Skip to main content
We arrived home from Santa Cruz late Sunday afternoon to find rain threatening--and then it did
rain, light but steady, exactly the sort of rain that soaks into the
soil instead of running rapidly off. There were brief light showers during the night,
accompanied by lightning and thunder, and it rained again on Monday,
with more lightning and thunder. All the barrels and tubs and buckets filled with rainwater. The plants are sparkling. The gardener is
beaming. We got at least a half inch (13 mm), completely unanticipated and
unexpected.
Our tubs ranneth over!
And NOAA is predicting rain for tomorrow, too. Is last year's El Noshow going to be, instead, El...Finallyshowed? Probably not, but any rain is lovely. Desperately dry west-central California, and fairly dry Northern California, are also expected to get rain--far more than our area. Much to be happy about and grateful for!
Time for gardening before tomorrow. The driveway Agaves continue their ascent to flowering.
Distribution of all precious rainwater to the plants most in need.
More work done refining the Fall Project 2015 area. A section of Dymondia lately removed. The 'Ivory Curls' Agave being covered up by Leucospermum 'Yellow Bird' moved to take the place of variegated Agave salmiana var ferox. (The vari var ferox went up on the slope near the 'Fuerte' Avocado.)
'Ivory Curls' newly planted to the upper left of 'Hercules':
All the Echeverias covered up by the happy Grevillea 'Superb' moved to the former Dymondia-covered area around Aloe 'Hercules', and supplemented by extra Echeveria 'Imbricata':
Closer view:
Hoping for rain. Probably not El Finallyshowed, but due to recent heavy rains in the Crescent City area, almost nine percent of California (the extreme northwest of the state) has been reclassified as not in drought. We hope that number jumps this week!
Update: the central coast got some significant rain, but not a drop fell here. Oh, well...
I love the aerial views of your project area - it looks great! You did much better than we did on the rain earlier this week. While my friends in a nearby beach city say they got one quarter of an inch, we got 0.02 inch despite all that lightning and rumbling thunder. I'm hoping the rain tonight and tomorrow is much better. Best wishes for you as well!
ReplyDeleteThere was a narrow El Nino-like band that streamed over about 2/3 of OC for hours and hours Monday, giving us that rain. LA didn't get it. We just got the luck of the draw. I think it is LA's turn today. Hope your tanks fill up!
DeleteNow I'm pondering a switch out of the 'Joe Hoaks' for 'Blue Glow'--blues seem to work best with Dymondia. At that size Agaves pop right out. The Dymondia really sets the tone for the area.
2.16 so far in October, and more to come in the next several days. It feels so Norcal normal !
ReplyDeleteNormal would feel so good! Enjoy, enjoy!
DeleteIt is changing, so you and i will expect more rainwater in the years to come, and if the prediction will not happen at least i have my rainwater impounding tanks. I know you do too! BTW, i love that 1st photo the most.
ReplyDeleteWe can hope, right? I will get another barrel or three, if any significant rain is predicted.
DeleteThanks, wasn't sure if that 1st photo worked or not.
So pleased you finally got some rain. Long may it continue.
ReplyDeleteLong may it! Thanks! This is just the start of our normal rainy season, so we have time to hope for more.
DeleteI'm so happy you're finally getting some rain in Southern California. You need it even more than we do. (We had about 0.4" yesterday, with another 0.5" predicted for Sunday.) I don't want to jinx it, but I'm cautiously optimistic...
ReplyDeleteI also love what you did in the 'Hercules' bed. I'm particularly impressed by your dymondia lawn. I wish we could get ours to grow like that...
Glad to hear your area got some rain. Central coast got it all, only as far south as Ventura county, as it turned out, but I'm happy for them.
DeleteI hope the Echeverias in the Hercules bed do okay--time will tell. May be too sunny there for them next summer. The Dymondia is dense I can't pull the weeds. Still need to remove the sections infested by grass.
So glad you're getting some rain, and love the way that area is looking! I assume that angle is from the house, so you get to see that from inside? So nice.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are a couple windows in the guest room that view the front. Tried to make pretty garden views from every room's windows (with mixed results).
DeleteI won't torture with a report on how much rain we've been having...just congratulate you and wish you more of same. Your first photo is rain personified.
ReplyDeleteIt's not torture--I'm happy you are not in drought!
Delete