Hard to oppose California’s almond bloom! ❤️ Our apricot will bloom mid March and the cherry late March (but it’s nearly girdled by boring beetles).
Flowers
Bees seem to never **rest** when manzanitas are blooming. I gave up trying to photograph them.
Mid-February 2020 Update: Home Orchard and Native Plants
Friday, February 14, 2020
It has been 19 days since it last rained here. The outdoor temperatures have been in the mid-70s. The area’s almond orchards are blooming in waves about a week earlier than last year. Our deciduous plants are waking up! We planted a nectarine this winter and it is beginning to grow. Our California Roses, which are in the same family as nectarines — Rosaceae — are also beginning to grow back.
The California native plant garden is very green right now and soon there will be plenty of flowers. The blue oak will wake up near end of February.
No sight distance through the evergreen toyon. It’s very happy. So is our manzanita — getting ready to flower. 🐝🌳
An indoor aloe succulent growing a flower stalk.
Front yarden update: California Buckwheat’s dead flowers are showy red and the Blue Oak has decided it is winter. California fuchsias still have flowers for the hummingbirds. Front of the house illuminated by mostly bug friendly amber lights. 🐞🐝
Also in bloom! Eriogonum fasciculatum (California buckwheat).
Front yard native plants currently in bloom: Epilobium canum (California Fuchsia; red flowers adored by hummingbirds) and Baccharis pilularis (Coyote Bush; small, pleasantly scented white flowers loved by small pollinators).
A front yard native garden update! Fuchsias & Cal Buckwheat are still flowering. Coyote bushes are struggling to flower (tiny pollinators love them). The Blue Oak has no complaints. Poppies & yarrow are back after a couple of soggy thunderstorms. Toyon barely has berries.
California Wild Rose (Rosa californica) flowers are incredibly fragile. This backyard plant became quite happy when I added it to the drip irrigation.🐞
