Rain finally arrived on Saturday night. The TV satellite suddenly went off-line and my husband had decided to go to bed. I was reading when I heard the pitter-patter of rain on the roof a little before 10pm. Because I'm crazy, I threw on a coat when I saw rain coming down at a good clip and positioned plastic trugs under the rain chain on the back patio to collect what my rain barrels couldn't. When it tapered off (and I was moderately wet) I turned in for the night, counting on the additional showers in Sunday's forecast. The forecast was correct, delivering rain on and off the next day. We even got a rainbow between showers.
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| View from my back patio |
The rain didn't come down heavily here until very late last night. Light rain was preferable on this occasion because it lessens the danger of mudslides in areas recently scarred by the fires that have plagued us for weeks. As of my last check on Sunday evening, the Palisades Fire was ninety percent contained; the Eaton Fire was ninety-eight percent contained; and the Hughes Fire, which broke out last Wednesday and burned over 10,000 acres, was ninety-five percent contained. The rainfall recorded by our rooftop weather station between Saturday night and Monday morning totaled 1.14 inches! That's more than was expected, although it included a late night thunderstorm that may have caused problems in the fire areas. Our water year-to-date total, counted from October 1st, now stands at 1.43 inches. The majority of our rain usually falls between November 1st and April 30th.
Between showers Sunday morning, I cut flowers to fill two vases. The first is dominated by a huge flower of Hippeastrum 'Marilyn'.
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| I potted my new Hippeastrum bulbs late in the season and all are growing outside, which slows their bloom schedule. 'Marilyn' has 2 more buds yet to open but the first flower is the size of my hand with my fingers fully spread. |
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| Back view: I settled on a relatively monochromatic mix of materials, which I found somewhat disappointing; however, I couldn't find anything else that provided more impact |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', pale green Eustoma grandiflorum, Hippeastrum 'Marilyn', Leucadendron salignum 'Blush', L. s. 'Chief', and Narcissus papyraceus |
The second arrangement features pink and white Anemone coronaria flowers.
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| The Anemones are slowly waking up |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', L. scoparium 'Pink Pearl', Anemone coronaria 'Mistral Bianco Centro Nero', and A. c. 'Mistral Rosa Chiaro' |
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
