What's blooming week of 16 January
Mary Sue Ittner (Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:05:15 PST)

It looks like it is getting colder and we'll finally have some rain.
Something is eating the leaves of some of my plants too. It could be
the birds who are busy planting sunflower seeds, millet, and tanoak
acorns in my pots and removing the tags, but yesterday and today we
saw something scurry across the deck and I think it's the chipmunk
who we thought had relocated this summer after we secured where it
was living in the wood box.

So here's what has been blooming in coastal northern California.
Oxalis purpurea (all the leaves on the purple one in one pot are now
gone, do you suppose purple leaves taste better than green), Oxalis
obtusa, Oxalis versicolor, Oxalis luteola, Haemanthus deformis (a bit
past its prime), Haemanthus paucifolius, Triteleia hycinthina (a
short form with only a short dormancy and a long bloom), Calochortus
uniflorus, Cyclamen coum, Cyclamen pseuibericum, Narcissus romieuxii
var. zaianicus, Tropaeolum tricolor, Nothoscordum montevidensa,
Gladiolus priorii, Canarina canariensis, Allium hyalinum, and most
strangely of all in the greenhouse, xHippeastrelia, Kniphofia uvaria,
Iris unguicularis, Orthrosanthus chimboracensis

We were out hiking last week and we saw a lot of naturalized
Narcissus, Iris douglasiana (none blooming in my garden yet), and
Allium triquetrum (which we call Allium pestum), Oxalis pes-caprae
and by the roadside we saw some kind of Chasmanthe in bloom as well.

Having all these sunny days with warmer temperatures during the day
has probably contributed to having some of these bloom earlier or
longer. It looks also like Moraea tricolor might have bloomed and I
missed it. I hope that it will bloom again.

Mary Sue