasta College Nursery hours: 9 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday. One just needs to find Shasta College horticulture staff to make a purchase.
~MaryAnn McCrary, Nursery Manager