I have been acquainted with Bunches for many years. My colleague Don Foskett and I have brought to Bunches many bunches of pieris blooms and a few other blooms from our wholesale nursery. It has been gratifying to see these otherwise wasted byproducts utilized. The shop has also provided many flowers for the tables of our friends' neighboring restaurant.

I normally do not associate with florists because they are ... florists. However, Bunches is actually a retail outlet for the associated floral production establishment in Watsonville. The proprietors are therefore farmers like many of my other colleagues and me, so they must be OK. Retail floral establishments acquire their produce as fresh from the grower as possible. Bunches is the only such establishment that actually is the grower. It doesn't get any fresher than that.

This may be an awkward season for cut flowers in the garden. Warm-season annuals have finished blooming, but cool-season annuals may become established slowly. The few cool-season annuals that are suitable for cutting are typically not as prolific as warm-season annuals.

Iceland poppy and stock both bloom on stems substantial enough for cutting. Snapdragon is also good for cutting if it can be grown successfully. I still have not figured out how to grow it. Calendula, pansy and viola are also cool-season annuals but do not bloom on substantial stems. Of course, that does not stop many garden enthusiasts from cutting some to bring inside.

The various primroses are cool-season perennials typically grown as annuals and removed as weather warms during late spring. They are among the more appealing cool-season annuals but may cause severe allergic reactions similar to those caused by poison oak.

Unfortunately, some garden enthusiasts who experience reactions continue to use primrose because the allergy is somewhat rare and is not commonly identified with primrose.

California poppy, lupine, linaria and godetia may be seeded now for early spring bloom. These annuals are useful in less refined areas of a garden where they are only expected to perform as spring wildflowers while the weather is mild. If maintained, they may be less appealing in summer but can be naturalized.


Flower of the Week: Passion vine

The lightly fragrant flowers of the passion vine, Passiflora alatocaerulea, look like something that might be seen in an episode of Star Trek. The various floral parts not normally noticed among most other flowers are so enhanced within passion flowers that they are as impressive as the somewhat subdued corolla of petals. "Whiskers" radiating from the center exaggerate their foreign appearance.

The colors of the individual parts are not remarkable but occur in strange combinations of white, yellow, green, blue, purple, red and pink. Each species and cultivar exhibits a distinctive combination of floral colors and a specific type of fruit, but the most popular passion vine produces no fruit. Bloom begins during summer and continues into autumn.

Foliage is somewhat sensitive to frost but may be evergreen if sheltered. Individual leaves are approximately 3 inches long and wide, with three rounded lobes. Full solar exposure and warmth are preferred, but reflective glare may cause foliar scorch or fading. Soil of inferior quality is tolerated if irrigation is regular (but not so frequent that soil is saturated). If soil is exposed, generous mulch insulates surface roots from heat and desiccation. Periodic application of fertilizer during warm weather maintains foliar color and promotes bloom.

Vines climb with tendrils to 20 feet or more. Severe annual pruning inhibits accumulation of a thicket of superfluous vines. Performance is best if vines are pruned at the conclusion of winter, then ignored while they climb over whatever gets in their way. They can become invasive if grown too close to other desirable species or garden features but may be an appealing cover for fences (if provided with a trellis) or woodpiles.

Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at 408-358-2574 or at LGHORTICULTURE@aol.com.