California vet could be making a bloomer (7,6)
I believe the answer is:
african violet
'a bloomer' is the definition.
(African violet is an example)
'california vet could be' is the wordplay.
'could be' indicates an anagram.
'california'+'vet'='californiavet'
'californiavet' is an anagram of 'AFRICAN VIOLET'.
'making' is the link.
(Other definitions for african violet that I've seen before include "Indoor flowering plant" , "Flower" , "Saintpaulia" , "House plant with hairy leaves" , "Inactive flora (anag) - popular pot plant" .)