January GBBD, part 2

As promised in this morning's GBBD post, here are a few photos of January in California. To start, these are the flowers outside my dining room window.

These are related, but they're in the front yard.

Flowers are not what most people think of when they hear "Jade Plant."

Calendulas offer the nice warm touches of yellow and orange to often-gray days.

While the rest of the country has pruned their roses a-way back, wrapped them in burlap, and covered them in leaves or straw, this one is blooming in a back corner of the yard.

Usually, winter gardens get their bright reds from berries.

And, around most of the country, snow-bound gardeners get their winter blooms indoors by forcing bulbs like Paper White Narcissus. Mine were started indoors, but moved outdoors once they were well-sprouted, so they are only now starting to bloom.

But then, out in the yard, their "naturalized" counterparts -- the daffodils I planted almost a dozen years ago -- are already sprouting nicely. (But it looks like "someone" needs to get out there and pull some grassy weeds!)

Nearby, the grapefruit tree is laden with vast quantities of (truly nasty, wretched, bitter) fruits.

And out back, the flat bowl of strawberries I planted last fall have gone nuts blooming and putting on fruit (that may or may not ripen fully before desiccating).

And, since we quit having so many freezing nights, the Super Sugarsnap Peas have started growing and blooming again. (Yay! Snow peas for salads and stir-frys and snap peas for stir-frys.)

So, that's what it's like in January in Silicon Valley.