Winter garden in SoCal

While most of the country is mired in rain or snow, it's gardening season here in SoCal.  I finally found some time to get out in the garden this afternoon, planting garlic and shallots.  I have a bunch more cool season stuff to plant , but it will have to wait for next weekend.

While I was outside, I decided to take a few pictures.  Here's a winter tour of my backyard:

My peach tree is blooming!  We got this tree last year, free from our favorite nursery.  Yes, you read that right--free!  It had some wind damage, so they were going to throw it out but gave it to us instead.  Isn't it pretty all dressed up in pink and white?  Too bad there aren't debutante balls for trees :-)



And here are a couple of closeups of its frilly finery:




While the peach tree is blooming, the citrus trees are bearing!  Navel oranges, anyone?


Now for some more flowers.  First, a sunflower planted by a helpful bird.  There's something wonderful about a sunflower blooming in January!


Our house's previous owners planted this Cup of Gold Vine along a pathway in our backyard.  It must be at least 20 years old, and it blooms from January to about April.  The blossoms are really cool looking; see?


Last spring I planted nasturtiums in my vegetable beds, and they reseeded for some winter color.  I love it when plants plant themselves!


And finally, here's another plant that reseeded itself -- borage:


This is the second generation, and there are some third-generation seedlings too (you can see some in the lower right corner of the photo).  Three seasons of borage!  Now if I just knew what to do with the stuff...

So there you go - winter gardening in SoCal.  There's something wonderful about being able to dig in the dirt in January without needing hip waders.