Time for 'Wilson's Wonder's pollen cones to turn black
I've not been gardening due an injured knee (it's improving). Plus, an extended period of rain for the past several days made even going outside difficult. During a few intervals of dryness I managed to get out and briefly look around.
The volunteer Stock seedlings are doing great. Chilly wet weather seems to be to their liking.
Two new Aloe flower stems are emerging.
Aloe petricola, backed by the massive trunk of Aloe 'Hercules':
Managed to get one plant into the ground before the rain: Teucrium aroanium. It replaces part of the space where a Lavender 'Meerloo' thrived for several years.
The one on the left:
The other gardening effort (such as it is) has been focused on a single Begonia 'Irene Nuss'. Cuttings rooted last May spent the hot summer in irrigated shade. There they stayed, to survive or not. A few days before injuring my knee, I noticed one looking pretty sad.
I was embarrassed. It deserved better. Brought indoors, re-potted, given bright light and fertilizer, it grew two new leaves and sprouted a new basal stem:
It was heartening to do, at least, something.
As of Tuesday evening, our rain year total stood at 9.52"/242mm. The extended storm gave us almost exactly four inches (101mm) of rain. We were lucky--most of the rain was steady, but light to moderate. The garden is rejoicing. Our January was mostly very dry.
'Wilson's Wonder's pollen cones turning black are actually kind of elegant! It's a good look.
ReplyDeleteDryer days are coming and with the improving knee you'd at least be able to meander in the garden more freely, enjoying the fruit of your labour. The work can wait :-D
Chavli
'Wilson' provides a lot of interest for a lot of the year. :)
DeleteBut the "work" ("work??) is part of the fun!
I've been trying to imagine the rate of rain, and as you say it's been steady for days, but depending on the town it could be characterized as less than heavy, even light. I'm hoping to see my LB garden in spring, and the suspense is killing me! Love the aloes in dymondia -- it really sets them off. Maybe a good thing the rain enforced more rest time for your knee.
ReplyDeleteThe rain really did help the knee--it needed rest.
DeleteI have to keep at the Dymondia so it doesn't engulf the Aloes, but they do seem to work together very well.
The storm was really slow moving and LA County got rain for a longer spell than we down south did. Your LB garden likely got much more than mine did.
Glad you didn't have any damage. 10" of rain is good for early February, isn't it? I just did the math, and were at 12" here in Davis.
ReplyDelete10" of rain is great for early February. Hopefully we get more before the season is over.
DeleteYour Aloes look beautiful - Aloe petricola does a great job in emphasizing the size of 'Hercules'. Although most of our rain was slow but steady, we received a true downpour early yesterday evening about 20 seconds after my husband picked up our mail (which included our ballots - a sign maybe?!). Our rain year total now stands at 12.21 inches. Hurrah!
ReplyDelete12.21!!! Hurrah indeed! Now its just about time to pray for more. :)
DeleteI hope your knee is better soon and you are back in the garden. Love your photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Happy you liked the pictures. Hopefully back in the garden doing stuff soon.
DeleteYour aloes look fantastic, A. capitata ssp quartziticola is such a stunner! What a grand dumping of rain you got. It must have been so rewarding for the Begonia to respond so quickly to your care. Hope that knee continues to heal nicely.
ReplyDeleteThe rain was great! We were lucky to get a lot, but not too much.
DeleteHope you feel well enough to garden again soon. Armstrong had rhodanthemum (!) and I snagged a couple. Going to look back through your mention of them and see where they've thrived for you.
ReplyDeleteThey like sun. They can take heat. Irrigation, I think they look best with regular irrigation--once a week is good if soil drains well. They seem to need more irrigation when they are not yet established. I have light soil--not sure how they handle clay. In cooler weather and during our rainy season I do not water them much if ever. A great plant here. Hope they do well for you!
DeleteWow, what an interesting plant, your A. capitata ssp quartziticola. It must seem odd to have so much rain.
ReplyDeleteOur historic average rainfall is 14" per year. Not a lot. So whatever we get, whenever we get it, is cause for celebration.
DeleteI've never seen a flower quite like that on A. capitata var. quartziticola. Very fetching! Reminds me a bit of those old circus tents with the cone top and straight sides. That's a lot of rain - looks like you will have a green spring.
ReplyDeleteThat Aloe's foliage color is always striking. The flower stem is a bonus.
DeleteWe got such a deep soak it will green up the area for sure. The weeds are already sprouting. In a drought year we get hardly any weeds at all.