If you’re looking to add some fragrant plants to the garden, check-out these 7 in today’s post. As there are many more; for example, the spring blooming bulb, Freesia, comes to mind, as do fragrant roses, lilies, lilacs, jasmine, honeysuckle and unsung ones like say Pittosporum tobira (flowers smell like…
Flowermania: 8 Osteospermums for the Mediterranean Climate Garden!
I love Osteospermums (aka: Cape daisy or African daisy); these plants will bring you plenty of bang for your buck in coastal Mediterranean climates like the SF Bay area, largely in locations where summers are cool.
Lady Banks Yellow Climbing Rose – Not your Average Rose!
If you’re looking for a thornless climber and you love roses here’s one to check out: Yellow Lady Bank’s Climbing Rose (Rosa banksiae’Lutea’). This early blooming rose won’t disappoint and having no thorns won’t shred you or your family and friends if it grows a little rambunctious in the summer.
Winter Flowers Combine a Simple Tapestry of Color and Fragrance
There is always an opportunity to create a vignette in the garden including a lovely winter vignette in our mild Mediterranean climate. While the winter flowering plant list is slim compared to other seasons, there are lovely ways to enjoy a hint of color during the shortest, coldest, possibly wettest days. In this short post enjoy a few plants woven together to create a simple floor plane tapestry. Here we go, enjoy!
3 Lovely Filler Ground Covers for Part Shade!
If you’re looking for some flowering filler ground covers that can take part shade to maybe even well I won’t say SHADE but hmm, yep, sometimes we want to push the envelope… and if you do, try the likes of Campanula poscharskyana (photo below) which is virtually pest and disease free.
Cuphea: Know this Easy, Flowering Plant Boasting Tons of Adorable Flowers!
Cupheas, otherwise known as firecracker plants or cigar plants constantly surprise me with their ease of care and unique gangbuster flowers. Their flowers are tiny, but so abundant you see bright, cheery color at a distance. I would say for the Mediterranean climate garden, Cupheas with their tiny tubular hummingbird happy flowers, are an excellent addition to the garden or a container.
7 Variegated Succulents for your Garden!
Hi there and Happy Fall to you! Hopefully, you’re still finding time to garden. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area gardening and planting is year round with mild winter temperatures making this possible. Today is October 12, 2020 and our business is off to plenty of planting especially in the next few months of Indian Summer, where particularly in SF we get some of our warmest temps. In this post I hope you enjoy seven statement succulents from the iconic Agaves to the very sweet Aeonioums. With stripped or marbled leaves variegation gives you many options in plant design,
Salvias – 10 Best Plants for Flowers, Fragrance, Hummingbirds
There are 700 – 1000 Salvias, the largest genus in the mint family. In this post we’re focusing on TEN amazing Salvia plants (Sages) for your garden or container. Blooming as we speak (late August) and flowering like gangbusters much of Spring – Fall, this genus of herbal and ornamental plants is one of my personal favorites.
Trees: Crape Myrtle – Summer’s Longest Bloomer!
The impact of a Crape Myrtle tree? In a recent post about Wisteria, blooms are the focus, but Wisteria blooms generally last only up to 30 days; not so with Crape Myrtle… This summer blooming tree stays in bloom 2 – 3 months, which is excellent as you’ll have long lasting color summer and fall. […]
Variegated Foliage – A Simple Way to Add Contrast in Planting Design
As you can see from the lead photo of this large hedge of variegated buckthorn (Rhamnus a. ‘Variegata’) variegated leaves can be a useful tool to add beautiful, easy contrast to your plant design. In this short post, take a look at the “hue effect” variegated leaves play in visual contrast to different leaf color […]