We have had an abnormally dry and cold December in the San Francisco Bay Area as well. I had a rare sighting of actual ice in the garden this morning -- plants apparently unscathed. Only tenuously geophytic plants blooming at the moment: Knihofia 'Christmas Cheer' (22 scapes this year) and a Bomarea sp. I did spot what seems a very early Allium amplectens scape perhaps inspired by the unusual weather. Best, Max Withers Oakland CA