Living relatively close to Annie's Annuals, I usually cheat and buy mine there. I've had good luck with Nemophilia, Platystemon, and Gilia tricolor, but only the various species of California poppies and the Limnathes come back for me. I think a lot of the prettiest CA annual spring wildflowers are from the desert area and grow in almost pure sand, and they do not like the light clay that I have. Most of these die quickly, as soon as warm weather appears (late April). Most of my spring color is from hardy annuals like Nigella, Larkspur, Scarlet flax, Orlaya, and Shirley poppies, which are native wildflowers of the Mediterranean Sea area. These last a bit longer than the CA wildflowers, but by June are past their prime.

oh no! I shouldn't have gone to that website... How do you keep yourself away from the nursery??? Not a good place for a garden-a-holic!

The only two I can think of that bloom outside of springtime are the flannelbush and toyon (okay, toyon blooms in the summer, but it's most interesting in December).

davissue: Calif. annual desert wildflowers don't last any longer than they do in your garden. In the low desert, the display gets under way in the latter part of February, and by mid-April it's pretty much finished, especially if there is any hot spell, even if very brief. It starts and lasts later in the high desert. Other things, non-annuals like beaver-tail cactus, hedgehogs & things like that, last much longer. Fremontodendron californicum, a large shrub, was spectacular between Big Bear and Lucerne Valley on May 24. Of our chaparral and CSS plants, the flowering period is much more extended. Most of the annuals are past their prime now or completely gone, and Salvia mellifera has mostly finished (it starts in Feb.), but S. clevelandii is just now getting underway. S. apiana depends a lot on location and elevation. Some are already past flowering, some are just now starting.

I agree with S. clevelandii... A house down the street has 2 HUGE ones... They are beautiful. Can anyone give info on taking cuttings or propagating? I would like to ask them if they will share!
Thanks for sharing all your info!

Re. the S. clevelandii: I just took a whole bunch of cuttings,stripped the lower leaves and topped off the flowers, stuck them in rooting hormone, then put them in a pot. A lot of them didn't make it, but enough did. Probably more would have if I'd been more diligent.
Hope this helps.

I agree with Sumcool's method, but I put the cuttings in a sterile medium like perlite or washed sand (or 50/50) so I can keep them constantly moist without fear of rot. Then after 6 weeks or so, I carefully dump the cuttings out and repot the ones with roots into soil.

I've had success even w/o rooting hormone. It's important to use spring cuttings of strong vigor and not let them flower.

inkneedeep: The suggestions already offered are good for propagating S. cleve. Look at my S. clevelandii thread in the Salvia Forum for views of wild plants. Many plants claimed to be S. clevelandii in the nurseries are really hybrids with S. leucophylla. I'm using a 1:1 mix of perlite & vermiculite to root cuttings. I had about 90% rooting of cuttings taken in early March & early April (two different batches).

Some of the wildflowers in my native yard are

CA poppies (bloom early spring to early summer)
Lupines (L. nanus I think? blooms from March-early May)
Tidy Tips (blooms from late Feb.- late April)
Nemophilia (same as Tidy Tips)
Bird's eye Gila (blooms mid/late April-early/mid May)
Streptanthus (late April-May)

right now the Clarkias (Farewell to Spring are in bloom. They started a few weeks ago)
A few poppies are still blooming
The Matijilla poppy is blooming
Soap Plant, Tritelia and Brodiae (all bulbs) are blooming now)

in mid-late summer, I rely on the Zauschneria (CA fuchsia) and Eriogonum arborescens to supply color). Both are perennials, rather than wild flowers.

The poppies will also show again in fall.

wanda

Our Clarkias started blooming in early April, were finished by mid-May.

Are you all mixing the CA Natives with longer blooming perennials and annuals that aren't native? How are you or did you plan your wild Garden. I am thinking maybe a border in my desert / wild area plan surrounding a sitting area with low water use and natives.

I took pics and soon will be posting for help! I promise! I know it is easier with pics.

Thanks also for prop. info on Cleveland Sage. I am going to "stalk" the neighbors this weekend and see if they are out. The sage is bordering the street and away from their house..but despite my temptations, I still don't feel it is right to take without asking.

You do know you are close to one of the biggest and nicest native plant nurseries, complete with demonstration gardens, in the state? You could see the plants and get expert local advice from them.

Here is a link that might be useful: las pilitas nursery

The Linanthus just started blooming, so it should go through June. This is my first year with them (I sowed seeds in winter). They are supposed to have a sweet fragrance, but I have detected any scent yet.

Yes, Las Pilitas is a really good native nursery, but call first to get their hours. Someone told me that they are only open on certain days.

wanda

Yes! I have been to Las Pilatas and frequent their website...but I have not gotten there this year...I keep meaning to. It is about 40 minutes south of me. I even have a list and keep checking availability on the web site. At this point will only pick up a couple of things, as my plant budget is shot for this season. Hopefully by fall I will have restored it and be able to take advantage of the prime planting season for natives.

Hurray!...the neighbor with the S. Clevelandii had a garage sale this weekend and even though I didn't buy anything, she was happy to let me take cuttings. I will see how they go.

Which Las Pilitas? The Santa Margarita store may have limited hours, since it's mainly wholesale, but the Escondido store is open most days from 10 to 4. I think they're closed Tuesdays and, probably, major holidays. All that said, I like Tree of Life better. The sheer quality of their stock is superior, they have better availability, and they are more open to questions about propagation. In fact, the main reason I got into propagating my own plants is because Las Pilitas (which is an easy 25 minutes away) were always telling me they were going to finally have some stock "next month," but "next month" never arrived. I'm talking about easy-to-grow things like "Dara's Choice" Salvia. So I just started growing my own to get the plants I want.

Sorry: L.P. Escondido is closed Monday, not Tuesday.

It's a bulb, not a wildflower, but right now I have a crazy purple patch of triteleia corrina.

mlevie.

I think I found a correct pic... does it look a bit like Agapantus? I was having a hard time findinding a pic on the internet for triteleia corrina... found 2 very dif pictures.... It sounds like a good addition.

I should try Tree of Life too! I always wanted Dara's Choice Salvia as it is my daughter's name.

This Dara is male, but I had to ask someone who knew him to find that out. It's Dara E. Emery (1922-1992), plant breeder for Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

The blooms are very similar to agapanthus but there's very little foliage so it's easy to tuck them in among the perennials or the grass and if you mass them they're breathtaking. They also come in a wide range of blues, white, and pink too, I think.

See the link for a picture of mine!

Here is a link that might be useful: Triteleia corrina

The annual Julian Wildflower Show is coming up Thursay, May 7 through Mother's Day, Sunday, May 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The show will feature more than 100 varieties of wildflowers from the local mountains and deserts of San Diego County. More info at the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Julian Wildflower Show on eventful.com

My arroyo lupines have are fininsed blooming, forming seed. My CA poppies are late, but are now blooming. The unexpected heat wave in LA isn't helping matters. It's 90 degrees even in Long Beach. My bush lupines are done. But my Fremotodendron is in full regalia. Ceanothus bloomed very early in March. My coulter poppy is hasn't bloomed yet. My douglas iris are in bloom right now.