December was an unusually warm month for Athens, Georgia. So much so that my flowers are confused. I have one single bloom appearing on a rose bush.

The Japanese Camellia blooms early every year, (late February usually). To see blooms at Christmas time is quite unusual.

I had several blooms on the Japanese Camellia.

The azaleas along my driveway normally wake up sometime in late March. One bloom has decided to appear a couple of months early.

I bought a Persian Lilac that was on sale earlier in the fall this year and planted it in the back yard. I was quite surprised to find one bloom.

I bought the shrub late in the season because it was on sale, (50 % off !). I haven't seen it bloom yet. Apparently, it will look something like this.

My ex-wife brought a cactus home from work one day in 2009. It was in pretty bad shape, and we nursed it back to health over the years. I saw flowers on it one time a couple years later, which surprised me. I didn't know it was supposed to flower. This year, I finally figured the story out. This is a Thanksgiving Cactus, part of a group of "leaf cacti" that includes Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter varieties.

The difference between the three cacti is the time of bloom. These plants are popular because they bloom around the Holiday Season.