Flowers

Lavandula stoechas is also known as Spanish or French Lavender. It smells good and attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Like other lavenders, it is associated with hot, dry, sunny conditions in alkaline soils. Spanish Lavender is more fragile than common lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), as it is less winter hardy; but harsher and more resinous in its oils.

Stock offers a wonderfully spicy, distinctive scent. In Sunnyvale, plant it in spring as earlier as February — this annual thrives in cool temperatures and stops blooming once hot weather arrives. It’s especially wonderful in window boxes and planters at nose level, where its sometimes subtle effect can best be appreciated. Stock is slightly spirelike and comes in a wide …

When fall arrives, it’s hard not to regret the passing of all the summer blooms we love so much: pompon dahlias, Shasta daisies, African daisies, little zinnias, asters, coreopsis, and calendulas. But take heart, for the fall garden offers all these flower shapes from just one plant, the chrysanthemum. Hundreds of hardy cultivars provide an array of colors and bloom …

Another bulb I planted back in February is blooming. The tag is long gone so I need to do some detective work to learn its identity. Sue Clayton correctly identified it as crinum.

Calendula is a well-known medicinal herb and uplifting ornamental garden plant that has been used therapeutically, ceremonially, and as a dye and food plant for centuries. Most commonly known as for its topical use as a tea or infused oil for wounds and skin trauma, the bright orange or yellow flower contains many important constituents and can be taken internally …

Herbaceous Peonies are the most well known type of peony. They are disease resistant perennial plants that enhance the structure and beauty of any garden and produce some of the best cut flowers available. They bloom during the transition from spring into summer, with each individual cultivar blooming for an average of 7-10 days. The foliage of shining green leaves remains …

The plant started growing this spring. I can’t remember if I planted something there or if it is a volunteer started by some bird.

tbd

Bright and bold, cockscomb (Celosia argenta) blooms from summer until early fall. The convoluted flower heads have a shape similar to cauliflower. These annual flowers look garish in the wrong setting, so plan your companion plants carefully. They make excellent cut flowers that last a long time in the vase. They also dry well and can be used in crafts. …

Common in our Sunnyvale yards but little known in the North American kitchen, purslane is both delicious and exceptionally nutritious. Common purslane (Portulaca oleracea) — also known as duckweed, fatweed, pursley, pussley, verdolagas and wild portulaca — is the most frequently reported “weed” species in the world. It can grow anywhere that has at least a two-month growing season. My …