Acidanthera is a summer-blooming bulb in the gladiolus family. The plants have upright, sword-like foliage and fragrant white flowers in late summer and early fall. Acidanthera is easy-to-grow in any sunny garden and it also grows well in containers. Known by many other names, including Gladiolus murielae, Gladiolus callianthus, Abyssinian gladiolus and peacock orchid. SHADE AND SUN: Acidanthera should be …

You have heard of baby corn. These are baby carrots. I plant them in deep rich loam. Give them water, sunlight, fertiizer. and the result are a crop fit for Lilliputians. I am quick-pickling them in a balsamic vinaigrette

2018 was a year for a bumper crop of Santa Rosa plums from our 4-in-1 grafted dwarf plum tree. Each plum is small so there is not much fruit pulp. So I decided to make a plum compote. it is a simple recipe. Ingredients: 1 pound of plums (quartered; include the pits) 1 cup sugar / honey half cup water …

You have got to try making your own horseradish sauce at least once. Note: This is a recipe for small households. See this link about harvesting your Horseradish. Ingredients: Horseradish root Salt (half a teaspoon or so) White vinegar (a few tablespoons)

We were busy during October so there are few photos of the Sunnyvale garden during the month. The fall flowers of Mums, Rudbeckia, and Candy Corn were a bright note. The Cordyline provides a pretty red foliage year round. The last of the chile peppers were harvested. I also harvested the last of the tomatoes (all unripe) and made a …

September in our Sunnyvale garden is all about harvest. I planted an heirloom watermelon “Moon and the Stars” late in the spring. I love that the “Moon and the Stars” pattern is in the leaves.         At harvest time, the melon had grown over the pot to the ground about six feet away and got to about …

August is always the easiest month in our Sunnyvale garden. While your attention is on lots of other things, the garden continues to grow. Our garden has dozens of plants that attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. Here, a carpenter bee is enjoying a flower on one of the Butterfly bushes. Native to North America, gaura (Gaura lindheimeri) is a gorgeous, low-maintenance …