My Peggy Clark Japanese apricot looks particularly fetching when adorned with glistening raindrops.

It has been unseasonably warm here.

The garden has more January flowers than I ever remember seeing.

My Japanese apricot (Prunus mume ’Peggy Clarke’) is in full bloom.  The ground beneath is covered with pink confetti.   I’ve been surprised how many honeybees have been out working the flowers.

My Professor Sergeant camellia (Camellia japonica ‘Professor Sergeant’) at my old house next door, looks like a red carnation tree.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised that Fess is highly visible from the deck at my new house next door.

The daphnes are beautifully mounded and loaded with rounded flower clusters.

The Bulb Baron’s fall blooming tazetta daffodils are beginning to put on a show.  I kind of like it that here in Mississippi they will probably consistently bloom in early winter – a teaser before the feature presentation.

I'm quite taken with this Chinese camellia that is producing her first full crop of flowers this year.

I’m probably the most excited though that my Chinese camellia (Camellia fraterna) produced a good bloom for the first time.

This camellia was highly recommended by my bud Bill Fontenot.   On my annual December visits we would always view his prized specimen.

Bill loves this camellia because its diminutive flowers have a delicious scent.

His plant is a lovely thing with arched branches heavily laden with buds.

Heavily budded but unfortunately never in bloom when I was around to see.

On one visit I honed in on the plumpest bud I could find.  The bud was showing a little color and looked about ready to open.  I leaned forward and nuzzled it to try and catch a whiff…. but all was in vain.

Now, thanks to my friend Margie Jenkins at Jenkins Farm and Nursery, I have my own Chinese camellia.

The camellia is absolutely loaded with dainty blooms.  They are about two inches across and white with golden stamens.  The scent is indeed enticing.

It was worth the wait.