It’s been in the mid-80’s the last few days. Same is expected for the rest of the week. The average high for February is 69F. Is this the new normal?
volunteer sunflowers under the bird feeder
my daffodils are coming up
too early for Pride of Madeira to build its blossoms
MK pix 
Gorgeous shot of backlit orange berries – I read that Jan. was one of your driest on record. Makes one wonder, doesn’t it?
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And you are getting smothered in snow. I read that species are moving north. I think they’re smarter than our Congress.
The orange berries are our Sweet Memory (duranta) shrubs. I love them.
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What a great name for a shrub! It is a beauty.
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The Sweet Memory has lovely distinctive small purple flowers, which bloom along with the berries. So it is decorated in purple & gold. We have several varieties of duranta. One has solid green leaves with gold berries & white leaves. Others have variegated leaves with pale purple flowers. They are all quite beautiful. One of these days I will have to do a post just on our Duranta. They are the bee’s knees. And butterflies just love them.
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Oh, definitely do a post, I would love to learn about them as tropicals are something I know little about. Duranta sounds like something I would plant if I lived in your clime.
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When it comes to weather MK, I think there is no normal!! Your photos on the other hand, are beautiful 🙂
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Thank you Karen. I love my garden.
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good question!
healthy garden 🙂
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Thank you for your comment, David. My garden is bursting with bees and birds and squirrels. It is raucous out there!
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Normal is in the eye of the record keepers…. Love the first photo MK!
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Thank you Val. Those dangling berries on my Sweet Memory Duranta caught the setting sun just right, didn’t they? I know they caught me.
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They shine 🙂
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We are freezing. It’s so cold today. It’s 10 right now and dropping to 1 tonight. The wind makes everything worse. I’m happy you are warm and toasty. I still have tons of snow on my patio and everywhere else.
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I am sorry that you’re in deep freeze. The difference between the midwest + east coast, and the southwest, is radical. It’s not just warm and toasty. It’s too warm, and it’s scarey that the plants know that the season has nothing to do with the calendar.
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Gorgeous light and color! It has been the craziest month..I’d gladly trade you our below 0 temps for some of your 80s! I’ll also through in a few feet of snow 🙂
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I agree, crazy all over the country. It’s a deal — we need all the snow we can get to powder the tops of our mountains, giving us melt in the spring for our water needs. It’s going to be another thirsty summer here.
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We just traveled south and back again. It was truly shocking to see the Sierras without the usual snowpack in February and the dried up lakes and reservoirs. Scary stuff. Even here at home, we’ve had some rain (we left during torrential downpours), but not nearly enough for this time of year.
Then again the lighting on the grapes is utterly marvelous!
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I know, Gunta. The mountains surrounding Los Angeles are utterly barren of snow pack. And back East they are going through the opposite. Where’s a girl to go?
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