I spent the first day of the New Year at work, the only person in the garden.  It was a beautiful, quiet day.  The aloes are coming into bloom.  Both their flowers and foliage pop with color on these gray winter days.  

One of my favorite plants, Trillium chloropetalum, is a California native, a harbinger of wildflower season and oh so beautiful.  I was happy to spot it blooming in the garden today.

I looked up from weeding to see Fuchsia excorticata blooming this morning.  This large, tree-like fuchsia bears diminutive flowers.  Here, in the Bay Area the almost iridescent blooms dangle and open before the plant pushes out leaf growth in the spring.  They’re a nice surprise to see decorating this fuchsia’s pretty bark like ornaments.  

Constructing these structures, which are made of wire, bamboo stakes, and frost cloth, is a lot like making a site specific sculpture.  The forms have a very sculptural quality, especially when seen in early morning and late afternoon light.  The structures create a curious frame for these tender plants.  It’s wonderful to uncover the frost cloth every week or so to let in some light and rainwater and to be greeted by surprise new growth.

An Australian cycad, Cycas platyphylla, up close.  Look at the detail on those fronds.

California’s fall is long.  It’s almost December and the Japanese Maples are still blazing with color.

A perfect moment in the garden.  Muhlenbergia capillaris steals the show.

An Australian Dichroa in fruit in the garden.