Flowers

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 …

I was vacationing in the Pacific Northwest for 2 weeks in July so my eyes and ears are filled with the sensations and memories of elsewhere. So I relied on the 3 drip irrigation systems at home watering over 100 plants. Marie was spared the burden of mass watering. The most frustration is due to squirrels eating the ripening tomatoes. …

June is always the most intense month in our Sunnyvale garden. All at once the berries and stone fruits (apricots, plums, nectarines) are ripe. Meanwhile the citrus (lemons and limes) still are available. The tomato plants, all 45 of them, are producing fruit with a few ripe ones. My chile plants (8 varieties) are productng fruit. The early season ones …

Brodiaea laxa is commonly known as the triplet lily, grassnut lily, or wild hyacinth. This perennial bulb is a native wildflower to California, growing wild in evergreen woodlands. Locally, it is found in places like Edgewood Preserve on the San Mateo County peninsula and Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Grass-like leaves appear first, followed by clusters of light blue blossoms reaching …

We have had fennel in our Sunnyvale garden since 2001. It reseeds easily. Any place you don’t want it, just pull it up. The feathery leaves remind me of dill and it has a nice scent. The small yellow flowers appear on the ends of each umbrella. If you want to eat the Fennel bulb then make sure you get …

May in the Sunnyvale garden is always full. the citrus trees have finished their blossoms and the small green fruits are showing. The flowers transition from spring to summer. The apricots are larger but still green. Tomato plants are full of blossoms and green small fruits. Artichokes can be harvested twice this month. Unripe blackberry fruits are everywhere. Godetia, mega …

April is always a great time in our Sunnyvale garden. The last few rain showers end by mid April. The spring bulbs finish their blossoms as the vines start blooming and the summer bulbs start peeking out from the ground. The tomato plants are already 2-3 feet tall and have blossoms. The citrus trees (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, lime) attracted …

Iceland poppies are hardy but short-lived perennials, often grown as biennials, that yield large, papery, bowl-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers supported by hairy, one foot, curved stems among feathery blue-green foliage 1-6 inches long. This year’s crop was planted in our former fire-pit surrounded by cool-weather cyclamen and english daisy. They bloom in April after the crocus, hyacinth, and tulips. Iceland …