Tag Archives: Summer

Variegated Hebe. A compact evergreen shrub with spikes of purple flowers in early summer. Attractive variegated grey green leaves with creamy margins. Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. Ideal as a low hedge or container plant. Evergreen.

Mask Flower (Alonsoa meridionalis) Blooms lasting three months or more. When it slows down, just cut back to 6” tall, add a bit of compost & boom – it’s back with another explosion of 1” cinnabar-red, roundish Snapdragon-like flowers. Even in Winter! Nice in front of a bed & an excellent container plant. A bushy 30” high & 18” wide.

African Daisy, Cape Daisy. Versatile and resilient, hardy Osteospermums will thrive in hot, dry, neglected conditions, yet remain some of longest-flowering plants in the garden! Expect vibrant summer colour and weed suppressing ground cover from these easy to grow, sun loving Cape Daisies. Height: 15cm (6″). Spread: 90cm (36″).

Lavandula stoechas is also known as Spanish or French Lavender. It smells good and attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Like other lavenders, it is associated with hot, dry, sunny conditions in alkaline soils. Spanish Lavender is more fragile than common lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), as it is less winter hardy; but harsher and more resinous in its oils.

Stock offers a wonderfully spicy, distinctive scent. In Sunnyvale, plant it in spring as earlier as February — this annual thrives in cool temperatures and stops blooming once hot weather arrives. It’s especially wonderful in window boxes and planters at nose level, where its sometimes subtle effect can best be appreciated. Stock is slightly spirelike and comes in a wide …

Calendula is a well-known medicinal herb and uplifting ornamental garden plant that has been used therapeutically, ceremonially, and as a dye and food plant for centuries. Most commonly known as for its topical use as a tea or infused oil for wounds and skin trauma, the bright orange or yellow flower contains many important constituents and can be taken internally …

Herbaceous Peonies are the most well known type of peony. They are disease resistant perennial plants that enhance the structure and beauty of any garden and produce some of the best cut flowers available. They bloom during the transition from spring into summer, with each individual cultivar blooming for an average of 7-10 days. The foliage of shining green leaves remains …

Bright and bold, cockscomb (Celosia argenta) blooms from summer until early fall. The convoluted flower heads have a shape similar to cauliflower. These annual flowers look garish in the wrong setting, so plan your companion plants carefully. They make excellent cut flowers that last a long time in the vase. They also dry well and can be used in crafts. …

Peperoncini (or pepperoncini) are a variety of the species Capsicum annuum. The Greek varieties are sweeter and less bitter than the Italian varieties grown in Tuscany. Peperoncini are mild with a slight heat and a hint of bitterness, and are commonly pickled and sold packaged in jars. Peperoncini grow on a bushy plant that reaches 30 inches (77 cm) in …

Common in our Sunnyvale yards but little known in the North American kitchen, purslane is both delicious and exceptionally nutritious. Common purslane (Portulaca oleracea) — also known as duckweed, fatweed, pursley, pussley, verdolagas and wild portulaca — is the most frequently reported “weed” species in the world. It can grow anywhere that has at least a two-month growing season. My …