Quick answer: 42 native California plants have a recorded bloom range that includes March.
42 species
- Arroyo lupine Lupinus succulentus · 2 states
- Baby blue eyes Nemophila menziesii · 3 states
- Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi · 34 states
- Black sage Salvia mellifera · 1 states
- Blue palo verde Parkinsonia florida · 3 states
- Blueblossom Ceanothus thyrsiflorus · 1 states
- Brittlebush Encelia farinosa · 4 states
- California bay laurel Umbellularia californica · 3 states
- California poppy Eschscholzia californica · 6 states
- Checker lily Fritillaria affinis · 3 states
- Chinese houses Collinsia heterophylla · 1 states
- Coast live oak Quercus agrifolia · 1 states
- Common manzanita Arctostaphylos manzanita · 1 states
- Creosote bush Larrea tridentata · 6 states
- Desert bluebells Phacelia campanularia · 2 states
- Desert globemallow Sphaeralcea ambigua · 2 states
- Desert marigold Baileya multiradiata · 4 states
- Desert sand verbena Abronia villosa · 4 states
- Douglas iris Iris douglasiana · 3 states
- Fremont cottonwood Populus fremontii · 7 states
- Henderson's shooting star Dodecatheon hendersonii · 3 states
- Honey mesquite Prosopis glandulosa · 4 states
- Hummingbird sage Salvia spathacea · 1 states
- Jojoba Simmondsia chinensis · 2 states
- Joshua tree Yucca brevifolia · 3 states
- Lacy phacelia Phacelia tanacetifolia · 3 states
- Miniature lupine Lupinus bicolor · 4 states
- Pacific madrone Arbutus menziesii · 3 states
- Pacific trillium Trillium ovatum · 3 states
- Purple needlegrass Stipa pulchra · 1 states
- Quaking aspen Populus tremuloides · 39 states
- Red-flowering currant Ribes sanguineum · 4 states
- Rush milkweed Asclepias subulata · 3 states
- Seep monkeyflower Erythranthe guttata · 15 states
- Silver lupine Lupinus albifrons · 1 states
- Sticky monkeyflower Mimulus aurantiacus · 2 states
- Tall Oregon grape Mahonia aquifolium · 3 states
- Tidy tips Layia platyglossa · 3 states
- Valley oak Quercus lobata · 1 states
- Western blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium bellum · 2 states
- Western redbud Cercis occidentalis · 4 states
- Winterfat Krascheninnikovia lanata · 12 states
March in a California native garden
March is a quieter month in California: 42 of the state's 131 native plants flower in March, compared with 105 at the May peak. That makes these plants valuable for keeping color, and food for pollinators, going outside the main season.
26 start blooming in March, including Bearberry, Black sage and Blue palo verde.
31 of them grow in full or partial sun and 12 tolerate shade, so there are options for open beds and woodland edges alike. Sizes run from low plants like Arroyo lupine and Desert globemallow to trees such as Bearberry and Blue palo verde. For wildlife, 29 support pollinators, 14 provide food or cover for birds and 4 are caterpillar host plants.
26 of the 42 have a seed or plant listing we verified as the wild species.
Good places to start
Verified wild-species listings that take sun and are widely native, so they are forgiving first plants.
- Quaking aspen Populus tremuloides · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Mar-Jun
- Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Mar-Jun
- California poppy Eschscholzia californica · Sun · blooms Feb-Sep