Growing in My Garden 

My garden is an explosion of blooms, scent and texture right now, thanks to my daphne, pulmonaria, viburnum, narcissus, jasmine, and a few over-eager roses.  Here are a few of my favorites – some tried and true and a few brand new additions.

Waxflower ‘Matilda’ (chamelaucium)
USDA Zones 9-11
Oh, how I wish you could smell these fragrant little flowers.  Their scent is as powerful as daphne’s (honest!) but lasts much longer, beginning in late fall and continuing through the end of spring.   Growing to a tidy 2.5 x 3.5, ‘Mathilda’ is covered with a profusion of tiny flowers that start out white, then age to dark pink.  Oh, it’s drought tolerant too! If possible, plant this near your front door to start and end each day with its heady fragrance. 
 

Corsican Hellebore (helleborus argutifolius)     USDA Zones 6-9
Each year my Corsican hellebores reward me with several weeks of lime-green, upward facing blooms that slowly fade to cream as the season marches on.  Once the blooms are spent, though, the show’s not over.  The focus now shifts to it's oversized, deeply lobed and slightly serrated foliage, adding year-round interest to my garden.  Texture is so important in the garden, typically lasting much longer than fleeting blooms.  For more tips on using texture in the garden, click here.
 
Stachys ‘Bello Grigio’
USDA Zones 4-9
One of the hottest new drought & deer resistant plants at the recent San Francisco Garden Show was this oversized lambs-ear.  I have three growing in my garden and am delighted with their almost-white color and velvety soft leaves.  This variety rarely needs pinching as it forms a neat 15” mound. One of the brightest shades of gray I’ve seen, it makes quite a statement when planted near maroon and dark green.  For other tips on using the color gray in the garden, click here.

One of the highlights of my garden is the many different birds that visit throughout the year. The joy of hearing the chatter of sparrows or a mockingbird's song can't be measured.  Nor can the thrill of watching a flock of cedar waxwings swoop down to take a communal bath, or discovering the sneakiest of hiding spots for a sweet little nest.  I can't imagine my garden without birds and to make sure they keep visiting I have several bird feeders, fountains and birdbaths.

If you'd like to bring more birds to your garden, here's a video I've made showing you just how easy it can be.  A little food, a little water, a little shelter - voila!