Garden Blogger Bloom Day January 2013

Protected somewhat by a Rosa Cecile Brunner climber this abutilon has been blooming right through the recent cold spell with temperatures dropping as low as 27º. Maybe the fact that it grows next to the compost bin has added a bit of warmth to its environment.

Dwarf Carnation Evermore is a longtime stalwart in the garden, blooming almost year round and doesn't seem to mind the nighttime temperature either.

Sweet Alyssum blooms here and there.

I moved all the begonias but one inside in my on-going experiment to see where they prefer to spend their winter. This one is under the patio cover alongside the succulents, orchids, and a few other tender container plants. While the indoor begonias are responding by dropping leaves, this one is blooming. I may have figured out where they prefer to winter!

A few violas and solanum jasminoides round out the blooms this month. There were a few blooms on Rosa Flower Girl but the last week of freezing night temperatures finished those off. To see more blooms around the world visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens who is celebrating the beginning of the seventh year of her Garden Blogger Bloom Day party!

The Cold Continues

The nighttime freezing temperatures have lasted almost a week this time and it looks as if alien ships have landed in the garden. The succulent fountain, lime tree and a few other tender plants are shrouded in frost cloth and 

strings of patio lights, some globe shaped and some teardrop. LED and minilights do not provide the heat needed to provide freeze protection. It looks as if the freezing temperatures are coming to an end in the next few days at which time I will be glad to go back to worrying about rainfall levels. 

Winter Arrives, Central California Style

Tulbaghia violacea

It is 29º this morning...the coldest my garden has seen this winter. And while we are not buried in snow like so many others we do have some beautiful frost. 

Scented geranium Lady Plymouth

Fleeting but beautiful frost accents the form of the leaves.

Wooly thyme

Frost edges the thyme in the entry path and warns of possible slippery stepping stones.

Common pelargonium

In the background you can see the fountain, left running all night to prevent the ice formation that once before killed off the pump. With only a few freezing nights a year, and sometimes none, it is worth it to me and the birds to keep the fountain full all winter. I also take hot water out to add to the fountain last thing before bed and first thing in the morning on nights when it dips below 32º. More than once I have wondered if there were any other gardeners out in Davis doing the same thing.

Ornamental oregano Hopley's Purple

Recently cut back ornamental oregano was already beginning its new growth.

It is 32º now, at 8:00, and the frost is disappearing. But for a while it was a beautiful treat!