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Wednesday Vignette: That stare!
Yesterday afternoon, after a few sweaty hours working in the garden, I was headed inside for a cool drink when I caught sight of a hawk sitting at the top of the tallest pine tree in my neighbor's...
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Pandemic Planting
I try to avoid planting during the summer. Even with careful watering, plants get stressed by the heat and the drying winds that blow most afternoons. Some time ago, I amended my rule against summer...
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In a Vase on Monday: Surprising myself
The heat turned up here last week, rising into the low 90sF (33C). My garden is entering its summer doldrums in response. Last year the first dahlia blooms appeared in my cutting garden in late June...
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Bloom Day - July 2020
Even though it's July and it's been warm, we haven't had any temperatures higher than 95F yet this month. Better still, the mercury has fallen this week and at the moment temperatures are in the...
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Find foliage, then repeat
Yes, I grow a lot of flowering plants. But over the years I've also developed a good backbone of foliage plants. When I find a plant I like, I often look for more plants in the same species or genus....
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In a Vase on Monday: Another surprise!
Last week I said I wasn't sure what I might come up with for the next week's vases that might be different from what I'd already used this season as I didn't see any new blooms on the horizon. Well,...
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Wednesday Vignette: Scanning the horizon
Late Tuesday morning last week, I spent a couple of hours working in the garden before finally deciding I needed to take a break for breakfast. Standing at the kitchen window, I scanned the horizon...
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Summer planting rules & gopher curbs
As I mentioned in a post earlier this month*, I try to avoid planting anything but succulents during the summer months.  I usually end up making some exceptions but this year I've thrown my "rule" out...
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In a Vase on Monday: There's always something
While I wait impatiently for my traditional summer blooms (dahlias, sunflowers, zinnias) to make an appearance, I shifted my focus to the flowers that make up the backbone of my garden. Grevillea...
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Wednesday Vignette: Bright Spots
It's hard to remain hopeful these days when every newscast brings new reasons for worry - or anger. I've tried to limit my news consumption but I still read and digest more than may be healthy on a...
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Dahlias! (but they're not mine)
I made a reservation to visit South Coast Botanic Garden again this week, prompted mostly by curiosity over the progress of the Dahlia Garden. I collaborated with two other docents and the then head...
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In a Vase on Monday: Do you prefer pastel or bold colors?
Dahlia 'Sellwood Glory' didn't quite make it to the gate in time to be featured on "In a Vase on Monday," the popular meme hosted by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden but I'll be surprised if it doesn't...
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Small garden projects
Even as heat blasted parts of the US this season, we've enjoyed a relatively mild summer. Sure, we've had some temperatures in the mid-90s but they haven't been sustained and we haven't yet had a...
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An interim strategy
On Wednesday, I published a post on a few small garden projects, including one that involved the removal of several rosemary shrubs on the south end of my back garden. I initially planned to leave the...
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In a Vase on Monday: The new arrivals
Two of my long-awaited dahlias finally bloomed last week. Although the supply of dahlias available for cutting is still very small, there was no question about what I'd use in my vases this week. The...
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Almost there
One of the projects I committed myself to tackle this month was/is to reduce the mass of Centaurea 'Silver Feather' planted in front of my mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin). With a heatwave in the...
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Bloom Day - August 2020
Until this week, I'd been exclaiming over what a comfortable summer we've been enjoying in my area of coastal Southern California. This week, the thermostat has been turned up and each day has been...
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In a Vase on Monday: Rescue Operation
It got hot last week and it's expected to stay hot most of this week. Saturday was uncomfortable enough to keep me inside most of the day and, because the forecast was for more of the same on Sunday,...
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Mixing things up
It's been too hot this week to do little more than splash some extra water on plants in the early morning hours before taking cover in the air conditioned house for the rest of the day. A very slow...
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Mostly Foliage
The heat switch has been stuck in the "on" position for over a week but we're expecting to move back into the 80s starting today. I haven't been doing much more than watering the garden during the...
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