In late spring and early summer, streets are awash with the magnificent purple-blue blooms of jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia). As well as being superb street trees, jacarandas look stunning on their own as a specimen tree in an open lawn, where their fallen flowers form a colorful carpet of blue. My Sunnyvale garden has no room for the jacaranda but beyond …
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Parry’s Hybrid Crowea
This citrus relative from Australia has slender, arching stems lined with narrow, dark green 1-2 inch leaves. It will bloom nearly year-round in our Sunnyvale climate, with star-like 1 inch blossoms, rose pink in color. Sun or light shade, well drained soil, moderate watering. Plant Size: 3 feet high Landscape/Garden Uses: Foundation plantings Flowering Season: Nonseasonal Flower Color: Rose pink …
Read More »Godetia
Godetia (Clarkia Amoena) is a spring blooming annual flower. It is native to western North America, from British Colombia down to California. Many people consider this easy to grow flower as a wildflower. Godetia plant grows 12″ – 30″, depending upon variety. The plant grows quickly. It blooms in the spring, in just 30 to 60 days. It produces Azalea-like …
Read More »Scilla 2015
Siberian squill, grown from a small bulb, is probably the most familiar of the scillas. The plants themselves don’t get much taller than about 6 inches, but they make up for their diminutive size by spreading out and blooming profusely. The tiny bulbs grow and multiple easily and the plants will also self-seed, making scilla a perfect choice for naturalizing.
Read More »First 2015 bloom of Linaria Reticulata
This is the first bloom of Linaria in early March 2015. The plant is about 12 inches tall and the whole flower head is only an inch wide. See detailed description of Linaria
Read More »First Blackberries of 2015
Like everything else in the garden, the blackberries are two weeks ahead of schedule. We are going to have a good crop of blackberries and a bumper crop of marionberries.
Read More »Hummingbird in the rain
Our resident hummingbird appeared to be enjoying the rare spring rain
Read More »Elephant Garlic May 2015
I have not planted elephant garlic in the front yard in ten years. The plants continue to produce every year. Mostly from child bulbs on the parent. But sometimes from seeds dispersed from the flower heads. This year, I harvested about half of the garlic. Wash off the dirt. Dry for an hour or so. Cut off the foliage about …
Read More »Trachelium caeruleum
Trachelium caeruleum (Purple umbrella flower). Like a lavender-blue “Queen Anne’s Lace,” this Mediterranean perennial bears large, dense domes of intricate flowers dotted with tiny white “pins.” Lightly violet scented, the 3-4” clusters on upright stems look lovely in any garden and it good for cut flowers. Easy to grow & vigorous. Blooms mid-Summer till Fall, just in time for the …
Read More »Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve
The serpentine grasslands of Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve are famous for their magnificent displays of wildflowers each spring. The park’s location, within easy access to Interstate 280 and Edgewood Road, makes this beautiful display readily accessible to the population centers of the San Francisco Peninsula. The Park’s 467 acres of woodlands and grasslands afford wonderful hiking and sightseeing opportunities. …
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