Behind The Birth Of Butterflies

Primed butterflies before patterns

The larger than life butterflies at Wildwood are the product of many attempts to shape the liveliest look-a-like.

Cutting out a foam board wing template took several attempts.  Tracing the outline onto wood is fairly quick.  Using a jigsaw to cut away the shape takes some patience.

The most difficult part is hand sketching the colorful wing patterns.  We use monarchs as inspiration.

Perhaps the easiest way to add butterflies is to plant flowers.  Wildwood now has a selection of butterfly friendly plants.  These plants have been known to attract humans too.

Observation Post

Paying attention is the most important part of gardening.

Sometimes it helps to take a fresh look at a space.  That can mean taking [a short] time off or viewing from a different angle.  This photo is from high up in the century old oak in the middle of the nursery.  The patchwork of greens, yellows, reds and whites comes to life in the dappled sunlight.

You can see there's plenty to prune, repot, and stake.  Happy gardening this spring!

Popup Opens In Sausalito

Today is the first day of Wildwood’s Popup in Sausalito. We thought it was time to try an urban location with different gardening challenges.

There’s quite a few maples like one might expect. Also a more coastal selection of plants that could be unexpected. Proteas, aeoniums, ferns, indoor plants, and very cool bonsai.

The space is small so the displays will change daily. Stop by and see what’s growing in Marin

Top 7 Maples For Spring

Fall isn't the only season for leaf color.  Here's seven great maples for Spring color.

Katsura: One of the first maples to leaf out. Orange gold leaves are already open at Wildwood.

Sharp's Pygmy: Dwarfs are always the  first group to open.  Cute green leaves with red tips.

Corallinum:  Bright shrimp pink foliage is a knockout.

Ryusen:  Early to open.  A cascade of light green leaves is a contrast to all other upright greens.

Autumn Moon:  Enjoy fall oranges and golds in Spring.

Hana Matoi:  A combination of light pink and red on delicate lacey leafs.

Shindeshojo:  Fire engine red color is like New England in fall.

Daffodils on Display

The dawn of spring at Wildwood starts with the Daffodils.

They jump out of the ground and pop open with oranges, yellows and creamy flower bursts.  They're a much needed shot in the arm when everything else is still sleeping.  Once they open, we know it's only a matter of weeks before the floodgates of spring open.

Stop by the nursery, pick a bouquet and daydream about spring!

Rolling Out Green Carpet

In preparation for this Spring's star studded plant line up, we're rolling out artificial grass in a new display area!

Today's artificial grass is more life like than ever.  The lawn look a like is maintenance free [some occasional vacuuming] and provides a cooling contrast to hardscapes.  Our rolls come from a football field in San Jose so they're also staying out of the landfill.

Weighing in at 3,300 pounds, the 7' x 50' rolls will be tough to maneuver.  We have confidence they'll be in place for your Spring visit though.

Highlights From 2018

Here's a few fun facts from 2018 at Wildwood.

The most popular plant was Daphne odora Marginata.

The biggest plant we sold was a 12' tall Fireglow Japanese Maple in a 95 gallon.

The most popular Japanese Maple was Pixie.

The most popular Dogwood was Cornus florida Cherokee Brave.

A new ranch style fence anchors the entrance and we planted over 200 perennials on the highway frontage for spring.