Expand your geranium horizons with the cool-season member of the family: Martha Washington geranium (Pelargonium x domesticum). Also known as regal geraniums, this group of geraniums features richly colored blooms with petals that resemble velvet. Petals have a lovely ruffled effect that enhances the plants’ luxurious feel. The edges are often toothed, and leaves release a citrus fragrance when crushed. The …

Rich and wonderful persimmon pudding cake, made with hachiya persimmon pulp, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla, sugar, spices, chopped nuts, and raisons. Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 50 minutes Yield: Serves 8 INGREDIENTS 2 cups of ripe Hachiya persimmon pulp1/2 cup sugar4 eggs1/2 cup butter (1 stick) melted3/4 cup milk1 teaspoon vanilla1 1/2 cups flour1 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon baking …

Celosias, also known as cockscomb, feathered amaranth, woolflower and red fox, are warm-weather flowering plants that thrive in hot, humid Mediterranean areas. They are commonly grown as annuals but can survive winters in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 and 11. Plant height is generally between 6 inches and 3 feet. Celosias in the “Childsii” and “Cristata” groups …

New for 2019 in our Sunnyvale garden: Sugar Baby melons. They are round “picnic” or “icebox” watermelons perfect for small families and as the name suggests, small enough to fit into the icebox. They weigh in at between 7 to 10 pounds and are 7-8 inches across. They have either a dark green with slight dark veins or medium green …

Stokesia laevis, commonly known as Stokes’ aster, is native to wetlands, bottomlands, wet pinewoods, savannas and ditches in the southeastern US. It is an evergreen perennial. This flower is new to our Sunnyvale garden for 2019. Purchased from the Annie’s Annual collection at Yamagami Garden Nursery in Cupertino. This particular cultivar, ‘Omega Skyrocket’, features fluffy, cornflower-like, violet blue flowers (3-4 …

New for 2019 in our Sunnyvale garden, Zinnia ‘Benary’s Giant Wine’ features rounded, fully double flowers packed with wine-red petals and opening up to 6 inches across. As the flower matures, a circle of small golden stars surrounds its center disk. Resembling dahlias, they are borne on very long sturdy stems. Blooms early summer to frost. We purchased our seedling …

New to our Sunnyvale garden in 2019: Liriope muscari ‘Royal Purple’, commonly called lilyturf or blue lily turf, a tufted, tuberous-rooted, grass-like perennial which typically grows 12-18″ tall and features clumps of strap-like, arching, glossy, dark green leaves (to 1″ wide). ‘Royal Purple’ is most noted for its attractive grass-like foliage and deep purple flowers. I plan to integrate it …

New to our Sunnyvale garden in 2019 is Clerodendrum ugandense (aka Butterfly Bush). Note: There are over a dozen different plants with the common name of Butterfly Bush. Clerodendrum is an open, evergreen shrub reaching 6 to 10 feet tall by 6 feet wide with 4 inch long dark green glossy leaves. From spring through fall appear the delicate and …

Scotch bonnet is a variety of chili pepper named for its resemblance to a Scottish tam o’ shanter hat. It is native to West Africa. Most Scotch bonnets have a heat rating of 80,000–400,000 Scoville units. For comparison, most jalapeño peppers have a heat rating of 2,500 to 8,000. This is a pepper I had not grown before in our …

What to do when you have more figs that you can eat? Make preserves. We have two fig trees in our Sunnyvale garden. One is a Black Mission Fig growing in a 66 gallon pot. The other is a Panache Fig (aka Tiger Fig). This is the first time for trying this recipe. The ingredients are simple enough: Figs, lemon …