When introduced to someone new, I exchange pleasantries but let them know that I’m bad with names. I’ve tried using mnemonic devices and sometimes they work. I’ve learned that I need constant reinforcement before a name sticks.
So it goes with the names of plants. Hence this page: Here’s What I Grow
This page will remain a work in progress, because that is the nature of gardening. I plan to keep it as up to date as possible, hoping it will help with my memory along the way.
Links highlighted in green will take you to an image of that plant in my garden unless otherwise noted.
Updated 2/2024
Annuals
Calibrachoa ‘Million Bells’ (red)
Hypoestes phyllostachya ‘Polka dot plant’
Love in a mist (purple flowers)
Lathyrus odoratus ‘Sweet Pea’ (purple, lavender, white, red)
Strawflower Helichrysum ‘Dreamtime’ Jumbo Yellow 2023
Annual Summer Garden, Including Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs
Basil (sweet)
Blueberry
Cilantro
Golden Lemon Thyme (raised planter, back garden)
Raspberries
Tomatoes (heirloom)
Thyme ‘True English’ (raised planter, back garden)
Bulbs, Corms and Rhizomes
Alstromeria Rock & Roll Peruvian Lily
Crocus
Firecracker Plant Dichelostemma ida-maia (California native) 2019
Hyacinthus ‘Hyacinth’ William and Kate
California Native or Drought-Tolerant Plants
Alstroemeria (dwarf) Princess Lily, 2023
Anigozanthos hybrid ‘Harmony’
Angelonia ‘Archangel White’
Bulbine frutescens ‘Hallmark Orange’
Calibrachoa ‘Cabaret Bright Red’ (adapts to low water)
Campanaula poscharskyana
Convolvulus sabatius (aka Ground Morning Glory), purple, front garden
Hemerocallis hybrid ‘Evergreen Yellow’
Helictotrichon sempervirens
Kniphofia uvaria
Leonotis leonurus
Mimulus ‘Jelly Bean Fiesta Marigold’
Myoporum parvifolium ‘Putah Creek’
Muhlenbergia rigens
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Yaku Jima’
Phlomis fruticosa
Penstemon gloxlnoides ‘Garnet’
Pentas ‘Graffiti White’
Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’
Scaevola ‘Mauve Clusters’
Salvia greggii ‘Red’ (one near swing)
Salvia clevelandii
Salvia leucantha
Salvia sylvestris ‘May Night’
Stipa gigantea
Sweet Pea Shrub ‘Petite Butterfly’ Polygala fruticosa Back garden (1), front next to ramp (4)
Trichostema ‘Midnight Magic’
Verbena bonariensis
Vitis californica
Ground Cover
Vinca minor Creeping Myrtle ‘Bowles Variety’ (planted in pot with camellia) 2018
Thymus pseudolanuginosus ‘Wooly Thyme’
Soleirolia’Baby Tears’
Miniature New Zealand Garden
Thyme ‘Mauve’ evergreen perennial (full sun, low water use)
Sedum ‘Sea Urchin’ (full sun, tolerates dryness)
Succulents
Perennials
Abutilon hybrida ‘Moonchimes’ Chinese Lantern
Anemone japonica ‘White’ ‘Japanese Anemone’
Azalea
Bougainvillea ‘Barbara Karst’ (back garden, planter box) 2017
Camellia sasanqua ‘White Doves’
Campanula poscharskyana ‘Serbian Bellflower’
Geranium
Geranium, Sweet Mimosa Scented
Gaillardia ‘Arizona Apricot’ (back garden)
Gaillardia ‘Arizona Red Shades’ (front garden)
Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ Japanese Forest Grass
Heuchera sanguinea ‘Coral Bells’
Hibiscus ‘TradeWinds Tortuga Wind’ (back garden, planter box)
Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Niko Blue’
Loropetalum ‘Burgundy Fringe Flower’
Nephrolepsis Cordifolia ‘Southern Sword Fern’
Pentas Egyptian Starflower ‘Graffiti’ Bright Red, 2023
Viola ‘Penny White’ (technically a perennial, but often die in the heat of our San Jose summers)
Succulents
Angelina Stonecrop (next to garden stairs, back yard)2018
Cotyledon Ladismithiensis ‘Cub Paws Variegata’ (fuzzy light green leaves with yellowish streaks) Potted
Echeveria agavoides
Echeveria Minima (tiny rosettes of very chubby, frosty blue leaves with frost rose on tips) Potted
Echeveria Parva ‘Shamrock’ (stiff green leaves developed red leaf margin) Potted
Echeveria pulvinata ‘Frosty’ (velvet grey leaves, rosette succulents with bell shaped flowers) Potted
Graptopetalum Paraguansis ‘Ghost Plant’ Compact rosette has gray leaves with a pinkish cast) Potted
Graptoveria ‘Opalina’ (clusters of tight rosettes upright held pale blue green leaves) Potted
Kalanchoe tomentosa ‘Panda Plant’ (potting bench, green container) 2018
Portulacaria afra ‘Variegata’ ‘Rainbow Elephant Bush’
Sedum album (Stonecrop)
Sedum Repestre Angelina (yellow needle-like foliage)
Sempervivum ‘Platyphylla’
Sempervivum ‘Dwarf Hens & Chicks’
Senecio Vitalis (thin blue leaves)
Senecio Serptens (powdery blue green finger like leaves)
Trees
Ornamental:
Pistacia chinensis ‘Chinese Pistache’
Acer palmatum ‘Japanese Maple’
Magnolia
Pittosporum
Fruit:
Four-in-one ‘Fruit Cocktail Tree’
Misc:
Received as a gift:
Canna Lily, Lantana, New Guinea Impatiens and Scaevola (November, 2018)
Gardening Nirvana 