Posts Tagged: bloom

Lovely Lavender Lavatera

I went out to my backyard this morning to see if the rain and heavy winds we had did any damage to my plants.  Everything look ok, soggy but maybe the sun will shine and dry things out some.

A pleasant surprise greeted me, my tree mallow (Lavatera spp.) is starting to bloom.  I planted it last year from a cutting that I got at our plant exchange about two years ago.  I took about 3 cuttings home and put them in some potting soil and waited to see if they would take. The larger one did, the smaller ones did not.  Once it starting growing as was about 12 inches tall I transplanted it to the garden. I put the tree mallow in a spot where it would have room to grow, as I had seen one that looked like it would take over, and I didn’t want that to happen. But it looks like it has a mind of its own, and is taking over that spot and one nearby it.

This is the first time it has bloomed, but it has stayed green all year, which is nice when most things look doormat. Even with this Lavatera blossom in the picture showing white with light pink it is actually a very light pink, with a darker pink around the center and the stamen is light yellow.

Some tree mallows are suppose to be rose shaped mine grows face down and to me it looks more like the old fashion hollyhocks that our parents might have grown.  All I know is that this plant seems to grow inches over night and soon will take over in height and width, so after it blooms I plan on pruning it down to an average height.

Lavatera in my backyard. (photo by Betty Victor)

Violets-Flower of the Month

February is usually a cold wet month, but it has an especially fragrant treat, the violet. In the Sunset Western Garden Book, it is listed under Viola. Viola adunca, the California Sweet Violet or Western Dog Violet is native to coastal bluffs and Sierra foothills in central California, Pacific Northwest east to New England. That said, it is the easiest plant to grow and stands 3-6 inches high, spreading indefinitely by seeds and stolons (creeping horizontal plant stems or runners that takes root at points along its length to form new plants). I can attest to the ease of growing violets, as I took a few from my Mother’s garden and they have moved with me to four homes in Solano County. This darling little February flower has dark green heart shaped leaves with lavender blue with white petal bases and bright orange stamens. If you are extremely patient, you can enjoy their beautiful fragrance by gathering a small bouquet for your house. They bloom with at least a half-day winter sun, and summer shade. They take various soils and can be invasive or affective ground cover in a slightly shaded area of your garden. I actually like a few violets in the lawn. Often they are sold in nurseries as Viola odorata.

Sweet purple violets. (photo by Karen Norton)

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