I think it is Acacia podalyriifolia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_podalyriifolia Thank you all!

Good call! At first I didn't think the photos online were very close, but then I passed another nearby house this morning with what looked like the same plant, and the flowers were more intact and more daisy-like, rather than ragged like the specimen I photographed, and both the flowers and leaves look like those online photos. I'm not sure of the species yet, maybe Euryops pectinatus, but Euryops is close enough for now. Many thanks! I'm toying with the idea of reproducing the landscape of our old house, which makes that plant more significant to me than it used to be. [img]http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/61822.html[/img] [img]http://www.soquelnursery.com/images/euryops_purfled_050913.JPG[/img]

Many thanks, I think you are right. I had actually seen other Coprosma before, but those were very colorful and were much smaller shrubs / ground cover. I never connected the dots!

Ficaria verna aka Lesser Celandine. Non-native in N America and a terrible spreader. It produces little tubercles which break up and stay in the soil when you attempt to pull the plants. However, it is ephemeral and the leaves will disappear in the Summer. But they'll be back next spring.