admin

Allium

Allium

Most of us don’t think of onions as beautiful plants, but onions have some very close cousins that definitely deserve a place in your flower garden. Fast-growing ornamental alliums grow tall and have round flower heads composed of dozens of star-shaped flowers. While these plants are not edible, their leaves do have a slight onion-like scent when crushed. Ornamental alliums …

Read More »

Moss Rose

Moss rose, Portulaca grandiflora, is a drought and heat tolerant annual native to hot, dry plains in Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay. This herbaceous plant in the purslane family (Portulacaceae) is cultivated throughout the world as a garden annual for its showy flowers that bloom all summer long with little care. It is related to the weed purslane (P. oleracea), …

Read More »

Hollyhock ‘Double Apricot’

Big super-duper double pom-poms of peachy-apricot, 4-5” across, are densely stacked all around the stalk for maximum impact. So beautiful! Imagine these next to a garden gate or low fence or standing tall mid to back of bed. Cottage garden nirvana! To 6-8’ and branching. Biennial, they’ll bloom the first season if planted in Spring in temperate climates like ours. …

Read More »

Snapdragon ‘Double Azalea Red’

This too-pretty-to-be-a-snapdragon offers the most gorgeous rosy pink flowers imaginable. Rising to an awesome 3′ tall and smothered in bee and hummer loving flowers all spring & summer, these are snaps to make you swoon. Each of the fully double 1” flowers exudes a pleasing fragrance, making them a great cut flower to catch a sweetheart’s eye or nose. Outside, …

Read More »

Begonia ‘Picotee Sunburst’

Begonia ‘Picotee Sunburst’ is a begonia of classic elegance. It is a summer flower with large, rich blossoms that are a definite showstopper. The blooms are a bright yellow with crimson-red tips, and can be up to 6 inches across. The petals are delicately pleated and stand out against the foliage of deep green leaves. The plant is a semi-ruffled …

Read More »

Malva sylvestris ‘Zebrina’

Everything about this colorful mallow is perfect, from the dramatic wine-red splashes on pale pink petals, to its drought tolerance and its ready ability to self-seed. Add in that it’s one of the host plants for the Painted Lady butterfly and blooms nonstop from mid-summer to late fall and you have one of nature’s wonder plants. This hollyhock relative first …

Read More »

Calendula officinalis ‘Snow Princess’

This one-of-a-kind Calendula has a neat trick. Yellow flower buds open to reveal white flowers whose backsides are also a butter yellow. The effect is mirage-like, with the 3” white flowers having a shimmering yellow reverse. Large, dark (occasionally white) centers add a vivid contrast to the double rows of silky petals. Highly sought after by bees and butterflies. Quickly …

Read More »

Lithodora diffusa ‘Grace Ward’

Gentian blue flowers are the calling card for this vigorous, sun-loving ground cover. Plants first form a 3-6” high mat of soft, dark-green foliage and then come late spring, a parade of intense, dark blue, 1/2” star-shaped flowers. Each of the 5 petals has a darker rib, accentuating its starburst shape. When smothered in flowers, there’s no blue-flowering ground cover …

Read More »

Dahlia ‘Cafe au Lait’

Dinnerplate dahlias are near the top of the WOW! flowers list and this lovely Cafe au Lait is no exception. Showcasing eye-catching, huge flowers (10” wide) and dense with petals (formal decorative form), these flowers range in color from pale peach to a creamy beige. Whiter towards the outsides, the color intensifies towards the center. An imposing specimen, this dahlia …

Read More »

Cucumber Cooler

This cucumber cooler is made with Hmong cucumbers. Hmong cucumbers are larger and more watery than pickling cucumbers. The riper the cucumber gets (as it turns from yellow to orange), the less bitter. The mint adds a nice note. The Hmong cucumber is halfway between a cucumber and a melon. It doesn’t taste like much on its own until you …

Read More »