(Shiny Boy Watermelon, Watermelon)

Awarded a 2010 All-American Selections winner for its excellent texture, flavor and high performance, ‘Shiny Boy’ is a top notch watermelon for the home garden. Bred by the Taiwanese Known-You Seed Company, it produces high yields of large, glossy, rounded melons with rich red flesh that’s crisp and sweet. Fruits can reach up to 20 pounds (~9 kg) and take around 75 days to harvest post transplant. This cultivar is also disease resistant.

Watermelon is a tender annual tropical vine that needs...

(Sugar Baby Watermelon, Watermelon)

The super sweet icebox watermelon selection ‘Sugar Baby’ bears round 8- to 10-pound (4 to 5 kg) melons with nearly green-black skin. The reddish pink flesh on the inside has few seeds. The vines are a bit smaller than average, making this an ideal variety for gardens where space is limited. The fruits resist cracking and require 76 days from planting seeds to harvest. This variety is resistant to wilt and anthracnose problems.

Watermelon is a tender annual tropical vine that needs a long,...

(Sweet Beauty Watermelon, Watermelon)

A 2004 All American Selections Award Winner, 'Sweet Beauty' bears flavorful "ice-box-size" watermelons on long vigorous vines. It grows from seed to harvest in 90 to 100 days. The small, oblong, 5- to 7-pound (2.5- to 3-kg) melons have light green skin with large, irregular, dark green stripes. The pale-red flesh is crisp, juicy, and sweet. This relatively early-maturing variety is a good choice for areas with a short frost-free growing season.

Watermelon is a tender annual tropical vine that...

(Triple Crown Watermelon, Watermelon)

The large, oblong, 15- to 20-pound melons of this seedless F1 hybrid have dark-striped rinds and sweet, crisp, bright red flesh. Plants grow from seed to harvest in 90 to 100 days. This triploid cultivar (three sets of chromosomes) requires a diploid companion (such as 'Sugar Baby') for pollination and fruit set.

Watermelon is a tender annual tropical vine that needs a long, very warm growing season to produce its famous fruits. Yellow, bee-pollinated flowers appear among the attractive, deeply...

(Ultra Cool Watermelon, Watermelon)

A self-sterile F1 hybrid, 'Ultra Cool' produces medium-sized, rounded, seedless watermelons with dark-striped rinds and sweet, reddish-pink flesh. Plants grow from seed to harvest in 90 to 100 days. This triploid cultivar (three sets of chromosomes) requires a diploid companion (such as 'Sugar Baby') for pollination and fruit set.

Watermelon is a tender annual tropical vine that needs a long, very warm growing season to produce its famous fruits. Yellow, bee-pollinated flowers appear among...

(Pureheart Watermelon, Watermelon)

This "personal-sized" watermelon fits easily on a plate or in a refrigerator. Developed by Syngenta Seeds, this small, round, seedless melon is about the size of a cantaloupe. It has light green skin with jagged dark green stripes. The thin rind encases a core of sweet red flesh. The dense fruits weigh 3 to 6 pounds (1.5 to 2.5 kg). Seeds and plants of this supermarket melon are generally not available for retail purchase.

Watermelon is a tender annual tropical vine that needs a long, very...

(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...