3 minSenecio candicans 'Senaw' (PP28,830)For those of us familiar with the feathery, strikingly silver foliage of dusty millers, or Jacobaea maritima, this is not it! Please...
4 minLamprocapnos spectabilisNo better common name for Lamprocapnos spectabilis than bleeding heart as it reveals its teardrop when the heart breaks. Its species...
3 minPrunus laurocerasusFor formal and informal hedges, Prunus laurocerasus is a competitive option. They treat us with deep green and lustrous foliage, perfect...
4 minRhododendron occidentaleA native azalea that's deciduous? When we think of rhododendrons, their evergreen boughs with pastel clusters of showy flowers might...
2 minLantana montevidensisNeed a colorful ground cover that is also drought tolerant? Consider Lantana montevidensis. Unlike its sibling, Lantana camara that...
5 minLantana camaraLantanas continue to grow in availability offering a wide variety of colors and sizes among hybridized cultivars. For this post, we will...
3 minHydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris"And now for something completely different" as the cast from Monty Python's Flying Circus repeatedly pronounced as their comedy sketches...
4 minAmaryllis belladonnaH.A.R.D.Y! This is the best way to describe this South African bulb. As of this early September post, they have been in bloom in the...
3 minHydrangea macrophyllaHydrangea macrophylla is the quintessential representation of Victorian gardens. At least, its association with the Victorian era, for...
3 minCampsis radicansTrumpet vines are numerous, and a few thrive here on the West Coast of the United States. Because of their exotic trumpet-shaped flowers...
3 minBrugmansia x candida"Fabulous!" is not exclaiming enough about these showy flowers on a very large "perennial" plant. Usually when I think of perennials,...
2 minDigitalis purpureaMasses of Digitalis purpurea, or common foxgloves, put on a stunning show with their tall stalks of flowers, but there are some things...
3 minAbutilon x hybridumAbutilons do not fit into a clean category for landscape architects. When we think of evergreen shrubs in California, boxwoods and India...
4 minEuphorbia x martiniWe started strategically planting Euphorbias in the garden when we heard that gophers do not like them, and we have plenty of gophers. ...
3 minCotinus coggygria 'Purpureus'Smokin'! This is the first word that comes to mind when I see this unusual plant in bloom. What could be an ordinary large shrub or...
4 minAgapanthus praecox ssp. orientalisIf you are in the California landscape industry, you know that Agapanthus is a workhorse in commercial landscapes. Who has not seen this...
2 minCycas revolutaWhat was once an exotic rarity found in greenhouses or temperate San Francisco's Victorian landscapes, sago palms have been making their...
4 minNerium oleanderDoes the world need another oleander? When I ask myself this question, I immediately think of my time attending Monticello's Historic...
2 minSambucus nigra subsp. caeruleaAges ago, I briefly lived in a warehouse on the Carquinez Strait. The town of 300 was the remnants of an old ferry crossing to Benicia. ...