Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful;
they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.
~ Luther Burbank
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| Calla lily / A welcome sight to our garden each winter. |
It's only the second full week of the New Year, but there's a characteristic pattern that's become noticeable each winter day here. Our Bay Area mornings are chilly, and the afternoons are crisp but sunny. The days are mostly dry. It's a welcoming time.
The past couple of Saturday mornings following breakfast have been reserved for spending time in our garden, battling the sprouting oxalis that have been overtaking our iris beds inch by inch as well as the grassy area that surrounds our house and our rose beds, too. Fighting the colorful oxalis happens every year after it's been raining -- and the month between our recent Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays here in Oakland was a very wet one, indeed.
While most of our rose bushes have been dormant -- we usually trim back the branches near the end of the year -- a few have already become active, such as our All That Jazz and our Pristine rose bushes.
One thing I've enjoyed about winter gardening is welcoming the return of our calla lilies. Right now, there are about six of them in various stages of blooming. By spring, that number should multiply to about two dozen, bringing much joy to the usually quiet east side of our house.
As the beauty of the sun glistens over our backyard garden, it's a delight -- more than ever -- to photograph our winter flowers.
Photograph by Michael Dickens © 2014.
