We had a freeze a couple of weeks ago here in Northern California, so my plants and shrubs are looking a little distressed right now. My Abutilon suffered a bit and the blooms are drooping.
This is the newest addition to my garden - 'Yuletide' Camellia. I saw this one at OSH Orchard Supply after seeing some in bloom near my office downtown and couldn't leave the store without it. I love the deep crimson color in contrast to the bright yellow stamens. This camellia blooms from October through December and is striking in the winter landscape.
Lo and behold, just when I bought the Yuletide because I thought it would keep me in blooms until the other camellias begin blooming, I saw this lovely camellia in bloom in a downtown garden yesterday! These beauties usually don't bloom until late January - early February. After the freeze we had I am so surprised that they are blooming this early.
And I am thrilled to see that my Christmas cactus is blooming - at least I think it is a Christmas cactus because it often blooms at Easter as well - this one bloom is just gorgeous.
Please visit the other bloggers to see what is in bloom in their December gardens over at May Dreams Garden.
Elaine, it's so nice to see your California bloomers - that Yuletide camellia is a beautiful and unusual looking one!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous varieties of pink!
ReplyDeletePretty blooms a blooming. Love your warmer climate when we have so much snow on the ground.
ReplyDeleteI like the autumn Camellias much better than the winter/spring kind, which drop their flowers in one mushy mess whereas these seem to be more subtle. They don’t need such an acid soil either so maybe if I can find a space I’ll get one next autumn.
ReplyDeleteLove your flowers. I would be thrilled if my cactus bloom too. Hmmm...Could O & S stands for Orchard Supply?
ReplyDeletealoha
ReplyDeletei love your stalwart winter colors
amazing the abutilon is still flowering, i guess your not in a freeze zone.
noel
Yup, that's a Christmas cactus (or Thanksgiving Cactus, I'm never too sure about that distinction since we don't have it over here in Austria).
ReplyDeleteJealous of your Camellias - they're something I only ever see in botanical gardens.
Lovely to hear from you Elaine... the year just went speeding full throttle and now i have slowed down and am enjoying getting to visit the lovely people I've met in the blogosphere like yourself. I almost wished I could pop over to your house for you leef and potato soup Elaine!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the season's festivities and I shall look forward to visiting some more!
Sophie
Gorgeous and such cheer this time of the year too...!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blooms Elaine! I love the abutilon. We don't have enough sun here for them to bloom, so after three years I finally gave up on mine and left them outside to freeze instead of bringing them in for the winter. I'll miss their spotty yellow maple leaves, even if I can't miss the blooms we never had.
ReplyDeleteYour Christmas cactus bloom is gorgeous!
Dear Elaine, So lovely to see gorgeous pink camellias... very warming on this cold, PA day! Thank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving a nice comment. Pamela
ReplyDeleteYuletide is one of my favorite Camellias. Around here it does not normally bloom until December. However, it has been so cold here I would be surprised if it bloomed.
ReplyDeleteI really need to replace the abutilons I used to have. Yours seems to have a much larger bloom than I'm used to -- very pretty!
ReplyDelete