Exotic and fragrant! If you want a consistent spring bloomer and a bulb that will reward you every spring then you need to plant Peruvian Daffodils Bulbs (Hymenocallis festalis). They love our zone 10A and they are extremely reliable blooming each and every spring. Also, they produce offspring bulbs on a regular basis every year. You plant one Peruvian Daffodil Bulb and within 5 years you’ll probably have six or seven surrounding the original mother bulb. For some very obvious reasons some people call them, “spider lilies.”
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Pohutakawa, the New Zealand Christmas TreePohutakawa, the New Zealand Christmas Tree
Christmas in New Zealand is summer and everywhere around the coast you will see Metrosideros excelsa, the pohutakawa, in bloom. It’s relative, M. polymorpha, is native to Hawaii and can also be seen planted around Mission Bay in San Diego.
Silver FernSilver Fern
Iconic symbol of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team and other national sports teams and athletes. I photographed this frond fragment on a trail in Otari-Wilton’s Bush, Wellington, NZ in March 2022. Alsophina dealbata, can grow to 30 feet and the full fern frond can be 10 feet long. It is the underside that is white/silver.
My Spring BarometerMy Spring Barometer
Daffodils (Narcissus sp.) are classics of spring but not so common outdoors in San Diego gardens because of our warmer climate. Many years ago, I planted the bulb from a (supermarket) potted gift bouquet into my garden. Each year if it flowers (like this year) I know it has been cooler and wetter than normal. Most years only the leaves emerge without a flower.