Landscaping

California Poppy is a pretty native wildflower. It is very drought-tolerant and is excellent for xeriscapes. When the plant stops looking pretty, pull it up/break-it-off. The poppy seeds disperse widely so you will be surprised by the next year’s plants. I always have it in my Sunnyvale garden.

Weeping Santa Rosa Plum – semi-dwarf. The Weeping Santa Rosa fruit similar to Santa Rosa, but ripens two weeks later. The Weeping Santa Rosa has beautiful weeping habit making this a remarkable landscape specimen. Also good for espalier as height can be kept to 6-8 feet. Low chill, self-fruitful. Estimated Chilling Requirement 200-400 hours below 45°F Note: In drought years, …

Viburnums are one of the most versatile genus of shrubs. They have pretty foliage and growth habits. They also have pretty, and sometimes even fragrant, flowers. The fruits are appealing to birds and other wildlife. Viburnums are a genus of more than 150 evergreen, semi-evergreen and deciduous woody plants from the Adoxaceae family. They are native primarily to Northern temperate …

Rosemary is one of those wonderful herbs that makes a beautiful ornamental plant as well as a welcome culinary seasoning. Its Latin name, Rosmarinus officinalis , means “dew of the sea” and rosemary is most closely associated with the cooking of the Mediterranean area. However you don’t need perfect sunshine, sea mist or even a never ending summer to successfully …

Aeonium arboreum “Schwarzkopf Black Rose” Succulent is a Latin word meaning juicy, and is descriptive of many plants and plant families that store water in their leaves, stems and roots. Succulents can survive long periods of drought, even to a year, with this storage capacity. Aeoniums have handsome rosettes of fleshy leaves, one of which bears a spectacular terminal holding …

Dusty miller is a favorite because it looks good with everything. The silvery-white color is a great foil for any type of garden blossom and the fine-textured foliage creates a beautiful contrast against other plants’ green foliage. Dusty miller has also earned its place in the garden because it’s delightfully easy to grow, withstanding heat and drought like a champion.

Hemerocallis fulva, the orange day-lily, tawny daylily, tiger daylily, fulvous daylily or ditch lily (also railroad daylily, roadside daylily, outhouse lily, and wash-house lily), is a species of daylily native to Asia. It is very widely grown as an ornamental plant in temperate climates for its showy flowers and ease of cultivation. It is not a true lily in the …

Sea Lavender. Herbaceous Perennial Flower   Also known as Statice, Statice Plumbago Limonium latifolium Plumbaginaceae Family Synonym: Statice latifolia   Tolerant of droughty soil, this sun-loving perennial delivers dense clouds of blue to pink-purple flowers rising above dark green basal rosettes. Delicate and airy in the garden and as a dried flower. Sunlight:   full sun   Shade from hot …

The fragrant flowers of Blue Potato Bush (Lycianthes rantonnetii, also known as Solanum rantonnetii,  and Paraguay nightshade), provide a focal point to a tropical or cottage garden. Surrounded by other sun-loving tropical and subtropical perennials, annuals and bulbs, the large shrub blooms year-round in frost-free gardens. Native to Argentina and Paraguay, the blue potato bush is hardy in U.S. Department …

Indian hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis sp.) is prized as a small, low-maintenance shrub or ground cover native to southern China and Japan and cultivated across U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 11. Various cultivars of Indian hawthorn offer attractive foliage, white to pink flowers and a slight range in available plant sizes. This plant is attractive to bees, butterflies …