Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - December 2018

The host of this monthly meme, Carol of May Dreams Gardens, likes to remind us of this quote from gardener and garden writer, Elizabeth Lawrence: "We can have flowers nearly every month of the year."

That's true enough but the pickings do get a little slim around this time of year. Most of what I have to show you this month are some pots of pansies and violas scattered around my patio. But in mid-December I'll settle for that for I do love pansies and violas.





In addition to the pansies and violas, the firespike (Odontonema cuspidatum) has been in bloom for about a month and continues to offer a bit of bright color in our gray December.

Likewise, these happy little gerberas are real day-brighteners. (Excuse all the pine straw in the picture. When the wind blows from the north as it has this week, my neighbor's pine trees spread their bounty all over my yard.)

 More gerberas - and pine straw.

 And still more gerberas.

The Turk's caps are still in bloom as well.

And the blue plumbago still has a few blossoms, although it will soon go to sleep for the winter.

A few of the lower buds on the Cape honeysuckle survived the light freeze and frost which we had just before last Bloom Day and they are now in bloom.

The jatropha is a tender perennial that dies back to the ground each winter, but this one lives on the south side of the house in a protected spot and it escaped the frost and continues to send out flowers like these.

Thank you for visiting my zone 9a garden in Southeast Texas this month. Although the blooms are sparse, each one is treasured.

Happy Bloom Day!

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