Not unlike yours, Diana. Pansies are looking really good - when the slugs let them! Roses are budding and some even blooming, such as the Austin Charles Rennie Macinstosh and the china Mutabilis. Daylillies are breaking the ground too. I planted my bulbs very late this year, so they're still not blooming, other than a couple of small daffs I have in window boxes.

The most magnificent sight in my garden at the moment is the hardenbergia violacea climber - a haze of purple covering the chain link fence between us and our neighbors.

I have been weeding like crazy (I won't tell you how tall the stinging nettles are!), pruning roses, redoing one border, changing a stone path and sowing quite a few things. Some, like Leasa's poppies, foxgloves, alyssum and larkspur I direct sowed, others I'm wintersowing. Thanks to a generous forumer I'm trying esperanza for the first time this year and I'm thrilled that the seeds have started to germinate. We have had abundant rain over the past few weeks, in between a few sunny days, which is a real blessing. Things are really beginning to gear up here.

Eduarda

Your zone 8 and My zone 8 are quite different. We're having a bit of Winter -- 22 degrees last night. The days are moderate and sunny with a chill wind.
Freeze turns the open camellia blooms that are not protected, brown, but more buds will open in a few days. The narcissi persist and there are Iceland poppy buds growing fatter.

I see promises of Spring everywhere!

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: In the Garden

How wonderful it would be to see things come 'up' every spring. Down here in tropical s.e. FL, things are up and growing all year long. Although, I did have paperwhites come up around Christmas, and one clump of blooms, but so far nothing else yet. It has to be 'cold' enough for them to bloom. It went down to 38 last night so maybe they will bloom now. As far as blooms go down here, here's what's blooming in our gardens. Pentas, roses, jasmine, tarragon, verbena, salvia, cats whiskers, Mexican heather, frangipani, blue sage, blue daze, hibiscus, bougainvilla, star flower, firecracker, morning glories, and I do have some sweet pea seeds that are about 3" tall. There are other things blooming also, I just can't think of them right now. Tomorrow and Monday I hope to get out and putter in the gardens while the weather is nice.

I hope you all will post some pictures of plants coming up in your gardens.

FlowerLady

I have dutch iris, white Cal. poppies, queen ann's lace, larkspur, columbine coming up and scabiosa and violets blooming.

BTW the WCA poppies are from the seed exchange of 2005.

My zone 8 is different yet than any of yours [g]. Here in western Washington some of the buds on the trees are just beginning to swell. In the arboretum in Seattle the witch hazel is blooming (oh, what a wonderful scent), and so are the hellebores.

In my garden, my lone hellebore has buds and one bloom -- I don't know why everybody else's hellebores look wonderful, but mine takes up way more space in my tiny garden than it produces in flowers. I'm about ready to shovel prune it and put in something else that's more productive, even if it does bloom when little else does.

Although even that's not true -- I have had cyclamen coum and hederifolia (hederifolia's supposed to bloom in the fall or so I understood, but mine blooms with coum) in bloom for several weeks now, next to a single snowdrop (so far [g]). Primroses I planted in a patio tub in January are just beginning to recover and start to bloom again after the snow we had several weeks ago. Out front the new reticulata irises (George and Harmony) are in full bloom, while the old ones are just setting buds. Crocus in a few places just budding in that bed, too. The ones in the back made a nice meal for someone a couple of days ago, and left one sprout [sigh]. I suspect the same squirrels who like to turn my suet feeder into a trapeze.

So I am technically in a "warm" zone, but it really feels more like a four-season climate. It's certainly a lot more like Ohio than southern California, and I can say that since I've lived in both places...

So true about the same number zones having various differences. My zone 8 is dry most of the year with most of our rain and snow coming between Jan. and April. We have only had a few light dustings of snow when normally we would have had several good snowstorms by now bringing at least 6" each. And we are definitely warmer than usually right now which is why the delphs are early. They usually peak through the soil closer to March.

I suspect we still have some cold weather ahead. We get these teaser warm spells and then some large storm system will roar in and make these pleasant days seem like distant memories. Still, I'll take advantage of them whenever I can, if nothing else to keep the weeds in check. And then there's just the sheer bliss of relaxing on the deck with an ice cold Pepsi and the seed catalogues. : )

Diana

Weeding time here...: P
Blooming: hellebore- a good show, violets- likewise, plus a few muscari, johnny-jump-ups and alyssum. In pots, cyclamen and pansies are blooming. That's it. The daffs are running late, due to the big freeze I think; they should be open sometime this week, though. Fruit tree buds are swelling, as are leaf buds of hydrangea and lilac. A few perennials are showing new growth: clematis, David phlox, but not the others, and my new veronica that I was starting to wonder about. Self sowers sprouting include foxglove, nigella, poppies and verbena bonariensis; I am not seeing larkspur yet.
DH and I weeded the back lawn together today in the lovely sunshine so I had time to check things out, while he worked : ) Very fun to be out together.
Diana, you are right. This sunshine is a teaser. We only have 2 inches of rain so far, so winter is just getting started. I do often run out during the February sun and get tomatoes started, knowing the risk. Last year I waited and that was good as we had a good freeze mid March. Not sure what I will do this year. Not sure the wretched plants earn their space.

I'm in there with Nell. We've had some winter, but the red camellia is blooming, and so are various daffs and phlox or "thrift" as they call it down here. Various colors of violas planted along the fence are enjoying the cold weather and their cheery colors of purple, orange and yellow make winter not seem so "blah". I did have some iris blooms a few weeks ago, but they froze off. That's OK, the cold weather means they will bloom again!

Nell, where do you plant iceland poppies? Full sun or under some tree cover?

GGG

Iceland poppies -- they got a late start last year and ended up in shade, where they lasted well into the hottest summer with a rare dainty white blossom, very sparse.

I've seen them in Cairo and Albany, GA in full sun with great wads of blossoms. I'm trying full sun and an early start this year. The first bloom opened today and the wind broke the stem in half. I brought it inside to admire, a much paler and creamier yellow than the daffodils.

Here in coastal Northern CA (Sunset zone 17, Oakland hills) spring is in full bore. We had some recent moderately severe frost, it usually happens every year at least twice between Jan and March but normally only for 3-4 days at a time. Plants got hurt here because this went on for almost two weeks, every day -- that's out of the norm for our weather patterns.

The magnolias and camellias have been in bloom for weeks, the cherry trees are big fat buds that should arrive in the next 1-2 weeks. Yesterday I was at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens enjoying 65-degree weather. The grevilleas and other Australian plants are in full bloom, but the ceanothus, our California stalwart, is just starting to flower, not quite there yet.

In my garden, the iris, callas, rhaphiolepsis, osteospermum, lavendar, alstroemeria, iberis, hellebore, lepstospermum and cyclamen are in bloom. The freesias, my favorite bulb, have big fat flower spikes forming -- along with hordes of hungry black aphids that need to be fought off.

Here you can see my front yard, where the Lavatera 'Aureum' on the front right side, has been frost-damaged, so there's now a bare spot on the top of it. The frilly fern-like foliage in the front are orange CA poppies; I sowed them three years ago and have had them reseeding themselves nicely ever since.
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Most of the beds are sheltered by the house or retaining walls, and came thru the recent frosts relatively unscathed.
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The blooms on the Meyer trees were hurt by the frost, so I may not get a good second flush of fruit, but the lemons already formed are fine.

I love these unknown bearded iris, which someone gave me for free -- little scent, but the evergreen foliage is beautiful and it blooms several times a year.
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Oh, to visit California while the wind blows here from the northeast so cold to get out and make photos!

I've seen citrus of certain varieties growing in surrounding counties here, I haven't tried it. Yet. There are California poppies in one of my beds; I've grown them before. The foliage is the same hue as the cheddar pinks that had wonderful foliage and zero blossoms last year. Every year is different.

Here's a link to the first Iceland poppy blossom. It's a different yellow than the daffodils.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Iceland Poppy and Daffodils

I'm not sure what there name is either. But those iris's are everywhere around here. You can find patches of them around old homesteads that have long since fallen down. 100 years or so. They are like the orange daylily's here and just grow everywhere.
i planted them as ground cover under my dogwoods and they choke out the weeds and bloom at the same time the dogwoods do. It is quit a sight.

I just did the first major garden clean-up in 6 months. I have a mound 4 feet high of yard waste. I found all sorts of surprises.

Cyclamen, of course have been going crazy. The cala's are stately and beatiful. Three kinds of nemesia are blooming. Lets see, daffodils, hyacinth, one rose (Sutter's Gold), one strangely-timed carnation, alyssum, muscari, gaillardia, and more clover and vinca then I care to mention.

Everything is beginning to pop up now. There are 6 or 7 varieties of columbine coming in, my beautiful Buttons and Bows hydrangea, lisianthis, loads of tulips, sweet pea, half a dozen different hollyhocks, iris, scabiosa, coreopsis, foxglove, yarrow, clematis. And the list goes on.

The roses are really beginning to come alive too. Eden Climber, Don Juan, Flirtateous, Sombreiul, Double Delight and a couple of mini's all have prolific new growth.

My three Japanese maples are swelling and so is the crabapple.

I'm officially jazzed for Spring!

Sadly I don't have anything growing yet. The Azaleas start blooming and then we get 20's at night and the blooms die. I'm afraid we won't have as pretty a show this year.

Oh wait I do have something growing......WEEDS!! Their coming up and are surviving the frost go figure!

jkom, which is the hellebore in the photo with the Celtic cross? I really like the looks of that one. I only have the orientalis.

debbieca, it's the classic H. foetidus.

Steven, since you are well on your way to becoming a true Rosarian, you might want to look into "Tabu". A friend of mine grows it and it is possibly THE most beautiful, dark red HT I've ever seen, with a simply perfect scent. If she can grow it in the Oakland Montclair hills area, it should do very well in your garden!

We have had a spot of cold weather but we are looking at temps this week that will range from 70-78 degrees, so I know I will have more to report next weekend.

Right now I have new growth on all my roses. My mint and garlic chives are actively growing (nothing stops them, not even freezining weather.) CA poppies and sweet peas are looking good, too. Behind my make-shift greenhouse I have pots of petunias, Russian sage, and chrysanthemum growing.

On the negative side of things, henbit and dandelions are also making a nice showing. :P

My windowsill garden is growing nicely too. I started 8 pots of seeds a couple weeks ago and all have sprouted!

Marilyn

Debbie, it is snowing right now. : ) What a difference a week makes. But this weekend was nice again so I did manage to get the peas planted and some lettuce. And I transplanted a dozen or so hollyhocks to a bed in the potager. They come up in the darndest of places and usually not where I'd like them to.

I have to agree, Tabu is a beauty if you like deep red. I don't grow it but a local rosarian does and it smells divine.

momof2, we can always count on those weeds for something green, huh? ; ) Mine are mostly grass this time of year but the native weeds can't be far behind . . . sigh . . .

The snowflakes are HUGE! Just love this crazy weather where I live. : )

Diana

I'm in zone 6b/7a, where the two zones lines blurr on the map.

Spring flowers that are up in my yard, but not yet blooming are:

Jonquils
Paperwhites
Daffodils
Muscari Grape Hyacinths
A few Tulips have just poked their noses up out of the ground out in the rose garden.

Many of the flowering shrubs have produced flowerbuds, but too early I fear.

I have two climbing roses to set out this week.
Wish my pine trees would come that I ordered.

~ Annie

I have lots of leafing out on my roses. It's been interesting to see which ones leaf out earliest. Dutch irises are just starting to peek from the mulch. Ranunculus are about 6" tall. The purple alyssum (from seed) put out before Christmas are in full bloom. Violas are blooming (though their leaves aren't looking too good). Kalanchoe buds look poised to pop any time now. Hydrangeas are leafing out again. Osmanthus has been blooming all February, wafting its lovely vanilla-like fragrance to any passersby. My camellias are also blooming, but are struggling against that brown crud. Radishes and beets seem to be doing well. And it looks like I managed not to kill my clematis - yay! Little gray-green nodes are showing.

Anne (who was just in Montreal for their Valentine's Day Blizzard)

My roses are also leafing out, and the rannunculus and bachelor buttons are about the same height (6").My Kalanchoe took a hit from the frost we had in January; I'm afraid to look at it too closely. My camelias are blooming, dropping a ton of flowers on my sidewalk, which must be raked up just about every day, but so beautiful.

The spinach I had given up on last fall is growing nicely, about ready for a little salad, the brocolli has formed some small crowns, and one of my cabbages has a little head. Exciting times for me, but also making me crazy for spring.

Here in the bay area, there is little to complain about. Currently blooming:
rose 'honey dijon'-- interestingly, the hard frosts we had in January have put some red streaks around the edges. Unusual, but nice!
lots of pansies--mine are beige-pink-terracotta and black
species violets (sweet violets)
brugmansia 'charles grimaldi'
various snapdragons
various geraniums (pelargoniums), though my favorite now is 'solstice chocolate'-- nearly black
passiflora caerulea
lotsa daffodils and grape hyacinth, though I'm most excited about the muscari plumosum (feather hyacinth) which is budding but not quite ready yet
primroses (I hogged up all the ones with silver brushstrokes on the petal tips)
and also gold laced scarlet and silver laced black primula victorianas
And dammit, my brugmansia sanguinea (scarlet angels trumpet) aborted the one bud it had finally rewarded me with. Dammit to Hades.

Amanda 'romando'

Wow! If I had all those flowers blooming on my place and leafy green veggies beginning to grow out in the ground, it WOULD be Spring here!

~Annie

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours mulching, laying more soaker hose, and weeding that horrible Oxalis pes-caprae. It's so pretty, but will take over everything in sight if one doesn't discourage it rigorously. As the joke goes, the only way to completely eliminate it, is to move away!

I noticed when I was running errands that the cherry and plum trees have burst into bloom in many places - just lovely to drive down the street and see those trees covered in beautiful pink or white flowers.

A cold quick storm is supposedly on its way in, so I ran out to the garden and picked my first few blooms of freesia. I love the smell of freesias, and treasure every bloom. And I found enough calla lilies and bearded iris to make my first spring bouquet. I added a pruning of Rhaphiolepsis indica 'Ballerina' and some leaves from variegated Aucuba 'Gold Dust', too.
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Maybe those iris are Crimson King, an oldie (1883 or something).

It's about 20"-22" tall, it's the first to bloom here, & it usually blooms again in early June.

jkom, that is gorgeous! The only bouquet I have right now is the first three blooms of a new linaria. The hellebore are all open though; I think I will go cut some.

bump

jkom,

I would sure like to have some seed from your Meyer Lemon to grow. I have 2 Loquat trees & a Brown Turkey fig (that I got cutting of from a GW friend) and a five foot tall Calavo Avacado that I grew from seed. Being a 5th-generation So.Cal girl myself, I would love to be able to smell lemon blossoms again.

Let me know.

Your photos make me homesick as heck!

~ Annie

My Stella Cherry and Weeping Crab-apple are behaving themselves and have not yet begun to bud. I worried they would react to a false spring when we had a week of sunny warm weather.