Spring beckons

 Though it's winter in most of the country, we gardeners in the Bay Area are already getting a taste of spring with the occasional warm day. That and all the rain has flushed forth new growth and, especially for those of us who have planted lots of spring bulbs, that advent of spring has clearly started. So, here is a visual preview of the spring-to-come.

Oxalis White Pillow. It just keeps getting bigger, forming a perfect dome.

The following 2 photos are of a daffodil mix called Doubles. They are composed of smaller flowers that are intensely fragrant. They're the first variety of many in my garden to bloom.

Here are two photos of my new Grevillea Poorinda Blondie. The panicles aren't as large as some grevilleas but they are a lovely peachy-gold color.

Salvia dorisiana. The leaves on this vigorous sage offer a delicious fruity fragrance.

Though small, the flowers on Salvia discolor are as close to black as any bloom out there.

It's the season for Magnolias. Here's a flower on my M. stellata. They remind me of fingers.

Here are two photos of a white flowering Helleborus orientalis. Very pretty.

Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Golden Mops'. Showing its burnished gold winter color.

Shamrock oxalis. This winter blooming oxalis has taken over a front yard bed.

Erica caniculata 'Rosea'. This guy went crazy with its blooming this year.

This mixed succulent bowl is gradually drying out from all our recent rains.

Lachenalia tricolor. One of the earliest blooming of my many cowslips.

Begonia rex variety. Mine is looking a bit worse for the wear but has stayed evergreen this winter.

Camellia 'Lila Naff'. I love that creamy pink color!

Camellia 'Anticipation Variegated'. One of my favorite camellias.

One of my many Neoregelias (bromeliad).

And another shot of my world famous - okay I'm kidding - Fatsia japonica 'Spider's Web.'

Back in the Saddle

 Well, it's been a challenging year for this gardener but after major alterations needed in the late summer, the garden is slowly rounding into form. Of course January is a sleepy month so today's return to sharing photos of the garden rightly focuses on foliage, not flowers. That said, here is a sampling of my winter garden.

My Geranium harveyi continues to spread and look great doing so. It is one happy plant!

The same can be said for my seasonal Oxalis 'White Pillow'. Easy, easy, easy.

Eriogonum grande rubescens. This red CA buckwheat is also happy as a clam and even has its first flowers forming.

Rhodocoma capensis. This restio continues to look good and soften the stucco walls and cement steps.

My Leucospermum 'Veldfire' is budding up and looks ready to put on a fabulous late February show.

This walkway bed is full of spring blooming bulbs, most notably Freesias, Sparaxis, Ipheions and Dutch Iris.

My two Ericas, the E. speciosa shown above and the floriferous E. caniculata 'Rosea' below, are getting a jump on spring.

Can't recall the variety name of this white Aloe but it has two small bloom spikes filling up with flower buds.

A relatively new addition, this Grevillea Poorinda 'Blondie' is already loading up with budded panicles.

The shrub version of a bottlebrush tree, this Callistemon viminalis is in bloom this month.

It took awhile but my Magnolia grandiflora 'Little Gem' has finally filled out and is looking good.

Hmm, I guess there IS more in bloom than I thought. This Loropetalum 'Purple Majesty' is either late or early in the blooming dept.

I've lost my tag for this purple-stemmed succulent but it is prospering, even under a fir tree.

Right next to it is a small collection of bromeliads. Their deep colors are due in part to the nice southern sun they're picking up.

A new addition to my extensive conifer garden, this Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Surprise' has lovely and soft foliage.

Two more conifers. On the left is a Pinus coulteri and on the right, a Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest.'

My bronze fennel is rebounding nicely, while in front, the clumps of the bulb Babiana are forming nicely.

Though still small, my Hardenbergia violacea is in bloom. So pretty!

And last but certainly not least, one of the earliest of my camellias, C. Francie L. variegated, has produced its first rich rose bud.

Back from the chaos

 Well, some of you may wonder why you haven't seen a blog post from me in quite some time (other than the woodpeckers one). The short answer is that we had the house and studios on our property painted this summer and the prep and follow up loss of plants meant there wasn't much of anything to photograph. The garden is slowly recovering and this week i decided to take my first batch of photos in some time. So, here they are, not a complete 'survey' of my garden but a few nice things to share on a mid-November day.

Begonia variety. Not as golden as when I first brought it home, this begonia is still lovely and the flowers are a deeper red.

Mirabilis jalapa. Four O'Clocks as they are known, are prolific bloomers.

Oops, this photo of Centaurea gymnocarpa wasn't rotated first. Love its intense silver.

We tend to think of bulb season not starting until the end of February but bulbs from South Africa, the first ones, bloom in winter. Here we have a clump of Babianas.

Geranium harveyi. This hard to find evergreen geranium has been one of the real success stories in my garden this year.

The silvery plant in the middle is an unusual Centaurea (C. ragusina). I keep being asked about it and all I can say is that it just showed up in our nursery one day.

Here's my 'recovering' driveways bed, after everything had been cut back hard to accommodate the painters. At least my Laburnum tree (to the right) is leafing out quickly. And that's a new Grevillea to the left (G. Poorinda Blondie).

I've forgotten the ID of this upright succulent with the pink stems but it's toughed it out in its less than ideal location.

My dwarf conifers bed continues to prosper, perhaps too much as plants are beginning to crowd each other.

My collection of bromeliads also continues to prosper. I can highly recommend them, being so colorful and totally easy to care for.

This newly arrived Dyckia (D. platyphylla) was too tempting so brought it home. Love that brownish-green tone to the upper leaves. Below is the bloom spike, filled with tubular orange flowers sure to attract hummers.

An eternally great performer, Oxalis White Pillow makes a dense cushion of vibrant green leaves then soon adds sparkling white flowers.

Rhodocoma capensis. Love this restio and it does a good job of 'softening' this meeting of cement steps and stucco walls.

Rhododendron 'Sappho'. I never know when this Rhodie will bloom. Above is a closeup of the fabulous deep burgundy splash of color and below is a view of the plant's open habit.

Tho a bit in the shade, this shot shows the 'starting over' look of the house wall beds. What once were 3-8' tall shrubs are now 1-2' tall and growing.

My walkways bed is in transition from spring and summer color to the great many bulbs that are already popping up. That includes freesias, Ipheions and Dutch iris up, to be joined by daffodils and later on, several lilies.

Marmalade bush (Streptosolen) is one of those shrubs that also seems to be in bloom, much to the delight of hummers and bushtits.

Speaking of orange, my vining Tecoma x smithii has that color in spades.

Here are a few of my bromeliads, all kept in pots (though they are so successful one can no longer see the containers).

Here's a closer look at my newly planted Grevillea Poorinda Blondie. It won't be long before it's in bloom.

Begonia Belleconia Soft Orange. This Belleconia series of begonias are prolific bloomers.

Aralia 'Spider Web.' This variegated aralia is a new addition.