For sunshine, daffodils and lemons in February... for these I am grateful

Oh blessed February! On the darkest day of the winter solstice I yearn for this month to arrive with its respite of sunshine both from the sun and from the garden.

The daffodils, jonquils and lemons glow yellow as if heralding to the world that the days are indeed growing slightly longer.

I chase the light with the lens of my camera and with the lenses of my eyes. I drink it in like rays of lemonade. I bask in its warmth and listen to the birds chirping out their courtship rituals around the bird feeders filled with seeds because there are not enough bugs to go around yet.

And I am profoundly grateful spring comes in February in the Bay Area.

A branch full of sunshine

For the past couple of days, my afternoons have been spent staring at bright white railings and decking as I've painted and caulked the seams of our almost-completed deck (I promise as post with photos as soon as it's done). The bright white deck is up against our little buttercream yellow house. The light reflects off of both in a brilliant way.

I've had to slather on SPF 50 sunscreen every day before heading out because if I didn't, I'd be burnt to a crisp in less than an hour. The breeze has kept the sun from being too oppressively warm up until today which began a stint of hotter days that may take us into the low 90's over the weekend.

As I've been out soaking up all this warmth and sun, I have been reminded that some of you just had a good deal of snow dumped on you. And some of you have been under rainy skies. I don't take my sunshine for granted. I know it is a blessing. Through this photo of our lemons, I wish to send a branch full of sunshine to all of you that are desperately longing for it.

Flowers for a rainy day

Pink hyacinth just beginning to bloom and looking a bit scrawny

Today is drizzly and rainy outside. The ground is so soggy that if I went out I would end up with clay caked inches thick on the bottoms of my shoes. I'm fine with the rain though. We really need it. I'll just hole myself up here in my studio and do creative things while we get the much needed moisture.

Tight "Cherry Parfait" rosebuds insisting on blooming even though it's February

A few days ago, we got a short break between stormfronts blowing in off of the Pacific. I took the opportunity to take some photos of the flowers out in the garden.

A little volunteer growing in the potted palm by the pond

I find that it's always good to have "sunny" flower photos to look at on days like today. Somehow it makes the skies outside a little less grey. As my sweet Hubby wisely said this morning in an email to me, "...carry your own sunshine".

Soaking up rays

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No, I didn't steal away to Hawaii like I usually want to do in January although the above photo may make you suspect that I have. When I looked out across the street at the lone palm tree that grows behind a neighbor's land and saw the above scene, I wondered the same thing myself. Did I accidentally board a plane in my sleep and wake up in my beloved Hawaii? Even the clouds didn't look like our usual clouds as the sun parted them after a day or so of much-appreciated precipitation.

I don't remember a January that has been more beautiful, sunny, and warm than this. I feel very blessed to have my SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) reduced significantly because of it. It is a very special January for Hubby as well. He hasn't had to endure me frantically searching the internet late at night for travel deals to a tropical locale. He hasn't had to talk me down from threats of heading to SFO and taking whatever plane is taking off the soonest. This is a good thing for poor ever-patient and loving Hubby.

Instead, I've spent time in my ratty chaise lounge that's planted in full sun in the middle of the gravel in our back garden. I know it needs a new cushion, but I can't seem to find one that I like better than the sun-faded one that's there now. And because it's ratty, I don't have guilt about getting my muddy work boots on it sometimes when I take a break from my work to bask in the sun.

Today, dressed in my painter's overalls, I was out painting the workshop a sunny yellow with white trim (I promise I'll post photos soon). While I am doing my painting, there is a crew of men working on repairing the foundation on one side of Rosehaven Cottage. At one point, I realized my back needed a break so I took the time to stretch out on the chaise and just enjoy the sun. I could see that the workmen thought it was a little odd, and I caught one of them stealing some inquisitive glances in my direction. And, frankly, I didn't care. It's my garden and if I want to sunbathe in painter's overalls, that's my business! Being in your 40's does have some advantages.

Some yellow "sunshine" for my frigid friends

While most of the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. are having the typical cold weather one expects in January, others are having a particularly cold blast right now. Oddly enough, our little part of the world is experiencing some bizarre but wonderful warm sunny days. Monday's temps broke records throughout the Bay Area. It was 72F (23C) here. I was stunned. As I went about my garden work, my body was loving the warmth like it was April or May but then I would notice that the light was different with longer shadows. Tuesday and Wednesday were not as warm but the temps were still over 60F (16C). Normally out temps are 10-20 degrees cooler. In 2007, we didn't see the sun for the entire month of January--literally.

Because this feels like such a special gift from above, I really wish I could share all this warmth with all of you, my dear friends. If I was a billionaire, I'd fly all of you here so you could soak up the real sun. Since I can't, I decided to share little bits of yellow "sunshine" from around the gardens.

Along with the warm days came the bloom of the first daffodil in our garden. I found it tucked up under the hydrangea in the front garden.

The narcissus at the base of the olive tree in the back garden are still blooming. When I was photographing them, I kept getting wafts of their heady fragrance. It was heavenly.

The Eureka lemon has a wonderful cheerful crop hanging on its branches. The great thing about citrus is that I can leave it on the tree for a long time after its ripe, and it's just fine. Some citrus will stay on the tree for months without going bad. Hubby had me pick a couple on Monday so he could make me some delicious pan-sauteed lemon chicken. It was so yummy.

And there's still many lovely little Kinnow mandarins that are ready to be plucked when we feel like a sweet treat. Similar to Clementines, these are wonderful guilt-free sweets for us both. Did you know that there really is no such thing as a "tangerine"? The proper name for the fruit is "mandarin". I didn't know that until a few months ago.

November Ladybugs

I passed the bougainvillea today and a wink of reddish-orange caught my eye. In the November sun, ladybugs had gathered to drink in its warmth... and play a little "leapfrog".

Another ladybug was catching all the sun it could get atop a fennel blossom. For being late on a November afternoon, it was wonderfully warm. I ended up going out in the back garden and following this ladybug's example... except I chose the chaise lounge instead of the fennel to soak up the rays.

More Springtime Warmth in February

I know that it's a warm sunny day when I catch a kitty laying around like this in the garden. This is where I found little Oreo, the feral garden kitty--lounging under the Breath of Heaven bush in the front garden. Today was such a beautiful day, with a high of around 67°F (19.44°C) according to Hubby (my personal weatherman).

Oh no... I can almost hear the groans from my friends in colder climes. I'm really not doing this to gloat. I'm hoping to somehow spread the sunshine in some way to all of my blogging friends with cold toes and noses right now.

So many of my blogging friends are fellow rose lovers. And many of those fellow rose lovers are missing their blooms right now. So let me share with you the few lovely roses that are in bloom at Rosehaven Cottage. The Joseph's Coat rose (above left) has one solitary blossom reaching toward the sky amid leafless lilac branches with buds on them. The Tahitian Sunset rose (above center) also has one stalwart solitary blossom that I couldn't bare to cut when I was doing all the rest of the rosebush cleanup in preparation for the new foliage. And the pink "mystery" rose (above right) has a few brave tight little buds spearing toward the sky like cupid's arrows--perfect for Valentine's Day.

I can't think of a better way to warm some of you up than to share this gorgeous lemon with you! It is one of many on this lemon tree that is only a few years old. This is the first good crop we've had, and I'm so happy about that. Hubby picked a couple lemons today to bring in and cook with. He is amazing in the kitchen and can do wonders skinless chicken breasts, spices, and a fresh lemon or with a lemon, vinegar, and some spices over some fresh greens. Yum!

Speaking of greens... we have some of those too! The broccoli (above left) is looking almost too pretty to harvest. And the perennial brussels sprouts in the front garden (above right), although not tight enough to really harvest for eating, are filling in nicely to serve as a great aphid decoy when the roses send out their new foliage soon.

And finally, the lovely soothing blue of a vinca major blossom that I only get to see during this time of year. During the summer months, it gets too hot and dry for the vinca to be happy enough to flower. So I enjoy it in the spring before it goes away by the time June rolls around. That will be about the time when I will be enjoying the wonderful blogs of all of you in cooler climates that will have amazingly lush summer gardens when mine is past its prime and I'm camping out inside in front of the A/C to somehow get cool. It all evens out somehow, doesn't it?

A Patch of Sunshine Only on the Blog

It's been rainy and cold the past couple of days here at Rosehaven Cottage. So I decided to post some photos of the sunnier days in our winter garden to brighten up the otherwise chilly and damp day.

Above: A tiny and dainty chamomile blossom grows in the raised planters along with the winter lettuce. Growing herbs in with other tender plants helps to provide decoys for insects and other predators so they leave the delicate edibles alone. This chamomile is doing its job quite well.

Above left: A gorgeous broccoli leaf in all its winter glory. Here in the Bay Area broccoli is a winter vegetable since it prefers cooler temperatures and our late spring and summer temps are much too hot for its taste.

Above right: The brilliant yellow of the winter lemons are one of the few spots of color among leafless trees. Even the lemon tree that they are growing on is devoid of most of its leaves.

Above: Aloe will grow like a weed around here if planted in the ground. This transplant once was growing out of control in a large area of the garden when we came to Rosehaven Cottage. Since space is at a premium, I transplanted the aloe into two large terra cotta pots and they have thrived there ever since.

A final note... if you love gardens as much as we do, go check out Blotanical, a directory of more garden blogs than you could imagine! And if your garden blog isn't already there, it should be! Even if you've got a brown thumb, it's worth checking out just to see all the gorgeous gardens.

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