In 1850, the Martin Murphy Jr family had a 20-room house in what is now Sunnyvale. Because there were no lumber mills at that time, Murphy ordered the home to be built in Bangor, Maine; disassembled; shipped around Cape Horn; and reassembled. Because there were also no suppliers of nails, man named Dawson managed to put the house together using …

Potato vine (Solanum laxum, formerly S. jasminoides), is the more commonly grown plant, with abundant small white flowers. Native to Brazil, potato vine grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11, which is fine for Sunnyvale. Slender stems with elongated oval dark green leaves provide a backdrop for star-shaped white flowers produced in greatest abundance in …

Italian Cypress, Cupressus sempervirens, was popular when the Bahl patio homes were first built in the 1970s. The cypress can grow in small areas (often in the 2-foot wide trench on the zero-lot-side. The cypress is relatively slow growing. But after 40 years, the trees can be over 30 feet tall. Eventually, I removed my two cypresses because the roots …

Spectacular in its vivid red grandeur, this tuberous rooted Delphinium is a boon to Summer dry gardens. To 3-4’ tall, it’s been known to reach a majestic 6’ when happy. Hummers and bumblebees go nuts for 1.5” intense red, long-spurred “elf hat” flowers during Spring and early Summer. Native to our coast and foothills from Monterey South, this heat lover …

Sunnyvale thoughtfully has preserved its heritage as bountiful agricultural land by reserving a large block of orchards and a replica of the house of some of the earliest Sunnyvale pioneers: the Murphy family. In 1994, the City of Sunnyvale preserved ten acres of Blenheim apricot trees to celebrate the important contribution of orchards to the early development of the local …

Originally constructed in the 1870s for George H. Briggs and extensively reconstructed in the 1920 for the Henry S. Stelling family, the mansion recounts the history of Sunnyvale. Briggs was one of the earliest pioneers who came from Boston in 1854. Stelling, the son of one of San Jose’s first orchardists, grew pears and award winning cherries. This large Redwood …

The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant into the United States in 1825. Euphorbia pulcherrima is a shrub or small tree, typically reaching a height …

The Monkey Puzzle tree is an exotic conifer. You can see a young example at 545 S. Sunnyvale. Araucaria araucana (commonly called the monkey puzzle tree, Chilean pine, or pehuén) is an evergreen tree growing to 40 m (130 ft) tall with a 2-m (7-ft) trunk diameter. The tree is native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. It …

Mission olives have grown in Santa Clara Valley since 1790. So I harvested the Mission olives from the Campo de Brezo estate (inside joke) in Almaden Valley. I selected the ripe black olives and dry-cured them in kosher salt for two months. Next I oil-cured some of the dry-cured olives with rosemary, orange zest, and olive oil. The flavor is …

Don’t let its banana pepper look fool youIt may look like a mild banana pepper, but really the Hungarian wax pepper has a lot more bite. In terms of spiciness, it’s more akin to a jalapeño with a chance for a bit more heat. This is a great chili for all sorts of cooking (including chiles rellenos) and a popular …