Hummingbirds especially respond to tubular flowers with bright colors

When the mayflies arrive, Keeyla Meadows knows the frosts are over, spring has arrived and it's time to get planting.

One of the Bay Area's most innovative garden designers, Meadows is a bit of a plant evangelist. She'd love it if everyone had a trowel in their pocket whether they have a yard or not. Get a window box, planters, pots, join a community garden, volunteer at a local botanical garden. Just somehow, start digging.

There are many ways to get involved with the urban habitat," she says, "It's not just about personal gardens."

Which sounds great except that many of us have no idea what to plant. We walk into a nursery and our eyes go blurry. So to help us out, she has offered up 30 easy-to-grow plants that look lovely  and, in many cases, are tasty as well.  

She divides these plants into 3 categories that she sees as essential for the urban habitat: Edibles, pollinators and water-wise plants, which include natives. 

"There's a new garden narrative going on in California," Meadows explains, and it involves efficient practices learned from the drought years, but still should allow for color and beauty. The plants she recommends for spring planting aim to give you a bit of both.

In the above slideshow, see some of the plants she recommends. And below are a few tips she has to offer as well: 

Edibles: There is nothing like eating food grown in your garden. Fruits can be rewarding and grown as trees, shrubs or vines. They typically require water a few times per week. If you're growing a vine, beware that berries like the blackberry because they can be highly invasive. 

One berry she loves is the blueberry: "They are ever more popular, can be planted in pots and are easy to grow." 

Herbs require far less water and can easily be grown in pots. They're perfect if your space is limited. Some common herbs to grow are oregano, thyme, rosemary. Cilantro, tarragon, basil and chervil are also popular but do require a bit more water. 

Edible flowers: Meadows loves these because they can taste good on your salad and are also excellent pollinators. Favorites include nasturtiums, borage and calendula.

As we talked, she stressed the importance of pollinators, saying that "with habitat reduction there's  big reduction in pollinators." Also, if you want to grow any kind of fruit, it's useful to have a bounty of pollinators around.

"Hummingbirds especially respond to tubular flowers with bright colors," she says, "To attract butterflies, try yarrow and monardella. Both have flat flower tops which make for a good landing."

Veggies: Many veggies, like squash, carrots and zucchini, are easy to grow. Tomatoes can give you a bounty in late summer but get started soon. And to get extra color, try some chard. 

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Water-wise Plants and Natives: "It is great to have native plants in the urban landscape." Some she loves are the matillija poppy, aristolocia californica, a host for the pipeline swallowtail, and milkweed, which provides nectar for monarchs. 

Water-wise plants include the drought-tolerant natives such as manzanitas, ceanothus and one of her current favorites, the Australian grevilleas, which are also deer resistant and "their showy blooms are hummingbird attractors."