Planting bulbs for spring

While doing some Christmas shopping, I found that spring bulbs are on sale... I found all these for 50% off.

Today I planted them in two pots outside, hopefully they will all grow, a couple of the Camassia bulbs seemed a little mushy...

This is the first time I've ever tried to grow Tulips, I've never found them appealing, but the color on this Cairo tulip called out to me, and I think it will look good with the purple and blue of the other bulbs.

It's been raining, a lot...

There hasn't been much going on the last couple of days.

Importing Seeds

Buying seeds can be addicting... and frustrating - when you see seed catalogs from outside the US and find out you can't order from them. so I was excited to find out about importing seeds from other countries. Annie's Annuals posted Secret Seeds as one of their favorite seed catalogs, and as I was perusing their site, I found their instructions on how to import seeds to the US - whoo-hoo! http://www.secretseeds.com/USA_seed_imports.htm

Freezing

Ok, so between last night and the night before, a lot of the plants have taken a hit by the below freezing weather we've had (ok just below freezing - but still).

Spring in Winter

So today, driving down along highway 680, I passed two different fields of Mustard in full bloom. I don't think I've ever seen that in December... I wonder if they will re-bloom in February/March when they are supposed to?

Wine Barrel #3

This one is doing very well...The yarrow is doing very well, in fact I'm worried about it invading the entire barrel. The California Fuchsia that I added in this year seems to be doing well, the Euphorbia is happy, and the monkey flower is doing well but not taking over - I'll have to watch it next year though to make sure it doesn't take over. The Echinecea I transplanted in has died back, but I'm holding out hope that it will return next spring.

Wine Barrel #2

Wine barrel #2 Sweet Peas are doing well... Two of the Morning Glories are still growing, the other appear to have been eaten by something.

Wine Barrel #1

So wine barrel #1 is doing pretty well, the Bat- Faced Cuphea is still blooming, and the blue-eyed grass is starting to come back, the Euphorbia looks good though the blooms are dead and need to be cleared out, the Sticky monkey flower is done blooming, but looks good, and the Delphinium looks like it's hanging on enough to come back next year.Today I saw something interesting, I haven't seen bees around for a while, but today there was one hanging around the sticky monkey flower, that is not in bloom...I wonder if the sticky pat of the leaves is actually food for the bees when it's off bloom time? I haven't been able to find any info on that, but this little bee was really buzzing all over that plant. - and didn't touch the Bat-Faced Cuphea.

Front Yard Plantings

The rose in the front yard is blooming. Also pictured - wine barrels # 1, #2 and #3.

Daffodils

Are blooming! it's going to be sad when the frost hits and kills all the blooms.

Rosemary

The rosemary I planted two summers ago is blooming! It may have had a couple of blooms on it last year, but this year It's exploded in blooms...

Seed update 2

Some of the seeds are doing pretty good. Others not so much...

Seeds that are coming up:
• Weed from my backyard
• CA Rockcress
• CA poppy
• Flat-leaved parsley
• Blue-eyed grass
• Dill

Ones that came up and then promptly died:
• CA Bluebells
• Nicotiana
• Penstemon

Some others that are starting to poke through the soil or only a single seedling has come up:
• Echanecia
• Sweetpea
• Lunaria
• Neighbors mimosa
• UC Arboretum Tree
• cynglossum
• freesia

One's that haven't shown any growth yet:
• Summer blue delphinium
• morning glory