Gardeners are always on the lookout for tough, attractive,
versatile shrubs - and if that shrub sports showy flowers, all
the better. One evergreen shrub that fits this bill is
Carpenteria californica, known as bush anemone, and to boot it's
a California native. This handsome shrub is found in the wild in
the foothills of Fresno County, growing along the shores of
seasonal creeks, where it has thrived. This open shrub typically
reaches 8 feet in height and width when grown in gardens and
features 5-inch, lance-shaped, glossy dark green leaves. A
member of the mock orange family, which includes philadelphus
species, it would be worth growing for its handsome foliage
alone. Most of us, though, will grow it for the masses of
lightly fragrant, cup-shaped 3-inch flowers that may remind many
of single-form camellias. Borne singly or in short terminal
cymes from the upper leaf axils and showcasing central bosses of
yellow stamens, the flowers provide eye-popping color for a full
two months beginning in early summer.