Liquid Amber Seed Pod

Because we don't get shockingly cold weather in zone 23, the leaves on the liquid amber take most of the fall to flutter to the ground. We have four trees in the front of the house (had five but one was destroyed in some vicious Santa Ana winds). Three of them have lost all of their leaves. The one closest to the house still has a few leaves dangling. Once the leaves are gone, the branches are starkly displayed with the spikey seed pod. On the driveway, thousands of little black-brown seeds are scattered waiting for the wind to whisk them to some fertile soil.

White Calla Lily Ready to Unfurl

Going away on vacation has two benefits. First, you have the fun of the vacation. Second, when you come home, your garden has all kinds of surprises for you. I returned from vacation to find my calla lilies beginning to bloom in the front flower bed. This photo shows the bloom is just beginning to unfurl.

My plants stay in the ground year round and are quite happy in their location. To my pleasant surprise, they have propagated on their own by seed.

Poinsettia Power

In November 2006, I finally took the poinsettia plants displayed for Christmas 2005 out of the house and planted them. They were dropping leaves very rapidly in the house and I didn't think they had a chance to survive. However, after several months in the ground, I was delighted to find the bracts have turned bright red.

Tomato Ripens In January

The tomato has one spot of green to ripen and then it's mine, all mine. I am hungering for a summer style BLT. I can use the romaine lettuce in the garden which makes the sandwich all the tastier. The vine is looking a little weather worn but as I was taking this photo, I saw three small green tomatoes hidden in the foliage so I won't be removing this plant...yet.

Red Peppers in January

The peppers keep on coming. We have been away for about a week. Upon returning home, I found the garden had been very busy while we were gone. I did not remove several summer plants at the end of the season because they had set some late vegetables. Here is the yummy result--probably some of the best peppers I have ever grown. They are extremely heavy and have turned bright red. I have some small new peppers on the plant. I will probably leave them to mature as long as we are having such warm and inviting weather.

Funny Perspective on the Sweet Edible Pea Pod

Really, until the cypress trees came down this fall, I had stopped planting much in my winter garden. The trees blocked much of the sun light needed to have success in a winter garden. Sunlight now drenches the garden again and the result is a bounty of sweet pea pods. I tried to have the sun back light the pod so you could experience the translucency of this delicate vegetable. You can see there are eight peas in this pod.

New Year's Lettuce

I planted a six-pack of both romaine and red lettuce in November. Thanks to our sunny, warm weather, these plants have grown to beautiful lettuce to pick for dinner salads.
One reason I have had such luck this year with my winter crops is the loss of two cypress trees on my neighbor's property. Both trees developed problems this past year and were removed from the southern hillside below my garden. Now I am getting sun in the garden which normally would be shaded by the trees. Sorry trees but happy sunny garden!