Wildflower Garden 2007

Today, I officially started my 2007 garden. I bought three packs of California native wildflower seeds and planted them in front. Hopefully they will be blooming within a month, assuming we get some warmth and sunshine. The seeds I planted are:

-Orange California Poppies
-Red California Poppies
-Baby Blue-Eyes

I will post pictures as soon as they germinate.

Wild Mustard

Just don't try spreading it on any food.

Dandelion

An early-morning February dandelion.

Spring is Around the Corner...

Its amazing how short (or long) the winters can be in Northern California. Its mid February, and many trees are blooming, including at least two different types of magnolia. Not only are trees blooming, but some are leafing out. The California buckeye trees, (photo on right), had their buds swell about two weeks ago, and now new leaves are emerging fast. My banana plant has woken up because of our recent warm weather and is now starting to grow. My California pipevines are showing signs of growth, and so is my pygmy date palm.

It looks like spring is early in 2007...I hope.

Ocotillo Skies

A leafless ocotillo bush contrasted against the Arizona sky.

View from Sunrise Peak

A view of the Sonoran Desert and the mountains of Arizona.

Tropical Heliconia Seedling

Here is one of the long-awaited heliconia seedlings. So far three have germinated out of about 20 that were planted. If the weather gets warmer, the seedlings should start to grow a faster pace, and maybe they'll bloom in time for summer. We shall see...

Paperwhites in February

A duo of paperwhite narcissus flowers photographed today.

71 Degrees

It looks like Northern California is going to be getting some compensation for the extreme cold that struck a few weeks ago. Temperatures tomorrow and Monday are expected to climb towards 71 degrees Fahrenheit. I've noticed that some trees are already flowering, and the paperwhite narcissus are blooming. Is spring just around the corner, or will winter unleash another Arctic blast?

Heliconia Success

A few months ago, I collected about twenty seeds of a low-growing tropical heliconia that was, despite frost, thriving outdoors in the open. I brought the seeds home and scattered them in a trough of soil, and now they have germinated. I read that they can take up to ten months to germinate, so it seems to be a miracle that the seeds have grown in the dead of winter. The species is Heliconia psittacorum. The picture on the right shows a flower on the plant from which I collected seed.