You are welcome, I hope you will find many useful info there.

One of my favorite wildflowers and one of the earliest flowers is Epigaea repens. The common name is trailing arbutus. The evergreen foliage always seems to have some defect like spots or ripped foliage but I never notice any insect damage. The leaves are a medium green and have a leathery feel to them. The tiny flowers are very fragrant however you have to get on your knees to enjoy the fragrance. I don't think it ever reaches 6" in height but will crawl along the ground if it is happy. There is suppose to be a pink form but mine open white and as the flowers age they tend to turn a light pink. An added plus is it will grow in part to full shade. It only requires acid soil and leaf mold and well drained soil. Every spring as I walk through my woodland garden I wait for the first flowers to appear, then I know spring is truly here.

That is very pretty, are they blooming now?

Right now we have over 2' of snow on the ground. They usually begin blooming in late March or the early part of April. They grow very low to the ground and are easy to miss

We've planted a few native things in the yard, like toyon, ceanothus, mugwort, arroyo lupine, and elegant clarkia. The toyon love our yard and the mugwort does pretty well. The ceanothuses died out and I think it is because we have the wrong soil. I was hoping that the clarkia would self-sow but they haven't. The lupine came with the house and does self-sow in that otherwise barren strip between the sidewalk and the street.

Do you have a large yard, Kelli?

We have 13,000 square feet, which is a large yard in this area but not a large yard in the grand scheme of things. It's something like 3/7 of an acre.

I forgot, we have California poppies, too. They self sow and spread but are not invasive.

The Toyon sounds really nice I wish it was native to Texas I would get it in a heartbeat.
http://www.wildflower.org/plan...

The Ceonothus americanus is a beautiful shrub too is this the one you have?
http://www.wildflower.org/plan...
I have been trying to grow this Texas native shrub for the butterflies without much luck, although I have been able to germinate some seeds. It grows here in the wild and I love it.

Luv CA poppies. It's a beautiful native although I know some people consider it to be weedy. It works well here.

I have no luck with California Poppies either, and I love them too, I guess I have to keep trying.

I think they are a bit tricky in some locations. They sometimes don't like it here if in soil that is too fertile.

Tee, are your in full sun? My front yard is mainly partial and light shade and i have heavy clay, but use a lot of mulch and compost. Here in Texas it is a necessity .

Frostweed, the ceanothuses that we had were the cultivars 'Dark Star' and 'Yankee Point'. I also forgot that we have a chaparral yucca (Yucca whipplei). We also have some Texas native stuff like Texas rangers, Texas mountain laurel, west Texas mist flower, and Texas ebony. They grow really well here. The perimeters of the yard are steep and kind of xeriscape-ish.

Yes, Jo, our backyard is primarily full sun. We have the heavy clay here, of course, but more rain than out west. We're the land of clay and limestone.

frostweed said:I have no luck with California Poppies either, and I love them too, I guess I have to keep trying.

I started some from seed afew years back and then they self seeded for years aqfter that. I think they are really pretty.

Yes, I guess that is the secret, just keep on trying. Wildflowers can be very particular.

This coming season I am sowing wildflowers for the critters.
Just got some mixes from American Meadows:

Pollinator Wildflower mix
Honeybee wildflower mix
Butterfly and Hummingbird Mix
Beneficial Bug Mix

I am planning a hummingbird center bed in my backyard. Already have red petunias, sweet peas and ? vines.
I'll place three large containers near there, and fill them with red petunias.
The Honeybee mix will go along the lane.
The others will become fillers in flower and vegetable beds.

Sounds like a great plan to me, and very pretty too.