Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - December 2009

The winter rains have come to San Jose, and the twenty-something temps last week were definitely noticed in the garden. Winter blooming trees like my favorite Arbutus 'Marina' can handle it, in fact the flowers have gotten noticeably deeper in color. Nice.

~click any photo to enlarge~

Thought I'd lost the lovely, sparkly plumes of Miscanthus 'Morning Light' in the rain, but in THIS morning's light they were looking just fine!

Whoa, did you know that Green Senecio has these adorable purple blooms in winter? And looking so great after a freeze? What a winner!

Can you believe this Rudbeckia??? Still blooming after six months? That's how long 'Indian Summer' has been at it. The finches love the dried seedheads, so how can I cut them back?

California gardens can usually manage to squeeze out a rose of one kind or another every month of the year. My coral carpet roses still have quite a few of these simple swirls.

When the sun emerged after our cold snap, these pink carpet roses went from bud to blooms in a day. I love their heart-shaped petals. I'm letting them climb the lilac (just a little bit, okay?)

A pristine Hybrid Tea (I think this is a John F. Kennedy) in December is a little more rare. Maybe a garden NEEDS a little shock of cold sometimes to stimulate it!

Diascia blooms look like happy babies to me. Happy orange angel babies. Really.

Everyone has probably had just about enough of my precocious Cerinthe, who shrugged off the frost no problem (as cool-weather annuals will do, only usually they do it in MARCH).

We're at about 8 months of bloom for the Lantana, however this is one of the few survivors; he snuggled up against the house just a few feet away from his shriveled brethren. I'll trim lightly, but with Ms. Mantis' egg case in there somewhere, I need to be careful (or she'll come back from the dead and kick my ....)

The Crassula by the front door also emerged unscathed, except for some red cheeks! He's getting ready to do his winter-bloom thing too.

Poor Mona, half of her a blackened mess, the other half fresh as spring. Perhaps she knew I wanted her to hang on for one more Bloom Day?

My hybrid Fuchsia is out for the count, but little Fuchsia thymifolia is saying yes, she really WOULD like another.

And then there's Sweet Alyssum, one of those ubiquitous little plants that will follow in my wake for years to come. Just let her do what she wants and everybody's happy, right?

Preview of coming attractions: The catkins on my Corylus avellana contorta (Contorted Hazelnut) are starting to emerge. We'll check back with him in January...

Thanks, as always, to Carol from May Dreams Gardens for being the heart of Garden Bloggers' Bloom day. Visit her site for links to Bloom Day posts from all over the world.

"We can have flowers nearly every month of the year."
Elizabeth Lawrence