Wild Flower Hotline May 30, 2025

Wild Flower Hotline May 30, 2025

From The Wild Flower Hotline by Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers & Native Plants

May 30, 2025 · 3 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the blooming of new plants at the Theodore Payne Foundation gardens and highlights various wildflowers in California.

Just in time to get a mention in the last report of 2025, two exquisite new plants serendipitously blossomed this week in the Theodore Payne Foundation gardens. One is the Humboldt lily a tall, slim beauty arising from a bulb and growing sometimes to 8 feet. It is bejeweled with large orange flowers stippled with maroon splotches. Watch the hummingbirds flock to it! The other plant starting to bloom in the garden is mock orange. The perfumed citrusy fragrance beguiles visitors to swoon over masses of lovely white blossoms extended from long, arched branches. It is a handsome shrub and one of California’s most fragrant plants. Other areas of the gardens still have perennial favorites blooming into late spring, early summer including the ever-cheery sunflower, showy penstemon, Matilija poppy, and our favorite flower from early spring through early summer, the California poppy. In the foothills of the mighty Sierra Nevada, when the landscape fades to a golden brown and the wildflowers have mostly progressed to seed, up pops the harvest brodiaea through the spent flowers and grasses. This deep purple charmer emerges from underground bulbs and zillions of them brighten up the drying…

Topics covered

  • wildflowers
  • gardening
  • California flora
  • pollinators
  • seasonal changes

Keywords

  • Humboldt lily
  • mock orange
  • California poppy
  • wildflowers
  • pollinators

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Theodore Payne Foundation

Products: Humboldt lily, mock orange, sunflower, penstemon, Matilija poppy, California poppy, harvest brodiaea

Places: California, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

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