Hardy Daylily Garden Peak Bloom Now in Connecticut

Posted by admin on July 11, 2011

If you’re visiting or located in Connecticut (or in MA or NY) Hardy Daylily Garden is worth the drive. The garden offers over 1000 varieties of Daylilies in bloom June 30-Aug 7 this year. More garden information, hours and more can be found here.

Water and Plants in California

Posted by admin on September 13, 2010

There are quite a number of plants, shrubs, and trees which require more water than others. There are also soils, temperatures, planting techniques, and number of plants to consider when thinking about saving water.

Here are tips on saving water in the garden:

• Grass takes a lot of water. Consider less grass, rocks, gravel, stones, succulents, etc.
• Some plants, such as ferns, don’t like to dry out for too long and get too warm. To solve this problem, keep shade plants in the shade, and sun plants in partial sun or full sun.
• Some soils retain more moisture than others. Think about how porous your soil is.
• Using mulch around plants can help keep moisture in the ground.
• Some plants, such as Gazanias, don’t need much water and work well as a ground cover.
• Water plants at times the water will stay in the ground and not dry out fast. For example, watering at the hottest, windy moment in a day may mean some water blows away and evaporates.

Growing Violas, Also Known as Johnny Jump Ups

Posted by admin on July 9, 2009

Growing Violas, also known as Johnny Jump Ups, is a real pleasure. This annual blooms from spring to early summer, about 5-8 inches in height. Although it can be bought in a pot, we would recommend starting it from seed, as we did in this photo. This hardy plant is great as a ground cover, and can grow in sun or partial shade. The flowers of this one in the photo are edible. Here is a yellow and purple variety, a blue variety, a unique yellow and black variety, and an orange and purple variety.

Violas also known as Johnny Jump Ups

Growing Sunflowers for Beauty, Privacy, or Seed

Posted by admin on July 8, 2009

Sunflowers are quite an amazing annual. They can grow in sunny, somewhat foggy, and partial shade areas. They can be anywhere between 2-14 feet in height, with one to ten flowers on a plant. They grow fast, and many tolerate substandard soils. They are also fairly drought tolerant. Many are so tough, wind does not bother them. They can be used for a privacy screen between your house and that of a neighbor. To do this, we recommend not just one row, but 2-3.

We recommend planting sunflowers in pots or a clearly defined area first. That way, when they sprout, they can be replanted to exactly their final location.

After a sunflower is done blooming, we recommend cutting the head and drying it to keep the seeds. Another way to keep the seeds for later growing is to put a thin cloth around the head and twist tie it. Or, of course if you like you can let birds eat the seeds when it is done flowering.

Below is a photo taken today in our San Francisco California garden. These sunflowers are 3-7 feet in height. They would have grown taller, but we experimented here with letting them all grow in small pots until they were 1-2 feet tall, and then planted them out. This meant they were used to being confined so now will not grow as tall. That is a good way if you like to control the size of your sunflower plants. Click here to see our favorite sunflowers.

One of Many Sunflowers Blooming Right Now in our SF, CA Garden

Sunflowers in our San Francisco California garden

How to Grow a Tall Poppy

Posted by admin on May 11, 2009

The pink poppy in the photo below is about three and a half feet in height. Because I’ve grown this poppy in good compost rich soil, and only watered it every 2-3 weeks, it has become more drought tolerant. It gets about 3/4 a day of sunlight. Without a full day of sunlight it stretched up high to reach the sun at various times. This is our favorite poppy seed.

Tall Pink Poppy