Some December Blooming Succulents

Oranges

In December the oranges on my tree are ripe.

They are Tarocco blood oranges (Citrus sinensis).

The Tarocco blood oranges have a little blush, not so red as the Moro or Sanguinello blood oranges.

But the Tarocco oranges are the sweetest of the three.  

I use them in salads and juice them and make salad dressing with them.

Warbler, Mantis and Salamander

Orange Crowned Warblers (Vermivora celata) are passing through my garden now.  They fly into the shrubs looking for insects.

This Mediterranean Mantis (Iris oratoria), a rare sight, is on the sidewalk near my house.

Now that the rain has started, I find Slender Salamanders (Batrachoseps attenuatus) under the stones in the shady parts of my garden.   Only about two inches long, they look like earthworms and live in earthworm burrows.

Agaves and Succulents in my Neighbor's Gardens

Moreton Bay Fig

Moreton Bay Fig Trees (Ficus macropylla) grow in my neighborhood park. They are native to Australia, a rainforest tree, too big for almost any private garden.

Agaves and Succulents in my Garden

Paperwhite Narcissus

The Paperwhite Narcissus (Narcissus papyraceus) start blooming in December and will bloom on and off until spring depending on whether they are planted in the warm or cool parts of my garden.

They are fragrant and a bunch brought inside will perfume a room.

More Furcraea

In August the bottom branches of the flower stalk were in full bloom, while the stalk kept growing

until it was through the tops of the trees, about thirty feet high.

By the end of August the flowers were starting to drop.

Little plants were forming in their place.

 I have hundreds of tiny Furcraea plants on the ground.

Now the parent plant is beginning to die.

Furcraea

Almost twenty years ago I picked up a sprouted seed from a sidewalk and put it in a pot.   As it grew and was re-potted many times, I finally planted it in the ground.   This past June a flower stalk emerged.

By July it  had grown to ten feet tall.

And the flower stalk kept growing toward the tops of the trees by the end of July.

In early August, the stalk was beginning to form buds.

By the middle of August the buds were ready to open into

sweet-scented flowers.