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13 03, 2023

Bulbines and Bulbinellas

2023-03-13T13:35:29-07:00Categories: Blog, Garden Plants, Nora Harlow, perennials|Tags: , |

It is perhaps not surprising that bulbines and bulbinellas are often mistaken for one another. Both form clumps or rosettes of grasslike or straplike basal leaves and both bear tiny, star-shaped, yellow, orange, or white flowers in cylindrical or cone-shaped clusters atop tall stems. Most of both genera are native to South Africa with a few bulbines from Australia and a few bulbinellas from New Zealand. Bulbine latifolia has succulent leaves resembling an aloe without spines There are, however, significant differences between the two that may affect how they are used in the garden. Almost all bulbines

21 02, 2023

Helleborus 101

2023-02-25T13:33:13-08:00Categories: Blog, Nora Harlow, perennials|Tags: , |

It might seem that hellebores are for expert gardeners and collectors only and a few of them are. The rest may look delicate, fussy, and difficult to grow but are quite amenable to cultivation in a fairly wide range of soils and situations. Hellebores, especially species but also many of the hundreds of cultivars, lend a connoisseur’s cachet to gardens in summer-dry parts of the world. Helleborus orientalis, beautiful in its own right, is the main parent of many hybrids If you are a newcomer to hellebores, there are several things it might be helpful to know.

22 08, 2022

White Sage

2022-08-22T13:46:25-07:00Categories: Blog|Tags: , , |

The standout qualities of California white sage (Salvia apiana) come into sharpest focus in August or September, when many other summer-dry salvias have gone over, dropping their leaves and sprawling widely, bare and somewhat rangy at near-complete rest. There it is, white sage, in its late-summer finery, looking, though different, as handsome as it did in spring. Salvia apiana, California white sage, in summer White sage does go through seasonal stages but all are attractive. Its new leaves in late winter are gray-green and lightly felted, broadly lance-shaped or elliptic, and the 2- to 4-foot shrub is

2 06, 2022

Matilija Poppy

2022-06-20T18:22:07-07:00Categories: Blog, California Native, Nora Harlow, perennials|Tags: , , |

You will hear that Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri) is hard to start and hard to stop, and to some extent this is true.  But if you plant this magnificent California native from one-gallon cans in late fall or early winter, and the spot you choose has excellent drainage (hillsides, mounds, raised beds), you should have self-sustaining plants by the second year. Plant carefully without disturbing the roots.  Water thoroughly at planting and weekly through the first summer.  The huge (4-6 inches across) white, crepe-papery flowers with bright yellow stamens each last about a week and then cleanly drop all their

25 05, 2022

Solidago

2022-05-25T15:18:51-07:00Categories: Blog, Nora Harlow, perennials|Tags: , |

If you're looking for a perennial that feeds many butterflies, birds, and bees and serves as a host plant for many caterpillars, you can't do much better than a native solidago. With one or more species native to every state in the United States and much of Canada, the genus is high on the list of "keystone" plants for every ecoregion in North America. Painted lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies on solidago With the common name of goldenrod, solidagos could be confused with half a dozen other plants that share the name but do not have the same stellar

8 05, 2022

Sisyrinchiums

2022-05-08T09:06:34-07:00Categories: Blog, California Native, Nora Harlow, perennials|Tags: , , |

Tough little plants with a delicate appearance, sisyrinchiums are ideal for naturalizing in the garden. Members of the iris family, along with freesias, crocuses, and irises themselves, sisyrinchiums spread by rhizomes and by seed, cheerfully expanding their chosen territory, mingling with but usually not disturbing their larger neighbors. Flowers of Sisyrinchium bellum (western blue-eyed grass) Sisyrinchiums are easily recognized by their six-petaled, blue to bluish purple, yellow, or sometimes white flowers with bright yellow centers. Their linear to narrowly sword-shaped, green to bluish or grayish green leaves are basal, mostly upright, and overlapping at the base as is

15 03, 2022

Mule’s Ears

2022-03-15T10:22:16-07:00Categories: Blog, California Native, Garden Plants, Nora Harlow, perennials|Tags: , , , |

Every bit as cheerful as the better known annual sunflowers, the eight to a dozen species of Wyethia, or mule's ears, are low-growing perennials native to dry slopes, seasonally moist meadows, and woodland or forest openings in much of western North America. Most are 1-3 feet tall, with a loose rosette of large, broadly lance-shaped to oval, green or sometimes gray-green leaves and bright yellow sunflowers in late spring and early summer. Deciduous and dormant in winter, they reliably reappear as days lengthen in early spring. Wyethia angustifolia These are excellent plants for pollinators and other wildlife, attracting

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