One of my favorite shrubs is the  perennial garden beauty, Matilija Poppy, Romneya coulteri. It blooms in May and seems to "smile sunshine" with its huge whimsical "fried egg-like" flowers sitting atop gray-green lobed foliage. It is wise to have ample room for Matilija Poppy in your garden as it can reach 6-8' tall, and spread easily if unchecked by rhizomes over a large area. When it blooms in my garden, I'm reminded it is late spring and the onset of summer is fast approaching.

The Matilija Poppy is native to coastal ranges and valleys of Southern California and into Baja California. It likes full sun and survives on scant to moderate watering.  This shrub can tolerate many types of soils. The Matilija Poppy thrives in zones 4-12, 14-24. Matilija Poppies are simple maintenance, needing a pruning close to the ground in late summer to early fall, and restraint  from summer watering to keep its growth curbed. Slowly they begin to grow through the fall and winter, and suddenly in May, burst into bloom with their gigantic flowers.

Best places to plant your Matilija Poppy in your garden or property is as a structure and backdrop shrub, along a fence line, along roadsides, and when planting a large border or natural area. Ironically, it is a little tricky to start them initially in your garden, but once established they easily can take over. In fact, it took me three times, before I successfully established my Matilija Poppies. Start your Matilija Poppy from 1 gallon size plants from your local nursery, or from rooted suckers on spreading roots from a friend's garden. If you have Matilija Poppies growing in your garden, you will gladly want to share them with your friends.

Matilija Poppy's flowers are big, bold, and full of character in your garden. Matilija Poppies can be used as as a cut flower, too.  As a cut flower, be aware that it has a tendency to drop dust from its golden stamens and  an occasional white petal.

Please share if you are familiar with the Matilija Poppy.  If you grow them in your garden, please share how you curb their enthusiastic runners.

VintageGardenGal Tidbit Thyme....

Remember to send in a photo of your chicken coop this month to, bonnie@vintagegardengal.com. Submit your winning chicken coop photo this month, May 2010, and be a part of  VintageGardenGal's premier backyard "Chicken Coop Photo Contest." Winners will be announced in June 2010, and their photos shared on VintageGardenGal.

If your plant palette colors are pinks and purples, the perennial Dwarf Sweet Pea Bush, Polygala fruticosa, is a nice evergreen shrub to have in your garden. Just like its name, its pink-purple flowers resemble blooming sweet peas with pleasing grey-green foliage. Dwarf Sweet Pea Bush like sun, and moderate water. I consider it a low maintenance shrub with a long bloom time of several months.

At maturity, the Dwarf Sweet Pea Bush is generally a mounding shape 2' tall x 2' wide. Not to be confused with the standard size Sweet Pea Bush, Polygala dalmaisiana, which is very similar in appearance to the Dwarf Sweet Pea Bush, except that it can be a little more leggy, reach 3' to 5' in size, and is bare at its base. I personally prefer Dwarf Sweet Pea Bush in my garden.

Originally from South Africa, and in its native habitat grows close to the coast. It tolerates temperatures to 15-20F degrees. Dwarf Sweet Pea Bush, also goes by the names, Petite Butterfly and Butterfly Pea Shrub.

The Dwarf Sweet Pea Bush can be used as a charming cutting flower, as well as a perennial pleaser in the garden. Dwarf Sweet Pea can be found most likely, at your favorite local nursery, and also on the Internet.

Please share if you grow Dwarf Sweet Pea Bush in your garden.

We are well into our wonderful fall splendor with its warm glowing autumn hues, so why am I mentioning the springtime Pelargonium "Limelight"? Because it is a must-have perennial in your garden. I thought if I highlighted it in the fall, it might afford you some time to find it, plant it, and enjoy it this upcoming spring.

Please forgive me as I really don't have a source for you either. You will have to diligently search the Internet for possible mail-order nurseries who might carry it or maybe request it at your favorite local nursery. My Pelargonium "Limelight" was a gift from a friend, in the form of a dainty small cutting. Aren't those the best kind of gifts? So put this one on your plant "wish list", and keep your eye out for it.

Pelargonium "Limelight" is a perennial which absolutely glows in the spring with its beautiful chartreuse foliage and dainty pink flowers. It is a pelargonium that is well-suited for zones 8, 9-11, and will grow in partial shade to sunny spots with moderate watering. I really think it thrives best in shady spots. If you are looking for the chartreuse foliage color in a very sunny spot, I suggest you look at the wonderful Euphorbia plant varieties. Pelargonium "Limelight" does have a tendency to want to climb slightly 1' to 3', as it grows and matures. I have it growing at the base of one of my arbors which is in a shaded, supported, and protected spot. Pelargonium "Limelight" gets the attention it deserves, as you pass through my arbor.

A few springs ago, I had the pleasure of a visiting local garden club, and everyone wanted to know the name of this perennial, Pelargonium "Limelight". Are you familiar with Pelargonium "Limelight", and have it growing in your garden now? Do you have trouble finding showy plants for your shady areas? Do you share with your friends "garden cutting" gifts?

This is another spring blooming delight, Orchid Rockrose, Cistus x purpureus. Although this is a native Mediterranean drought tolerant shrub, something about it reminds me of an English country garden.

Former neighbors of mine had several one gallon Orchid Rockrose shrubs left over from a landscape installation, and asked me if I would like them. Not familiar with the Orchid Rockrose at the time, I boldly mass planted them in an informal hedge, in a sunny dry spot on our property. Besides a beautiful informal hedge, this shrub is suitable for rock gardens, fire-prone areas, erosion-control, and natural settings.

The hedge has grown to about 4' high x 4' wide. It blooms in the spring for about a month with 3" deep pink "happy face" flowers. Each flower has a deep burgundy spot at the base of each petal, with a yellow-orange yolk center. Their flower is very distinctive, and friends always ask me the name of this shrub.

When Orchid Rockrose is not demonstrating its showy bloom, its dark green evergreen foliage continues to please. It is an easy shrub to care for, thrives in full sun, requires little water, and grows quickly in poor soil and adverse conditions such as high heat, winds, and ocean salt air. It does not like a lot of pruning as a mature shrub, but can be top-tipped for fullness, and pruned easily as a young shrub.

It grows well in zones 6-9, and 14-24. There are a number of different species within the Cistus family, with different flower colors, and characteristics in appearance. You can find the Orchid Rockrose shrub in local Southern California nurseries, and online, too. Be sure and start with a small container size, and adequate spacing, as it grows quickly.

If you are looking for a low maintenance, drought tolerant shrub, you might consider the versatile and showy, Orchid Rockrose.

Another favorite early spring blooming shrub of mine is the showy "Razzleberry" evergreen shrub, also called Chinese Fringe Flower Loropetalum chinense, var. rubrum "Razzleberry". Its striking deep pink fringe-like flowers have a sort of "flopsy mopsy" show-off demeanor. In spring, its foliage is a verdant green, deepening to a beautiful bronze color later in the year.

Not only are its flowers and leaves showy, I love its mound-like structure, too. Although it can reach 4 feet high and wide in maturity, I keep mine compact at about 3 feet high by 3 feet wide, and off of the ground. Its layers of graceful arching branches add to Razzleberry's flowering drama which is best in the spring, but it can flower at other times throughout the year, too. It benefits from a shapely trim, now and then, and certainly before its spring bloom.

Originally from Japan and Southern China, this evergreen shrub is drought tolerant once established, and likes sun to partial shade. I planted mine under a mature avocado tree, so it has sun and partial shade. I also planted it along my boxwood pathway, surely to be noticed by passersby.

The Razzleberry shrub can be used in many different ways in the garden. Place it in an entrance to a sun-speckled woodlood garden. Plant it next to a wonderful gurgling water feature. Espalier it against your courtyard wall. With young plants, you can pot it in a patio container with other color, or in your favorite moss-covered hanging basket.

Loropetalum chinense, or Chinese Fringed Flower, comprises a large variety of cultivars, with pink, red, or white flowers and various other size and structural characteristics. Besides, the Razzleberry, other popular varieties are Ruby, Sizzling Pink, and Burgundy. They grow best in zones 7-9. These shrubs are easily found in local nurseries, and by mail order via the internet.

For an eye-catching addition to your spring garden, plant a dazzling Razzleberry shrub. Do you have a Chinese Fringed Flower shrub in your garden, you'd like to share comments on?

How can you not love a plant called "Pink Breath of Heaven". This shrub originally from South Africa, explodes into bloom winter to spring, with showy pink delicate tiny flowers on wispy feather-like branches. I feel like it is my own personal "trumpeter" in the garden, announcing the beginning of spring.

Pink Breath of Heaven, Coleonema pulchrum, can sometimes be found in nurseries under the name, Pink Diosma. There is also a white-flowered species, called White Breath of Heaven, Coleonema album, which is equally as beautiful in bloom and size. Pink Breath of Heaven likes full sun or partial shade, and moderate water. At maturity, it can easily become one of your largest evergreen shrubs in the garden reaching 5 feet high by 5 feet wide. It benefits by trimming it back, or lacing it if you prefer, after its spring bloom, to shape it and keep it compact. It does well in zones 7-9, and 14-24. Pink Breath of Heaven has a slight bit of fragrance when touched lightly, or brushed up against it.

Introducing this showy shrub into your garden, requires some thought on where to best place it for ample room to grow and thrive, and yet blend in with the rest of the garden. Pink Breath of Heaven look nice as a background shrub, as a focal point, or even along a pathway. For its size, it has a light and airy feeling to it, and it moves beautifully in a breeze.

Its delicate pink flowers are such a feminine and romantic pink, I like to use a visually complementary plant color palette such as dark pinks, purples, lavenders, and green colors surrounding it in the garden.

It is about this time of year, the end of February, in my zone 9 garden, my Pink Breath of Heaven bursts alive with its stunning first bloom and lets me know that spring is just around the corner.

Let me introduce you to the "Majorca Pink" rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis, "Majorca Pink", planted along the front edge of the arbor in the photo above . It is an upright rosemary which can grow 2-4 feet high, and 1-2 feet wide. It has pretty pink lilac flowers, with a hint of fragrance. Its flowers attract bees, birds, and butterflies. It blooms in the winter time here in Southern California, in my Mediterranean climate. Its flowers are edible, and can be used as a garnish. Its dark green, glossy, aromatic leaves are a great culinary herb.

I stumbled across this "Majorca Pink" rosemary, quite by accident, unknown to me until last year. I thought it might work for a hedge or border on the south side of my middle garden. It is a location with wonderful sandy soil, and good drainage. This spot also receives a lot of sun, and is dry.

I planted this hedge, with several 1 gallon "Majorca Pink" rosemary plants spaced about one and half feet apart. The same method you would use to start a boxwood hedge. Let the plants establish themselves first for a year, and then you can trim their tops slightly if they reach the approximate height you are desiring. After tipping their tops, their sides will eventually reach for each other in the form of a hedge. The "Majorca Pink" is very easy to care for, and I have just let it go, liking the shape and the hedge it is forming. This type of rosemary is very pretty laced, as well.

I have several types of rosemary woven throughout my garden, besides the "Pink Majorca", such as the "Tuscan Blue", "Prostratus" and "Huntington Carpet". There are many, many other types to discover, too. Search the internet or your local nurseries for different ones. You just might surprise yourself, I had never thought of using "Pink Majorca" rosemary as a hedge.

Approaching winter, it is hard to find plants that are beautiful and blooming in your garden. If you live in zone 5-9, I would suggest planting an "Early Amethyst" Beautyberry, Callicarpa bodnieri giraldii. It is a stunning deciduous shrub, that blooms tiny pink flowers in the summer, and beautiful tight clusters of violet fruit along it's arching branches in the winter.

"Early Amethyst" Beautyberry usually grows in an upright fashion to 3-4', but can reach 6' high and 6' wide. It is a very graceful willowy plant which seems to dance in the light, and when coaxed by a subtle breeze. It prefers sun or light shade with regular watering. It's bloom and fruit occur in the current season's growth, so best to prune back by about 1/3 in late winter. It's violet-colored berries which appear in fall and winter can benefit from fertilizing this shrub monthly, during the spring and summer.

As seen in this photo, I have just placed fresh mulch down around the base of my "Early Amethyst" Beautyberry, but I intend to plant a companion ground cover or low flowering perennial to add to it's drama. "Early Amethyst" Beautyberry is excellent for cutting and in flower arrangements.

Callicarpa bodnieri, Beautyberry is a native of western and central China. The species is named after Emile Marie Bodinier (1842-1901), a French missionary in China who was first to collect this shrub for introduction to Europe.

In your quest for more information on this stunning shrub, you might notice there are other species listed, American, Purple, and Japanese which have slightly different characteristics and optimal growing zones.

Initially, I was unfamiliar with the "Early Amethyst" Beautyberry and bought only one shrub, now I wish I had bought several. It is a very easy shrub to care for and it is so stunning, it always catches my eye when I am in my garden. My local source, Tom Piergrossi, said he might have more "Early Amethyst" Beautyberry available this coming spring 2009, www.tompiergrossi.con