Flowers

Lobster Flower

A perennial, aromatic, succulent herb, which grows as a ground-hugging wide spreading mat under 1 foot tall (a little taller in shade or when well watered) with rounded slightly scalloped gray-green foliage and deep blue and purple flowers that rise 3 to 6 inches above the foliage from spring through late fall (some say they bloom year-round). This plant makes …

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Crabapple

Crabapple. Crabapples trees are typically 4–12 m (13–39 ft) tall at maturity, with a dense, twiggy crown. The leaves are 3–10 cm (1.2–3.9 in) long, alternate, simple, with a serrated margin. The flowers are borne in corymbs, and have five petals, which may be white, pink or red, and are perfect, with usually red stamens that produce copious pollen, and a …

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Night Phlox – Midnight Candy

Night Phlox (Zaluzianskya capensis, “Midnight Candy”) fills the evening air with a sweet fragrance that will give you joy from May to November. The flowers open towards the evening and remain open until early in the morning. As the light intensity increases, they slowly start to close and are completely closed from midday until evening. I purchased my plant from …

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Burbank Plum Blossoms

Two of our four plum varieties have blossomed by early March 2015. On our 4-N-1 grafted plum tree, the Santa Rosa variety started mid-February with its thinly spaced blossoms. This week the Burbank variety bloomed with dense sets of flowers. Burbank plum trees were developed by noted plant breeder Luther Burbank in 1883. Prized for its heavy crops of reddish-purple fruit, …

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Society Garlic

Society garlic is an attractive ornamental plant from South Africa whose leaves have a garlicky odor. It belongs to the lily family — as do onions and garlic — but to a different genus, entirely restricted to Africa, which includes about 24 species. The genus name Tulbaghia honors Ryk Tulbagh, an 18th-century Dutch governor of the Cape of Good Hope; …

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California Poppies

California Poppy is a pretty native wildflower. It is very drought-tolerant and is excellent for xeriscapes. When the plant stops looking pretty, pull it up/break-it-off. The poppy seeds disperse widely so you will be surprised by the next year’s plants. I always have it in my Sunnyvale garden.

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Drosanthemum micans

EASY TO GROW bringer of sunshine. EVERBLOOMING here along the coast-even in Winter, its form is tight & compact with small, dense, bright-green foliage 2.5’ tall & about 3’ across. Smothering itself in golden centered, red-tipped sunniest-yellow, many-rayed blooms 2” across, it’s one of those big-bang-for-the-buck fellows. Native to S. Africa & highly drought tolerant, it does look best with …

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Bowles Mauve Wallflower

A classic perennial wallflower selection with profuse clusters of fragrant, mauve flowers over an exceptionally long season; nearly year-round in warm coastal areas. Shrubby, upright form is perfect for mixed borders, cottage and butterfly gardens. Colorful, easy to grow and drought tolerant once established.

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Calendula

calendula

Its gold and orange flowers bloom from spring until the first light fall frost. Grow it for its sunny beauty in containers, borders, or parking strips. Then save some blooms for fresh or dried floral arrangements; dried petals can be used in baking or teas. Calendula gets its common name, Pot Marigold, becuase the flower resembles a marigold, and is …

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Eschscholzia caespitosa – Tufted Cal Poppy

Tufted Cal poppy is native to California and Oregon. It is 10″ by 12″ wide, ferny foliage, fragrant yellow blooms, loves sun. Like its famous cousin, the orange California poppy, it self-seeds easily.   First planted in my Sunnyvale garden: Winter 2014

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