Winter Flowers in Carlsbad CA #1

This is the Bird of Paradise which is the official flower of the City of Carlsbad

Carlsbad is famous for its flower growing and this one is supposed to have been developed here, tho' I have seen some references to it having originated in China and /or South Africa.
You will find these flowers all over Southern California. The humming birds love them. There is also a Giant Bird of Paradise. We have several of these in the back yard. They are kind of messy because they drip nectar but they grow to about 20 feet or more. I call them banana trees because of their large leaves. They attract many birds but especially the beautiful, yellow Bullock's Oriel which won't be here until late April. In the meantime all kinds of birds will enjoy it's honey -- finches, sparrows and humming birds.

Our beautiful and OLD Christmas cactus is developing buds and if I remember to move it out further into the sun, we should soon have a nice bright display there.

Our plumeria seems to have survived the two or three nights of low and 'maybe frost' temperatures. I throw an old light-weight table cloth over it on cold nights. We usually only get a couple of those kinds of nights each winter here on the coast, but this year the rains and cold nights have set in a couple of weeks earlier than usual. So either we will have more to come or...maybe...hopefully the rains and 'cold' will end earlier!!!