Last week I made a list of what was blooming in my garden at the moment. It seems like a lot for winter, but there are probably twice as many plants that are currently dormant or simply foliage without flowers.

Pale pink and bright pink camellias, 1 bloom on magenta camellia bush
white and lavender bacopa; yellow, white and purple African daisies
lavender, bright red, and burgundy geraniums, bottlebrush
1 bloom on the light pink fuchsia, buds on others
wild leeks, rosemary, currant bush, Spanish lavender
jasmine, California lilac, megawatt begonias
narcissus, white cyclamen, yellow and red snapdragons
1 bloom on a purple viola, purple dianthus, wallflowers
and of course a few dandelions, in the lawn.

I was filling the birdfeeder with seeds one Saturday in late January, and noticed a bold crimson mushroom near my feet along the pathway under the pine tree. I looked it up and discovered that it's Amanita Muscaria, fairly common in forested areas of California's Central Coast. Perhaps I'll see more of these and other varieties now that our pine tree has grown larger. We haven't been sweeping the pathway or clearing the undergrowth of pine needles, moss and ivy as much, so this could have contributed to a mushroom friendly environment.

A large wooden pot by our side door, in a mostly-shaded area, was planted with narcissus bulbs before I even lived here (this pot's also where the currant bush showed up). The narcissus are the first bulbs to bloom every year, a sign that spring is not too far away. Another flower to appear in February are the oxalis (called Bermuda buttercups). Their clover-like leaves have sprouted in a few pots around the yard, but others around the neighborhood are already displaying bright yellow flowers.

While I've managed to get out in the yard a bit during recent weeks, enough to pick dandelions, get rid of unsightly dead leaves on plants and take a few photos, it's been rainy more often than not. And colder than December and early January! This week, February 4th-7th, there's been frost on roofs and cars well after sunrise, with temperatures in the mid-30's. I hope to get a chance this weekend to check for frost damage on plants, maybe moving delicate ones indoors or at least clustered next to the house for warmth.

Well, winter is a good time for indoor aspects of my gardening project: doing crafts such as decorating terracotta pots, sorting through the seeds in my closet, and reading up on plants I'd like to try this year. I'll have a rough idea of 2019's garden initiatives to post here soon.