Winter Blooms

So today should be an interesting day. I have been very busy lately, doing everything except gardening. A few weeks ago I was contacted by a photographer from Minnesota who was going to be in our area this week and was hoping to get to visit a garden with the goal of photographing a California garden in the winter to sell a story to a gardening magazine. I told her I would be happy to show her my garden, but not to expect much because although we do live in a mild climate, our gardens are not exactly spectacular year round. As I walk through my garden this time of year it looks rather bleak to me. Most of the roses have been cut back (there are a few that were blooming away and were temporarily spared that are still in need of a cut back), the ornamental grasses that are abundant in my gardens and add so much movement and character other times of the year look like short whisk brooms stuck in the dirt and many of the trees and vines that I love for their changing fall colors have shed their leaves and are a tangle of bare branches. There is more bare ground than I care to see after the winter clean up and I'm afraid the rabbits have had their way with many of the winter annuals and ground covers that I had high hopes for earlier this season. Still, when she asked last week if anything was in bloom, I had to admit there was a long list when I started to think about it. There are camellias and azaleas of course, and the pretty abutilons that I adore and have been combing the nurseries looking for more to add in shady spots. I have noticed some lavenders starting to bloom and the Russian sage is putting on a show. There are a few daffodils starting to wake up and a few reblooming iris that never know when to stop blooming. The unseasonably warm weather we had confused some of the daylilies and there are even a few of them showing their blooms. This is also the time of year for succulents to bloom their unusual flowers and natives to flower and I'm sure there are some of those blooms to be found around and I did notice lots of buds on the Anna apple trees. I guess although it doesn't exactly look like spring, there will be more to see blooming than my guest this afternoon will see in Minnesota at least! I'll let you know how it goes!