general

It has been a very long time since I have posted anything about my chaparral garden, due to the fact the my life has been very busy with my profession and frankly, there isn’t always much in the way of new things to share.

Given that, my garden has certainly changed and evolved over the last several years, since I removed my lawn and put in California native plants.   I have eliminated some things that just didn’t work out or due to over planting, tried some new plants with a few failures but overall, the garden has done very well.

We are now in the middle of the worst drought that California has experienced.   We didn’t have any rain here in Southern California last winter and I had to do more supplemental watering because of the lack of rain.

I am beginning to see some neighbors who have stopped watering their lawns but then there are those people who continue to water like they normally would and are ignoring the requests of the different water agencies to make efforts to conserve it.

It’s very frustrating to see  water running down the gutters, because some idiot doesn’t care about our problem and won’t make any effort to change their water habits.  And I could really go on a serious” rant about how I feel about these self-absorbed people, but I won’t….

We are all hoping that this winter will bring a series of storms to the state, as all of our reservoirs are very low and now the more serious concern is the amount of ground water that is being removed at a rapid pace, too.

Meanwhile, my own landscape is holding up quite well and yes, I do have to water during the summer, but only about once every three weeks.

Most of the plants have been dormant through the summer and as things begin to cool off and hopefully we have some rain, it will spring to life and show how gorgeous a landscape with native plants can be.

Okay, I obviously have not been posting anything about my garden since, (Let’s see, March?).   I can’t believe how long it’s been and it’s not due to not having anything to say, but sometimes…there is just nothing interesting going on.

Gardens or in my case “landscape”, are always changing with the seasons and due to little rainfall this past winter, spring was not putting on much of show in my garden.

Yes, the Douglas iris’, Penstemons, and of course the ubiqus California poppy bloomed and so did everything else.   But over all the amount of flowers were less than in previous years but still beautiful anyway.

Spring in the garden

I guess the most exciting thing was to find a dead rattlesnake a few months ago, right where I have two chairs under an umbrella.   Now I have no idea how it ended up there, but it was a little bit unnerving, needless to say.

It’s extremely hot this week and rattlesnakes will naturally be out and about but not in the middle of the day.   Typically, they will find a shady spot under a bush or rock and wait for things to cool down.

Caution prevails, here at my house.   I’m not about to be putting my hands or feet in the target zone for their fangs.

Well, it is now March and usually by now it’s quite common to see many wildflowers blooming along our roadsides but this year is different.

There just has not been enough rain this past winter and that means there will not be a display of wildflowers for the average person to view from their cars as they travel down a road or freeway.

I have a tendency or radar, to be scanning the slopes and open areas along roadsides and the freeway, looking to see if there is anything to catch my eye that says spring has arrived.  I manage to not drive off the road but if there is a place for me to pull over and park, I will and investigate what has got my attention.

Usually we begin to see displays of California Poppies, the state flower, along with a variety of  Lupines ( Arroyo Lupines) that are seasonal and can generally be seen from the road with dark purple flowers and dainty tips of white on each blossom.

But not this year.

I have seen some California Sunflowers/Encelia californica on the hillsides, putting out their bright yellow flowers from green shrubby plants, but that’s about all I have seen and it’s disappointing to me.

I have found it necessary to do some supplemental watering in my own garden to offset the lack of rain.   And many plants are blooming although it looks like the Margarita BOP’s are not going to have too many flowers this time around.

But the Woolly Blue Curls/Trichostema lanatum look fantastic with deep, blue flowery stems, the Channel Island Poppy continues to show off and many of the sages are blooming as well.

Sometimes nature just disappoints us and can be quite harsh, but regardless of her intent, there is still beauty to be found in all circumstances  and in her various presentations…

Search for her beauty today and everyday, because it is to be found everywhere you look and you don’t want to miss viewing something that just might make a difference in your day.

It’s the weather, music, my mood and the recent arrival of  Sunset Magazine that always puts makes me envious, wishing I had a “Sunset” lifestyle.

Sigh…it’s so beautiful today and although I have been working at my profession, I’m not in the mood to do it because the skies are blue, the breeze is gentle and the sun is soft.   I’d like to do nothing but spend my time in the garden, read the magazine and dream….

At this time  California poppies are beginning to bloom and their bright, brilliant color in the garden, are like sententials for spring.   And then there are the blue, dainty flowers floating upon long stems of Blue-Eyed Grass /Sisyrinchium bellum that make such an eye catching contrast against the poppies.

I have been listening to Hawaiian music on  the Mountain Apple Company’s “radio” for most of the morning and dreaming of a Hawaii and the peace and beauty of the islands & the time when I kayaked from the beach at Kailua over a coral reef to a small island.

Then there’s the Palapa….Sigh, I could be on a Mexican beach, staring out over the ocean, drowsy and dreamy.

But I’m here and not in Mexico or Hawaii but I do have my native garden that is a good substitute for a vacation, sans the palapa but at least I do have Sunset magazine.