Flowers

Bright gentian blue flowers to 1” across with a surprising pink eye & bright yellow anthers lit­erally smother this striking front of the garden annual or dry garden perennial. Neat & compact, this Mediterranean native grows to 10” tall & 20” across & is stunning combined with contrasty blooms & foliage like Ursinia anthemoides & Heuchera ‘Marmalade.’ Thrives with little …

This is the first bloom of Linaria in 2015. The plant is about 12 inches tall and the whole flower head is only an inch wide. Some have suggested, after viewing this photo, that Alien has crossed from animals to plants. See detailed description of Linaria

Nectarine and Apricot blossoms in late February 2015. Bees are busy visiting all the blossoms. The apricot tree in the photo below is a volunteer tree. This tree grew from a discarded apricot pit. It is growing in a two-foot wide trench along the side yard. Our original apricot tree is growing on semi-standard root stock. This volunteer tree is …

Feb 20 2015

Another sign of early spring: The first plum blossoms on Feb 15 2015 (about two weeks early)

The first apricot blossom of 2015 is two weeks early

English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is easy to grow in Sunnyvale gardens. It has modest water needs and can grow in small areas (once established). My lavender plant is in a two-foot wide trench excavated one foot deep in clay. Fresh lavender flowers may be used in sauces, marinades, and desserts. Handle fragile dried blossoms with care and use them in …

Gardenia Best known for their fragrant white flowers, gardenias are heat-loving evergreen shrubs that have become a gardening symbol in the Southeast. Another common name is cape jasmine. About This Plant Plant gardenias near a deck or window where you can enjoy the flowers’ fragrance. The plants grow from 2 to 8 feet tall and wide, depending on the variety. …

Pincushion flower is still blooming in winter in Sunnyvale. Scabiosa caucasica (Caucasian scabious) is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Caucasus, north eastern Turkey, and northern Iran. Growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall and broad, it is a clump-forming perennial with divided leaves. Pincushion-shaped buds, borne on erect stems, open to pale blue …

American natives, sunflowers are grow for beauty as well as harvested for seed. An annual plant, sunflowers have big, daisylike flower faces of bright yellow petals (and occasionally red) and brown centers that ripen into heavy heads filled with seeds. Tall and course, the plants have creeping or tuberous roots and large, bristly leaves. Some sunflowers grow to over 16 …