It must be delightful to have something this beautiful blooming in the garden at this time of the year, Jeff. Great photos and thanks for sharing!

thanks, terramadre, and it is nice to have these and other flowers in december.
i was doing some gardening this weekend and noticed the many plants that added splashes of color to the landscape.
encore azaleas, pansies and violas, crocus, camellias, a few mums lingering as well as summer holdouts like impatiens, vinca, salvia and the bright red of nandina and japanese maples gave the yard a very colorful look.
living in the south does have its rewards if you enjoy gardening!

How gorgeous,
reminds me of my Mothers Garden in Germany..
Season Greetings
Susanne(SUE)

My camellias have been blooming.

Those are very pretty Jeff. Thanks for sharing them.
I too have had some "summer holdouts" blooming, but this weeks weather and the cold stuff headed our way tonight is sure to get the last of those. I do have one bed of pansies that the deer didn't devour, unfortunately they are in the back garden so no one passing can see them.
Ya'll all stay warm, and I wish you all a Merry Christmas!
Jan

Jeff (et al), a question: when I lived in SC (8b), crocus were a one-time-only bulb, like tulips (in that location). Do they return for you, in your zone, in subsequent years?

hi dorie,
the spring-blooming crocus that i planted some time back did return for several years before playing out. i rarely got to see the flowers because the rabbits ate them. that may have been the reason they finally played out (no foliage to make food for the bulbs).
this will be my first year to try those again but i am going for sheer numbers this time(about 200), hoping to plant more than they eat!
i do have some fall-blooming crocus that have been returning each year so maybe those are a more heat-tolerant species. i forget their name but they're different than the ones in my photos (flowers are pinkish/lavender).
i have learned the same thing about the tulips you speak of (the large-flowered hybrids, anyway). almost ordered some of the species tulips as "they say" they are suitable for my zone but... maybe next year.

Absolutely stunning. Thanks for sharing!

What variety is that?

I have a crocus question: I bought a package of twenty little bulbs at a nursery last fall. The little tiny varigated leaves are about 4 inches tall, but when are the things going to bloom. (I know rabbits are not eating them, we have 5 cats)