Alkanet is one of our favorite flowers for late-spring and summer. It is covered with hundreds of deep blue to violet flowers reminiscent of forget-me-nots (Myosotis). It is a magnet for hummingbirds, butterflies, and several types of bees. It is native to the Mediterranean but has been introduced in North America where it has escaped gardens and naturalized in British …

New to our Sunnyvale garden for 2020 are Seaside Daisies (Erigeron glaucus). Also known as beach aster or beach daisy, seaside daisy plants are flowering California native perennial that grow wild along the Pacific Coast, from Southern California north to Oregon and Washington. This tough little plant is found in rugged environments such as coastal scrub and sand dunes. Seaside …

Voodoo lily plants are perennials known for their unusual foliage;  gigantic size of the flower; and the stink of that flower. The flowers produce a strong, offensive odor similar to that or rotting meat. The smell attracts the flies that pollinate the flowers. The blossom only lasts a day or two. They are native to warm subtropical-to-tropical areas of eastern …

This April we had over 50 types of flowers in our Sunnyvale garden. Fruits: Blackberry, Marionberry, Pomegranate, Lemon, Lime, Tangerine, strawberryLavenders and Salvias: Mexican Sage, French lavender, English lavender, Spanish lavender, Vines: Plumbago, pink bower vine, purple trumpet flower, red trumpet flowerBulbs: Society garlic, blue-eyed grass, bleeding heart, sweet-kate, tulips, bearded-iris, ithuriel’s spearPerennials: 3 varieties of geraniums, monkeyflower, begonia, cuphea, …

Orange Bush Sticky Monkey Flower (Diplaucus aurantiacus) are named for their funny-face-flowers that look like grinning Monkeys. These California native gets its common name from its long and narrow leaves with surfaces coated in a sticky resin. It is a delightful small evergreen shrub growing 2-4 ft. tall that becomes totally covered with colorful tubular orange flowers. This wide ranging …

Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) is an attractive landscape plant with masses of one-inch, white, daisy-like flowers with large yellow centers rise on spindly stems above parsley-like leaves. The plant grows anywhere from eight to 24 inches tall and wide. This member of the aster family behaves like an annual in cooler zones, a perennial in some areas, and can be evergreen …

Ladybugs and Ladybug larvae are beneficial insects for your garden because they eat aphids. Ladybugs are known by several other names: lady beetles, ladybug beetles, and ladybird beetles. Regardless of what you call them, these beetles belong to the family Coccinellidae. All ladybugs progress through a four-stage life cycle known as complete metamorphosis. Embryonic Stage (Eggs) The ladybug life cycle …

Our Sunnyvale garden in March 2020 was filled with flowers. Spring blossoms on the crabapple, plum, apricot, and orange, lemon, lime, and nectarine trees. Spring bulbs like Crocus, Columbine, Sweet Kate, Scilla, Freesias, Grape-Hyacinth, Hyacinth, Sparaxis, Tulips, Daffodils, Dutch Iris, Armeria, Blue-eyed Grass, and Spanish Bluebell. Spring vegetables like snow-peas. Excellent cool-season annuals with Violas and Pansies. Spring annuals like …

Behavior: Orb weavers are very docile, non-aggressive spiders that will flee at the first sign of a threat (typically they will run or drop off the web). They are not dangerous to people & pets, and are actually quite beneficial because they will catch and eat a lot of pest-type insects. Range Prolific throughout entire continental United States, Canada, Alaska, …

Marigolds are a favorite in our Sunnyvale garden. They attract butterflies, bees, ladybugs, and other beneficial insects. Give them full sun and some well-draining soil and watch them bloom from spring until fall. Marigold seeds germinate quickly, within just a few days, and bloom in about 8 weeks. Marigolds are a great companion in your vegetable garden and can help …