Spring in Southern California starts in January. Sure we are still hoping for some rain and cold, but maybe because of the lengthening days – the flowers start blooming.
I think this is a gazania.
This is when the irises come up. If I’m lucky I’ll get a second blooming, but that rarely happens.
I don’t know this ones’ name. But without fail, it’s the first to bloom on January first.
Cyclamens are native to the Middle East. As wild flowers they are small and purple, but of course they have been hybridized into many colors and large sizes. These too are winter bloomers.
I had cut back my climbing rose and it rewarded me with early flowers. Which reminds me, I really need to prune the rest of the rose bushes.
Leah
It’s not a gazania. They tend to be shorter and glossier of leaf. Maybe a rudbeckia? Or a Californian native plant (I’m in Australia, and so not overly familiar with such things).
Is the one between the iris and cyclamens on a plant with flax like leaves or a succulent?
Aaah! Wait. It’s probably a different form of gazania to what is grown in Australian gardens. Gazania linearis, perhaps.
Ok, you clearly know your flowers a lot better than I do! I thought it was a Gazania, but then to be honest, I was taking a guess, cuz it looks like one. I know it’s not a rudbeckia, but then again, I may be wrong. All I know is that I like the flowers.