December in the garden has been rather quiet here in the Bay Area.  Most of December we had rain and many days of cold and cloudy days, however the last week of December has been spectacular with sunny blue skies and daytime temperatures in the cool 60s.

My garden in cool, rainy, and now dry December

My cottonwood trees finally dropped all their leaves! The rain helped to accelarate the leaf droppage.

Geraniums still blooming

Bought this stunning white amaryllis at our local Trader Joe’s and enjoyed the blooms all through December

Succulent cuttings work- in-progress

Love gifting something from my garden ❤️🌿.

Gave a few succulents as gifts  this holiday.

I also love using twigs and sprigs as present toppers .🌱💐

Received this gorgeous topiary from my neighbor and dear friend.

I have never taken care of a topiary before! I hope I don’t mess it up 😒.   I am enjoying it indoors but I wonder if it will do better outdoors?

Beautiful white lily Christmas gift 🪴

also received this beautiful lilly from another neighbor across the street. Enjoying it indoors for now but will eventually plant it outside in the garden.

This is the year of ivy topiary I think

Got this three-tier topiary from my neighbor up the hill – this is our neighbor Jim’s wife and the same neighbor who gives us bounty of summer vegetables every year.

Christmas cactus

Since I am sharing indoor plants let me share these photos of Christmas cactus plants that I bought at our local grocery store this holiday season. I hope to take care of these better than I did last year’s Christmas cactus plants .

Moving on back out in the garden

I see signs of new life in the garden. Daffodil bulbs are sprouting already.  I even have one daffodil already in bloom!

January will be busy mulching and pruning perennials, roses and other bushes.

Hope you had a fun December.
Looking forward to an outstanding January!
Happy New Year!