During these winter days, I appreciate the early- to mid-winter blooming plants that brighten even the rainiest of days. One of my favorite winter bloomers is a purple vine that I'm sure you've seen blooming in your neighborhood: the 'Happy Wanderer' vine, Hardenbergia violacea.
Sometime back between the Napa-Sonoma fire and the recent fire which destroyed the town of Paradise in Butte County, I had an opportunity to attend a seminar, presented both by Fire Safe Sonoma and the Master Gardeners of Sonoma County, on protecting our homes against wildfires.
While trying to decide what to write this blog on, I glanced out my family room window and saw some of my violets still blooming, not as many as during December through January. The leaves that were few and far between in late October are growing as most of the violets die back.
If you like growing unusual fruit trees, you may want to consider growing a Japanese Raisin (Hovenia dulcis) tree. The actual fruit produced by the tree is small (only about a inch), hard, dry, brown and inedible.
