(American Yellowwood, Yellowwood)

Lovely drooping chains of white blossoms in late spring is the forte of the yellowwood, but its bright green leaves that become a brilliant yellow in autumn is also spectacular. A deciduous tree from the American Southeast (North Carolina to Tennessee and Kentucky), it attains a rounded shape with low and spreading branches. Its smooth bark is sandy brown but becoming increasingly gray with age. The name "yellowwood" refers to the color of the heartwood.

The foliage emerges in spring with a yellow-green...

(Farewell-to-Spring, Herald-of-summer, Satin Flower)

A fast-growing annual wildflower, herald-of-summer bears pinkish lavender flowers with papery petals from early to late summer. However, it can be grown as a cool season annual any time of year as long as temperatures are mild and weather fair. It is native to coastal British Columbia southward to northern California where it happily grows along open, upland bluffs and slopes. It is adapted to sharply drained, nutrient poor soils and is both drought and salt tolerant.

Two natural forms of this...

(Herald-of-summer, Lindley's Farewell-to-Spring, Lindley's Satin Flower)

A fast-growing annual wildflower, the Lindley's farewell-to-spring produces red-spotted, pinkish lavender flowers during summer. It may also be called Lindley's herald-of-summer. This subspecies is native to British Columbia's Vancouver Island southward to southern Oregon, mainly west of the Cascade Mountains.

This wildflower can be quite variable in mature height as well as if a plant freely branches. The stems carry lance-shaped gray-green leaves. Upright flower buds open to cup-shaped, flaring...

(Botta's Clarkia, Punch Bowl Godetia)

One of California's prettiest wildflowers, the punch bowl godetia produces cup-shaped lilac-pink flowers that look like tulips before they fully open. This adaptable annual is native to the mountains of Southern California where it is most commonly found in Monterrey County's forests. It can also be found in chaparral and coastal scrub habitats.

Punch bowl godetia is a wispy, tall annual with very fine foliage. The stems could be described as upright, but they are so fine they readily topple...

(Brewer's Clarkia, Fairy Fans)

This is one of California's best wildflowers for the garden! Not only does fairy fans produce a delightful floral fragrance, the blossoms are unique and lovely. This annual is endemic (native only) to central California. In its native habitat it can be found in chaparral lands, wooded foothills and coastal scrub. In the wild it is quite rare. Under ideal growing conditions, it forms a wispy dome of foliage, topped with flowers.

Plants sprout from seed either in autumn or early spring. The thin...

(Red Ribbons)

An otherwise wispy plant, red ribbons grabs your attention from mid-spring to midsummer with its delicate but colorful violet-pink, cross-shaped flowers. This drought tolerant annual wildflower is native to the dry woodlands in the foothills of northern California's Coastal Ranges. It's a worthwhile, dainty plant for dry, porous soils that are in partial shade.

The leaves are small, oval and light gray-green. Showy flowers arise in loose clusters on stem tips and side branch shoots in the warmth...

(Elegant Clarkia, Mountain Garland, Woodland Clarkia)

Upright reddish stems lined with rosy papery flowers are highlights of the elegant clarkia. This tall wildflower is endemic (native only) to California, existing in chaparral, grasslands and forest clearings. It is a fast-growing annual that naturally blooms from mid-spring to early summer when conditions are mild and cool. Garden grown specimens can be sown year-round as long as temperatures and mild and humidity low.

Elegant clarkia grows upright with reddish stems and sparse green to gray-green...

(Silver Torch Cactus)

This big beautiful silver torch cactus has erect, whitish columns and blooms off and on over a large part of the year. It is a mountain dwelling species found in the rocky, well-drained foothills of southern Bolivia and northern Argentina. Because it exists at relatively high elevations it’s somewhat frost hardy.

The coloring of this cactus is derived from the dense cloak of fine white hairs that cover its surface. The hairs disguise a heavy concentration of needle-like spines, so don’t be...

(Clematis, Luxurious White Clematis, Viticella Clematis)

Luxurious white clematis is a herbaceous vining plant with small white, open bell-shaped flowers tipped in green. They bloom from midsummer through the fall. Leaves are green with hints of a gray casting on this native of southern Europe and extreme western Asia.

Clematis prefers a location with at least five to six hours of sun and a fertile, well-drained soil. In early spring, prune each stem's growth down to a pair of strong buds above the soil level. It can be used to dress up a wall, trellis,...

(Alionushka Clematis, Clematis, Integrifolia Clematis)

This unique, floriferous clematis displays numerous rose-pink, nodding, bell-shaped flowers from late spring to frost. Developed in the Ukraine in 1969, ‘Alionushka’ resulted from a cross between the climbing hybrid ‘Nezhdannyi’ and the bushy species Clematis integrifolia. Its habit is intermediate between that of its parents, and it is at its best when planted among shrubs and perennials in the mixed border, where its tumbling stems can weave themselves among the other plants of the garden.

The...