Anthemis sancti-johannis

This plant is cute plus tough, a combination that wins my heart every time! The marguerite flowers are a cadmium yellow, with enlarged centers and a dainty skirt of petals that makes the flowers look like cartoon daisies that bloom all summer. They have a dense, tidy habit, about 1’ x 1’ and ferny green leaves. Charming in a bouquet and drought tolerant to boot! Perfect at the edge of a border, it looks sharp when interplanted with the turquoise blooms of Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Blue Springs’ or with the regal reds of Silene regia ‘Royal Catchfly.’ Cut back after bloom and top-dress with compost for a repeat performance! Hardy to Zone 4! Woo-hoo!

Full Sun  Low/Average Water
USDA Zones 4-10

Coreopsis gigantea
Giant Silly Sea Dahlia

Fall is the best time to plant California Natives and this one is a hilarious standout. Coreopsis gigantea has massive, succulent, trunk-like stems topped with green ferny leaves, from which spring giant yellow flowers in the Spring. The display is nothing if not cheerful and quite Dr.Seuss-like, making this “Truffula Tree” a delight to the kid in everyone. This marvel can reach 8’ tall in optimal conditions and tolerates drought, going Summer dormant. What a creature! Bring on the silliness!

Sun   Low/Average Water
USDA Zones 9-11

Cuphea 'Strybing Sunset'

This Cuphea came to us via our friends at Strybing Arboretum in San Francisco. It’s a valuable and long-blooming addition to the landscape with vibrantly colored flowers in sunset colors, each of which has adorable little panda ears! It takes sun or shade (better in shade inland) with aplomb, attracts hummingbirds and blooms practically all year. The more you hedge it back, the more the blooms keep coming! Grows to 2’ x 2’ and appreciates occasional feeding. We love it!

Sun-Shade    Average Water
USDA Zones 9-11

Dianthus 'Chomley Farran'

One of this year’s major hot tickets! This flower really puts the HO back in horticulture, which simultaneously evokes both old Flemish still-life paintings and fluorescent pink and purple zebras from the ‘80s. The leaves stay a beautiful blue-gray all year, and the long stems make this a superb addition to bouquets. Lovely at the edge of rock walls, or in a cherished pot where you can put it on a table to be admired up close and personal. Seriously, someone should really put one of these blooms in a punk-rock corsage. Tres chic! This plant sparked total flower lust and jealousy when it bloomed in the nursery, but we didn’t have any available. Now we do, even if in limited quantities enough for us to insist that we can only spare one per person. Get one before they’re gone!

Full Sun    Avg. water
USDA zones 6-10

Oxalis hirta

An adorable, sweet and well-mannered South African species with mat-forming ferny foliage and saturated magenta trumpet flowers with a yellow throat. Unlike many Oxalis, this demure species is NOT INVASIVE and forms tubers that clump together and can be divided up for sharing as your colony increases! Blooms in Fall just as the weather turns, emerging from Summer dormancy and springing into bloom to light up the floors of your autumn garden! Lovely in a pot, too! Requires no summer water!

Sun/Pt.Sun   No summer water required!!!
USDA Zones 9-10