Garden Photo of the Day

White Flowers in a Sustainable Garden in LA

Favorite white blooms

By GPOD Contributor
close up of white flower with skinny petals

We shared our garden before (Sustainable Gardening in LA), and now we would like to share photos of some white flowers in our yard.

large planting of ground cover with white flowers Grandma planted this sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima, annual) as a ground cover. Here’s how it looked in 2009. 

close up of burgundy plum flowersBurgundy plum (Prunus salicina, Zones 5–8) flower

close up of almond tree flowersAlmond (Prunus dulcis, Zones 7–9) flowers

close up of white coffee flowersWe planted this coffee (Coffea, Zones 10–11) plant in December 2019, and it gave us flowers in July 2022. Beautiful aroma! Now we are waiting for the bean to ripen to make our first cup of coffee!

close up of tiny white Chinese chive flowersThe flower buds of Chinese chives (Allium tuberosum, Zones 3–9) make a great dish.

close up of white epiphyllum flowerAn Epiphyllum (Zones 10–11 or as a houseplant) flower lasts only one night, but it has a strong, pleasant smell. Vietnamese traditionally like to drink tea and sing or compose poems while watching the flowers open.

close up of white flower with skinny petalsThis epiphyllum has smaller petals but a similar fragrance to the one above.

epiphyllum in a pot with four flowersSometimes we had as many as 12 flowers open in one night. 

 

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Comments

  1. User avater
    cynthia2020 01/31/2023

    I enjoyed looking at all the photos but especially the epiphyllum. And I really liked reading your text and noticing how you appreciate fragrance.

  2. User avater
    phanya 01/31/2023

    Hi Cynthia,
    Yes! I appreciate epi fragrance greatly!
    You can view more epi flowers at
    https://youtu.be/eri4k5FZuW0

  3. User avater
    simplesue 01/31/2023

    Oh how interesting to learn about the epiphyllum, and how "flower lasts only one night, but it has a strong, pleasant smell. Vietnamese traditionally like to drink tea and sing or compose poems while watching the flowers open." --such a poetic way to live life! I'm saving your photo with that information!

    1. User avater
      phanya 01/31/2023

      It's used to be a big deal to have epi flowers in Vietnam long time ago. I don't know about now but back in 1980's, my whole town came to my friend's house to see epi open. Many people waited midnight to see it.

  4. User avater
    treasuresmom 01/31/2023

    Love the alyssum.

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