Davis Natives

06/01/2026

05/31/2026

Sale inventory is ready! We’ll have over 70 species available at our open house next weekend. 🤩

05/26/2026

Well folks, today marks the first day of the LAST WEEK of the 2025-2026 school year. It’s been SUCH a busy, but rewarding one- for our teacher-lives and our Davis-Natives lives! As is the tradition here on the first day of the last week, I’d like to invite you to our 4th annual ‘Schools out for Summer’ open house and plant sale. See the second image in the carousel for all the details!

Art credit for the flyer goes to my #1 favorite garden helper (sorry, Brad 😂)- my niece, who is also eagerly counting down the days to summer.

05/22/2026

While barbecuers and beach-goers may mourn this cooler, rainy long weekend, the plants are THRILLED. After a few days of glorious warmth and sunshine, they’re now getting a cozy recovery period and 🤞a nice, long drink 🤞. Overcast days are perfect for planting because the sun isn’t bearing down on tender new foliage and roots— lower temps and cloud cover = less transplant stress, and less watering on your end. 🌧️

So if you’ve been putting off that pollinator bed or if your shady corner needs a little refreshing, this dreary weekend is actually your time to shine!✨

We’ll be around all weekend working in the garden between rains, and ready to fill orders. 🌱

Whatever your plans are, we wish you a safe long-weekend and a meaningful Memorial Day. 🇺🇸

05/20/2026

If you see a roadside (ditch/ understory/ wet-area) shrub exploding in flat-topped clusters of white blooms right now, you may be looking at elderberry (Sambucus canadensis). Rich in antioxidants, elderberry is known for boosting the immune system and shortening the duration of colds. It’s also incredibly yummy— but be sure to cook the berries before consuming! (Like potatoes, Lima beans, rhubarb, and a handful of other foods, elderberries are toxic when raw.)

We have an overstock, so our 16-20” elderberries have been marked down to $12, and our 8-12” elderberries have been reduced to $9. Elderberry are fast growers; in their first season, they will reach up to 6 feet and may send out a few flowers/berries. Expect a reliable harvest of fruit in your second year and beyond.

While walking around the garden last night, I also realized our next set of Penstemon is ready! We have a handful of blooming (or about to bloom) Hairy beardtongue available in quarts, and some first-year babies of Eastern Smooth beardtongue.

05/19/2026

New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) is a late summer/fall bloomer, but without fail, ours sends us a little preview each Spring. Whenever I see purple asters, I think of my sweet Aunt Sue, who battled pancreatic cancer courageously for over three years, and who loved purple asters in the fall. I consider these surprise May- Monday blooms a little kiss from above. 💜

05/18/2026

Have a BEEautiful Monday! 🐝

Asclepias tuberosa, butterfly w**d, thrives in dry and droughty conditions. (I couldn’t even tell you the last time I watered these guys— probably 4+ years ago.) Right now, they are making our pollinators very happy and soon they will attract migrating monarch butterflies. 🧡🖤🧡

05/15/2026

05/15/2026

My (Lauren’s) 9th grade students have been researching recently and that got me inspired… I was wondering which butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) use the species we currently stock for larval hosts and nectar. This led me quite down a ‘worm’hole— I’ve been researching and obsessing over this for over a week! This little Canva project of mine includes my favorites. On the ‘larval hosts’ pages, the little bubbles by the plant names identify the additional Lepidoptera that use each as a host. Enjoy!