Do you covet the beautiful bearded irises gracing the yard of your neighbor or local public garden? Bearded irises provide bursts of color in the spring and attractive grey-green spear-like leaves throughout the growing season. They make ideal plants for use in water-wise Mediterranean gardens, especially when paired with plants with similar cultural requirements, such […]

Gardeners tend to be familiar with the waxy-leafed flowering plant known as a geranium, but not with “Scented Geraniums.” Unlike geraniums, scented geraniums are grown not for the flowers they produce but for the scent their leaves emit: crush or rub the leaves of scented geraniums with your fingers and you disturb small hairs, releasing […]

As a native to the Mediterranean, Northern Africa and Europe, Lavender makes an ideal plant for growing in California and other similar Mediterranean climates. When grown in Mediterranean climates, it has only a few critical needs: one of them watering lavender correctly. If winter rains have been sufficient, established lavender plants may need little or […]

Roses growing in containers are widely available for purchase at many nurseries in most areas of California year-round. Many of the less common varieties may be available only as bare-root plants during bare-root season, typically during January and February, either at nurseries or from mail order sources. Read these four tips before purchasing roses: Select […]

Sunflowers make wonderful additions to the garden and are ideal warm season annuals for California’s warm and dry Mediterranean summers. Here are five tips for planting sunflowers: Sunflowers are direct sown into the garden in spring. Before planting, incorporate several inches of high-quality compost into garden soil. GardenZeus does not recommend sunflower transplants:  sunflower plants […]

GardenZeus receives commissions on sales made through links in this post. There is no additional cost to you. Interested in growing sunflowers? First decide if you are going to use sunflowers for seed or for cut flowers. For a sunflower variety attractive enough to use as a cut flower but productive enough to harvest for […]

For those gardeners who have missed bare-root season and have purchased roses in containers, here is our recommended advice for planting container roses. GardenZeus receives commissions on sales made through links in this post. There is no additional cost to you. Water your roses well, then allow them to drain overnight before planting. Use eye […]

In many areas of California, March is the month when roses break dormancy, or begin sustained growth over spring, summer and into fall. Here are seven tasks for roses in spring: Water and fertilize most rose varieties when they show the first new growth in early spring. Fertilize actively blooming roses at the end of […]

GardenZeus receives commissions for purchases made through links in this post. There is no additional cost to you. Lavender makes an excellent companion plant for other Mediterranean herbs with similar cultural needs, such as rosemary, sage and thyme. And of course lavender makes an excellent companion for perennial flowering plants that provide complimentary or contrasting […]