California Gardening: Anyone grow Larkspur or Delphinium in Bay Area, 1 by doss

doss wrote:
Million bells are a form of petunia that bloom all summer long and enjoy draping over walls. No deadheading but the flowers are small. I love them. The begonias look wonderful though. It must be an east facing window though - northern windows don't get any direct sun. Some daylilies are happy in half a day of sun. Also the shorter cannas which bloom for a very long time in the summer and they have beautiful foliage. Some of the new mini-hydrangeas would do well there and stay under 4 feet. It's my experience with hydrangeas and cannas that you can't make them be a height they don't want to be.

If you can find miniature roses that can tolerate half day shade that would be great. They bloom all summer and if sprayed with Messenger are totally disease free. Be careful though. Some of the miniature roses can get very tall and don't grow on miniature bushes.

Clematis Rooguchi could be planted in among the other plants and it loves to tumble down walls. It's not a climber and it's easy to grow. (If you buy from Joy Creek make sure to call ahead of time and see if they have inventory.)
http://www.joycreek.com/150-106-1.htm

Larkspur and delphinium don't last here very well and droop early in the summer. Seems as if they are more a spring plant here.

One other thing that would be beautiful in your planter are mixed echevarias, especially the ruffled kind. They are just breathtaking when they are close together and only need a little watering.