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.
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...
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.
