Memories of my lifetime in Los Angeles are entwined with California poppies and lupine. In late winter, the hills near my home would be covered with swaths of orange and lilac—of sunbeams and the shadowed colors of dusk. Then in spring it would all die away as quickly as it appeared.

When I first moved to Philadelphia, I brought a ton of seeds with me so I could start a small California garden and bring a little of my state’s magic with me.

King mandarin, orange, coconut, lilac blossoms, lavender tar, and amber musk.