Blooms in February (Country Mouse)

One of the perils of co-blogging is trouncing each other's posts occasionally. Please don't let me trounce Town Mouse's lovely February offering. I'll put the link again at the end of my post.

Like Town Mouse, I'm cheating a little. Today is foggy and rainy. Sunday and last weekend - in fact all of February - we've had mild, sunny weather that has brought out the blooms.


The woodland side of the garden, with Fuschia-Flowered Gooseberry, Ribes speciosum, is aglow. I love these amazing shrubs. But beware the prickers!



In that same area is Ribes aureum, golden currant.

At first the deer wouldn't leave it alone. Now they don't seem to bother it. Needs pruning, but I didn't think it was going to even make it.


Here they are together:


Below is a small geranium I planted some time back in this woodland area, and now I can't get rid of it. Beware the ornamentals! Pretty though.


Just down the road from us is a Western redbud I love to watch each spring. We walk Duncan past it every day.

Meanwhile back in the garden, but on the chaparral side, some planted sprawling Ceanothus.


Our local wild manzanita, Arctostophylos crustacea tomentosa, or is it the other way around...
Lovely lovely lovely.

Here's Ceanothus 'Dark Star' with its tiny leaves and dramatically deep blue blossoms.



Salvia 'Bee's Bliss' which is a marvelous spreading salvia. Lasting for years. Others are nice too, Dara's Choice for example.


In the pool garden, recently planted Verbena lilacina 'De la Mina"


I can never remember the names of these plants, is it a Grevillea from Australia? I'll have to look it up. Cute blossoms, especially for its first year.



Down in the lower chaparral, Fremontodendron californica, California Flannel Bush, puts out its first flower of the year. What a beaut.


We have an unfortunate cluster of flowering fruit trees that has rarely been pruned. Just coming into blossom now.


Can't resist another couple shots of ceanothus 'Dark Star'



And last but not least - my Aristolochia Californica is finally starting to blossom, for the first time. Only one or two blossoms right now but maybe we'll get more later.

Well, that's a lot of photos. I have other blooms I missed too: daffodils, and Salvia spathacea, hummingbird sage, Mexican sage, cape honeysuckle, regular honeysuckls, maybe something else. It's been a vibrant February to be sure and I hope you enjoyed these native California blooms.

Now please continue on to view Town Mouse's lovely February offering. And thanks, Carol at May Dreams Gardens, for continuing to host Bloom Day. I'll be visiting shortly!