The skies may be threatening snow, but flower buds on our 15-gallon Pittosporum napaulense plants are promising the show below in a couple of weeks:

The fragrance of these lovely flowers will pervade the garden for weeks at a time through the year.

Golden fragrance is an evergreen, low-branching tree from the Himalayas (including Nepal as the species name indicates) that tolerates temperatures dropping occasionally into the low 20s Fahrenheit. Have you ever seen this tree in local gardens — or in the Himalayas?

Its glossy, deep green leaves remain pleasing even in phases when the tree is out of flower. Flowering can be quite extended in our cool-summer climate. We have seen it bloom in spring, summer and fall at the San Francisco Botanical Garden (Strybing Arboretum). The mind-boggling array of treats like this that we can enjoy in our climate always delights us.

Regular irrigation and normal drainage will make Pittosporum napaulense happy. Occasional applications of rich mulch or balanced fertilizer will keep it robust.  Plant it near a window, door, deck or patio for maximum enjoyment of its luxuriant charms.

Come visit in the next few weeks to imbibe its fragrance.

The dramatic Roxburgh fig features round leaves with a sandpapery finish and figs that develop on the trunk.

For all our complaints about summer fog and wind, we who garden in San Francisco’s mild-winter climate get the chance to grow delicious things that will tolerate few other locations north of Santa Barbara. One example is Ficus auriculata. In a warm location on the east side of the city — like North Beach, the Mission, or Bernal Heights — this small tree with heart-shaped leaves thrives in a container or even in the ground. Other spots in the Bay Area where this dramatic fig is worth growing include Sausalito, Belvedere, and Tiburon in Marin; Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda in the East Bay, and a few favored frostless hillside locations along the coast and around the bay. Unfortunately its trunk-borne figs are not tasty.

Figs grow on the trunk -- and roots, in this case -- of this species!

This leaf is at least two hand-widths across.

Here's Ficus auriculata lending its charisma to the patio garden at Skool. Photo courtesy of Piotr Mazurek / Garden Fantasia

We love how it looks on the patio at Skool, restaurant in the Design District of San Francisco with an inventive fish-centered menu. Piotr Mazurek, of Garden Fantasia, designed Skool’s patio garden. Once again Piotr blows us away with his bold plant choices and combinations, convincingly expanding the palette for San Francisco gardens and creating a very special secret garden.

Photo courtesy of Olia Kedik / Skool

We’re excited about a number of small trees we are bringing into the nursery next week.

Metrosideros collina ‘Springfire’ is a luscious, evergreen flowering tree or shrub for mild coastal climates like San Francisco, Berkeley, and Stinson Beach. You may recognize the genus name, Metrosideros, from the common coastal street tree, Metrosideros excelsa, also known as the New Zealand Christmas tree or pohutukawa. Well, erase that image from your mind: Springfire has much showier orangey-red blossoms and lusher fuzzy green foliage. Metrosideros is also the genus in which the ubiquitous Hawaiian native tree, ohi’a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) resides.

The brilliant flowers on 'Springfire' out-do most New Zealand Christmas trees in San Francisco. Photo by James Gaither (JG in SF on Flickr)

(Take a look at the picture above on Flickr.)

Before the buds explode into sparkling orange-red they resemble kitten toes

Pure sand, rich loam, and even clay soils are suitable for this species, and fertility is rarely an issue. The more sun it gets, the more it will bloom. Exposure to salty sea wind is no problem. Once established, it won’t demand a lot of water, but will certainly grow more quickly with regular irrigation. It also makes a nice hedge.

The glorious flowers emerge in cycles through the year but peak in spring. Photo by James Gaither (J.G. in S.F. on Flickr)

(Check out the above photo on Flickr.)

Metrosideros collina 'Springfire' grown as a street tree in SF's Pacific Heights

Pittosporum angustifolium: What a delightful small tree -- fragrant and drought-loving, too!

We’re excited to be selling the rare weeping Pittosporum angustifolium, a very drought-, heat-, and frost-tolerant small tree that’s widespread in interior Australia. It’s best for inland locations in Central and Northern California, too.  Its shiny linear leaves hang on a narrow, upright tree with weeping branchlets and silvery bark. Aussies call it “native apricot” because its small bright fruits resemble apricots (but aren’t edible). The open crown allows a lot of light through and casts animated shadows on the ground below. Thanks to its narrow profile, it fits into small gardens and sidewalks. David Feix, one of the Bay Area’s most thoughtful and adventuresome landscape designers, recommends this plant for areas with a touch more heat than the fog belt of SF/Berkeley/Oakland.

Walking the streets of San Francisco, you may have notice a variety of intermingling jasmine-like fragrances. It’s an under-celebrated quality of the city.

Pittosporum trees are the source for many of these sweet scents. Several species are planted as park and garden trees, but Pittosporum undulatum, “Victorian box,” is the commonest street tree. Clothed in lush green leaves marked by an undulating edge, it produces small, heavily scented, creamy-white blooms at least four times a year in San Francisco. Its native home is moist forests of Australia’s southeast Queensland, eastern New South Wales, and eastern Victoria states.

Lots of pittosporums make good garden plants. Fragrance is just one selling point.