Posts tagged with "annuals":

As massive fires burned around us  in all directions but west, all I could think about was rain.  When will it come? Between forays out into the smoky air to hose down the roof of our house in case stray embers blow in on the wind, we stayed inside with doors and windows shut tight, keeping an eye on the fire updates, evacuation bags packed.  Wildfires are part of a natural cycle, embedded in our way of life here in California.  When I am saddened by the tragic loss of so many people's homes and...

I find it difficult to say no to a sunflower. Pollen-producing?  Pollen-free? 12 inches tall? 12 feet tall?  Yes, please, to all of the above.  I  planted too many sunflowers in the vegetable garden this year, to the detriment of a few sun-starved pepper plants, but to the exuberant enjoyment of all who saw them blooming, humans, insects, and birds alike.  There are dozens of reasons to plant sunflowers in your garden, and many dozens of sunflower varieties available to plant.  To narrow down which are...

Tithonia rotundifolia, or Mexican Sunflower, is a bold summer annual that has captured my heart this season. Tithonia is named for Tithonus, a Trojan prince who, in Greek mythology, was a love interest of Eos, the goddess of the dawn. Native to Mexico and Central America, tithonia is at home in any garden with a good-sized sunny spot. Blooming starts about midsummer; the rich orange, 3 to 4 inch flowers resemble single-flowered dahlias. Tithonia plants typically grow 4 to 6 feet tall, but in the...

As a floral designer who tries to use seasonal and locally-grown flowers whenever possible, I love summer and fall for the brightly-colored and interestingly-textured options available. I’m especially enamored of dahlias, particularly just how much variety there is in terms of flower form, shape, color, and size. It’s sometimes hard to believe that a flower the size of a half dollar resembling a ball and a flower the size of my entire head with a plethora of gracefully pointed petals are from the same...

This past Monday the shadow of the moon moved swiftly West to East across the North American continent. In our home just North of San Francisco, we experienced a partial solar eclipse, with 78% of the sun's central disk blocked by the moon at 10:15am local time. Cloud cover blocked our view, still the light generated by the solar eclipse was interesting in itself. The quality of the light was soft and warm, and shadows cast were unusually sharp. In the Swallowtail Garden Seeds test garden, flowers seemed...

Poppies for Early Season Color Poppies are easy to grow and can add an amazing variety of early season color to your garden. Poppies can grow in most areas and are particularly well-suited for cooler northern climates. California Poppies can thrive in heat better than most types of poppies. We sell more than 30 varieties, including five types of annual poppies and three types of perennial poppies. Poppy flowers come in a wide range of colors including red, white, blue, pink, pewter, lilac, purple, black...

What's good to plant right now? If you're in the northern hemisphere, it's a GREAT time to plant ZINNIAS! Zinnias, native to the Southwest US, Mexico, and Central and South America, are consistently some of our most popular annuals and bestsellers, and for good reason. Zinnias are easy to grow from seed and, if planted now, will be blooming for a long fall season. Zinnias are facultative short-day plants, which means that they will flower faster and more copiously when growing in the progressively...

It was unseasonably hot here in Sonoma County last week. We had many days in the high 90s, and one day was a record 106 degrees. The gardener (yours truly) certainly suffered during the heat wave, but fortunately the garden did not. Let’s look at one plant in particular that not only made it through the heat wave, but thrived for it. Cosmos Rubinato Above is Rubinato cosmos as it appeared on June 8th of this year. I sowed the seeds in mid April, and by early June, plants were shapely but not fully...

"I wanna touch the earth, I wanna break it in my hands, I wanna grow something wild and unruly..." ~Martie Seidel and Marcus Hummon Wild and unruly plants are welcome in my garden. Plants that spill over the edge, reseed themselves freely, and pop up in unexpected places dominate my back yard. Nasturtiums feel at home. They drop seeds and each generation is different from the year before. I have only planted them once, some Tall Single Mix seeds, and every year a new flower color or two surprises...