Passionate Gardeners

Non-Stop Gardening Tips & Inspiration

Best Plant for Winter and Spring Flowering? Cymbidium Orchid

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A plant that should be way more popular in San Francisco Bay Area gardens is the Cymbidium orchid.

Why? Take a look at the flowers… Take a look at the thin strappy, evergreen leaves. (Ok, forget the leaves, just take a look at the flowers!)

Not many plants offer the bloom finesse this regal plant offers. Plus, blooms can last for 2 – 3 months grown either in a pot or the ground (photos below.) Each year, if planted in the right location, these evergreen beauties can send out reliable flower spikes which will have you and

7 Fragrant Flowering Plants for the Mild Mediterranean Garden

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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…

Cuphea: Know this Easy, Flowering Plant Boasting Tons of Adorable Flowers!

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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.

Salvias – 10 Best Plants for Flowers, Fragrance, Hummingbirds

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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.

Bay Area California, Spring Wildflowers, Tennessee Valley Hike

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Don’t miss it. The 2018 spring wildflowers are out and they are a lot of fun to spot. The other day I enjoyed a Marin headlands hike cruising up some trails in Tennessee Valley. I was pleasantly surprised to find over 12 different wildflowers, a few I still have no idea what they are. If you like discovering wildflowers and hiking here’s a photo illustration of my recent findings.

Plant Spotlight: Carrot Family Umbels, Cut Flowers & Queen Anne’s Lace

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A flower that looks like an Umbrella…really? Yup. If you’ve passed these by before, these cool flat flower heads make excellent cut flowers and last quite a long time in a vase. The umbel flower to the left is the very delicate looking Queen Anne’s Lace. I really love the way it looks all by itself in a vase.