Dec 2nd - Daffodils blooming

Narcissus papyraceus Ziva Paperwhite narcissus, Daffodil

When you read instructions for "forcing" daffodils in the house for end-of-the-year bloom indoors, writers always say to throw the bulbs out after they bloom.

I can't throw out bulbs. They are planted in the vast outdoors where they either come back the next spring or they do not - but I have to at least give them a fighting chance.

This year, on Dec 2nd, it is 80 degrees and sunny here in NE Oklahoma, zone 7 and last year's Paperwhites are up and blooming their little hearts out.

Other places in the back yard, the birds have been working over the seeds and berries.

Barberry Hawthorn, Crataegus berberifolia

A few weeks ago the Hawthorn trees were loaded with ripe red berries and now there are very few left. I know I'm supposed to cook with them but we put them in for the songbirds and they are free to eat their fill.

The lavender shrubs suffer in mid-summer but thrive at this time of year. They crawl and sprawl over a 4 by 4 foot area at the end of a planting bed where they enjoy being on a dry slope and protected from the worst of our summertime sun.

Photinia fraseri

The Photinia shrubs are about 30 feet tall and covered with these bright red berries. Thrushes, waxwings and starlings eat the seeds.

Our pear trees were so good to us this year, providing fruit for at least 7 families. Most of the leaves are gone and next year's buds are already forming.