The earliest native flowers in my native plant garden are also the earliest ones around the neighborhood, Oregon grape (Berberis aquifolium), and osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis). Here are some photos of the osoberry in my garden. When I tried to take a photo of the Oregon grape, a female dark-eyed Junco was flushed. She was obviously nesting nearby so I left her to it.
The osoberry is covered with flowers this year and I am hopeful it will set a bunch of berries.
Just when I thought my osoberry was amazing, I walked down to Ingraham High School and saw how spectacular these lovely shrubs can be.
I never really noticed how beautiful Oregon grape flower buds are–they are brilliant even before they open.
The update on native seedlings is that the Gilia seedlings are still doing well and need to be transplanted, the fringecups are also doing well. There are dozens of Geum macrophyllum seedlings that germinated in the last few weeks. The dozens of lupines are getting true leaves at this point, too, so they will need to be transplanted soon. The year-old seedlings are starting to stir from their dormancy, including the Oregon sunshine plants, the Erigeron speciosa seedlings, and probably a dozen Sidalcea plants.
There are some guerilla gardening opportunities in the neighborhood. A bunch of Cistus shrubs in a long stretch of parking strips in a nearby development died last year, likely due to the unusually cold winter. The dead shrubs were cut to the ground but no replacements have been put in. There is a lot of space between and around where the shrubs were planted, too. My intention is to sneak a bunch of natives in those strips since no one seems to really maintain them or care. On the other side of the same development, there is a sloped bank that stretches an entire block which would be perfect for some natives, as well. I will be propagating and planting for years to come. Lastly, the property all around Ingraham is already planted with native plants so I can sneak some of the volunteer Douglas fir and madrona seedlings onto that property.