1 Herbs: Society garlic (Tulbaghia violaceae) is classified as a bullet plant; that is, nothing can kill it. Once established, it does not really need water but just grows, even if supplemental water will give it more vitality. Flowers are violet and can be used as garnishes, while leaves can be chopped and served as pungent seasoning in the manner of scallions and garlic greens. Purpleicious is a variegated type whose foliage is adorned with long, white stripes and magenta margins. San Marcos Growers has 11 society garlic cultivars that grow to various heights and many have variegated foliage. The fragrant flowers of sweet garlic (Tulbaghia simmleri) offer olfactory relief from the more common and more pungent, if more vigorous, cultivars.

2 Fruit: Lorraine Iwamasa sent me the photo of a tree and its blackberrylike fruit in the following email: “This is a tree that actually grew from a seed in my backyard a few years ago. I had no idea what it was when I saw the little seedling come up, so I put it in a pot and let it grow. The fruit is somewhat sweet but kind of flavorless.” She sought the identity of this tree, a common mulberry (Morus alba), also known as a silkworm mulberry. This name comes from the fact that caterpillar larvae eat the leaves of this tree and spin their cocoons on it. A cocoon may consist of a single strand which, when unraveled, measures a mile long. In China, these strands have been turned into threads that are then woven into fabrics, a practice that is thousands of years old. This mulberry species is known for sprouting up as a volunteer all over Southern California. The fruit is plentiful but, as Iwasama points out, not especially tasty. Persian mulberry (Morus nigra), on the other hand, has fruit two to three times longer than that of common mulberry and much sweeter. You can acquire a Persian mulberry tree (dwarf form) from Papaya Tree Nursery (papayatreenursery.com) in Granada Hills.

3 Vegetables: For reliably successful cucumbers, train them on trellises like peas and beans. There are many cucumbers with which you can experiment. There are, of course, the familiar, smallish Persian cucumbers and the jumbo English cucumbers. Both are parthenocarpic, meaning all flowers are female, but they do not need to be pollinated in order to produce a crop. Many select and heirloom varieties, however, are monoecious, meaning there are separate male and female flowers on each plant and the females must be pollinated to get a crop. If you have a lot of bee activity where you plant, you won’t have to worry about pollination. However, if you don’t see bees when flowers form, you can pollinate yourself with the help of a small artist’s paintbrush. For example, the Bush Slicer variety is meant for growing in containers because of its squat growth habit, but it requires pollination to produce a crop. There is another intermediate category of cucumber: gynoecious. In the manner of parthenocarpic cucumbers, all of its flowers are female, but it will require pollination from a monoecious plant nearby for cucumbers to develop.

4 Perennials: Silver puya (Puya coerulea variety coerulea) is a bromeliad with brilliant silver, sharp-spined foliage. Silver puya grows up to 3 feet tall and spreads as much as 8 feet. You will need to give this plant room to grow and situate it where it is out of the way, since its leaves will cut into those who get too close for comfort. However, its silvery presence is unmatched. Flower stalks in late spring rise several feet above the foliage and open up to reveal alluring, dark blue flowers.

5 Containers: The easiest ornamental trees to grow on a sunny patio or balcony are the slow-growing Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) and the even slower growing Sago palm (Cycas revoluta). The pygmy date palm (Phoenix roebelenii) is also a favorite for sunny patios. Combinations of colorful succulents, as well as the many aloe and agave species, make reliable and low-maintenance container gardens, too. Moving into filtered sun, feathery bamboo palms (Chamaedorea seifrizii) perform well in containers, as do lady palms (Rhapis excelsa).

— Joshua Siskin