Our barrel cactus is flowering! Our barrel cactus in Sunnyvale is 30 years old. It now measures 14 inches wide by 11 inches tall. It started in a 4-inch pot. Echinocactus grusonii, popularly known as the Golden Barrel Cactus is a well known species of cactus, and is endemic to east-central Mexico. The plants do have some basic requirements; an …

Our pineapple guava tree is dropping its fruit a month earlier in 2015. Normally the fruit starts falling in mid-October. See this page for full info. Feijoa, pineapple guava or guavasteen, is a evergreen, small tree known for its spectacular red fleshy flowers in May and its small, tasty, green-skinned fruit in October and November. This plant is attractive to bees, …

This year, 2015, has been a poor year for tomatoes. The Aussie Heart plant produced two tomatoes. The one featured here topped out at 10 ounces. It is an excellent meaty tomato. We added it to a BCLT salad (Bacon, Chicken, Lettuce and Tomato). The smaller tomatoes are Slava. These tomato seeds were passed to the late Joe Thieneman, a …

We have an Asian pear tree in our Sunnyvale garden. Because we are growing it in a large pot, we selected a tree grafted onto ultra-dwarf stock . Ultra-dwarf has a smaller set of roots, both in depth and drip-line diameter. This makes it ideal for large containers. I planted it in winter 2012 and have been pruning it to …

It is August and the tomatoes are getting ripe. The larger one is 16 ounces. The smaller is 5 ounces

I grew the carrots in a 15 inch diameter wide by 15 inch deep pot. They were in the ground for 5 months. They are small carrots 🙁

You’ve gotta love annual vinca. It will tolerate a wide variety of conditions and still keep it up with almost unreal-looking, glossy green flowers and pretty pink, lavender, or red flowers that look like tiny parasols. LIGHT: Sun TYPE: Annual HEIGHT: 1 to 3 feet WIDTH: 6-16 inches wide FLOWER COLOR: Blue, Pink, Red, White SEASONAL FEATURES: Fall Bloom, Summer …

I love growing elephant garlic. You stick a garlic clove in the ground in the fall (Sunnyvale USDA zone 9). In the spring, a tall stalk/scape shoots up. If you leave it alone, a large (5 inch wide) flower head appears. You can cut it off partway up the stalk and use the flower in a vase and the garlic …

Hymenocallis is a wonderful genus of bulbous amaryllis…native mostly to the US, Mexico, and Central America. Hymenocallis (spider lilies) are an easy-to-grow moisture-lover that are a reliable perennial wildflower in the garden. Spider lilies are a tough, low maintenance plant which makes it perfect for rain gardens. In the wild many Hymenocallis (spider lilies) often grow in or near water …

When you can’t decide between an apricot pie and a marionberry pie…