Tag Archives: Spring

We grow hyacinth in our Sunnyvale garden most years. Attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birds. Flowers are fragrant. This plant is suitable for growing indoors.  The Dutch Hyacinth does best if planted new every year. Hyacinth blooms the first week in March, after the crocus have finished blooming, and right before the tulips start blooming. In 2019 we planted Deep …

Phacelia californica (California scorpionweed) is a central California native. This herbaceous perennial grows to 1-2 feet tall.  Plant in rock gardens or on a slope with good drainage. The common name is because the flowers unfurling from the stalk look like a scorpion’s tail. Less imaginative explanation: it is similar to ferns. The flowers provide an important nectar source for …

Spikes of deep maroon bells create an intriguing focal point in the spring garden. The tall stems are clothed with gray-green leaves, which are attractive in their own right. The Persian fritillary usually requires a season or two to establish itself. There are about 100 to 130 species of bulbous plants in the family Liliaceae, native to temperate regions of …

Freesia is a fragrant pretty spring corm that naturalizes so it comes back year after year. I plant them at the bases of the fruit trees and in containers to provide some of the first blooms and scents of spring.

We had a very wet February in our Sunnyvale garden. But we still had a lot of flowers: Pea-shrub, orinthogalum, several types of crocus, daffodils, armeria, plum, apricot, flowering plum, viola, cyclamen, english daisy, yarrow, lavendar. On the vegetable side: cilantro, tomatoes, beet, garlic, rhubarb, chile, basil. Lots of spring growth: swartzkopf, mulberry, figs, milkweed, foxglove, caesurium, bleeding-heart, lily-of-the-valley, verbascum, …

The Purple Trumpet vine has really benefited from all of our El Nino winter rain in Sunnyvale. The trumpet vine flower is great for attracting hummingbirds to the landscape. The beautiful tubular flowers range in color from yellow to orange or red or purple. Blooming on the trumpet vine plant takes place throughout summer and into fall, though blooming may …

The Watsonia spires and Spanish Lavender are ready for dawn

Walker’s Low Flower, aka Catmint. Catmint is one of the toughest perennials you can grow. It’s a proven performer during hot, dry weather, and the silvery foliage and blue flowers look great most of the season. Deadhead or cut back hard after first flush of bloom to encourage more flowers. Average, well-drained soil is usually sufficient. Tall types may need …

March came in like a wet lion and went out as a warm and dry lamb. The hanging baskets are doing well with their purple and pink Pericallis, multi-colored Primrose, and purple Lantana, surrounded by shorter plants like Bacopa, Lithodora, Pansies and Violas. I have drip-irrigation running to the hanger poles but the plants still require more shade in the …

Freesia is a great spring flower bulb for Sunnyvale gardens. It smells great and has a range of colors: white, red, purple. It naturalizes so you get plenty of flowers forever. It is drought tolerant. https://www.sunnyvalegarden.com/flowers/freesia/