After the Flood

We've had a series of powerful storms that have hit Southern California. Over nine inches of rain in the last week and a half. That's very unusual weather for us.

This pot only collected rain water and was filled to capacity before the storms finished.


Luckily, I put off planting my winter garden until the middle of January, so there was nothing to drown.


By the end of the fourth day of rain, the ground was saturated.


It began to pool rather than be absorbed.



The plants in the planter boxes were particularly hard hit.

These canyon sunflower and mountain columbine are directly under the drip line from the roof.


Believe it or not there's a hummingbird sage under that inch of standing water.


The hummingbird sages that were blooming along the path to the door couldn't bear up under the weight of the water.

Eventually, the rains stopped.


The first sunlight in over a week.



Unfortunately, I've discovered that when it rains this hard, I get standing pools of water on the side of the house and in the back planters.

I bailed over 30 gallons of water back here and barely made a dent. I'll need to put in a french drain.



It's been a week since the floods ended, though we continue to get weekly storms. I went back out to assess the damage.

The container plant is doing great. The seaside daisies are blooming lovely.


The canyon sunflower are a different story.

I don't think this one is going to make it.



These might survive.

I have higher hopes for the mountain columbine.


While this one isn't doing so well, the plant is winter deciduous.


This one does look healthier, though.

I was worried about the chaparral currant, but they are doing great and have new growth.


The blue sages are really sprouting.

The one even has a small flower.

The wildflower mix along the north parkway strip is really growing.

The blue-eyed grass and the indian mallow are also doing well.

Finally, while was worried about the coral bells, they are beginning to flower.

The furthest along fell over as the flower stalk couldn't support the weight of the rain water, but it seems to be recovering. Other coral bells are starting to join it. I'm hoping to see a mass effect in two weeks.

Done (for now)

I'm done (for now) with the external landscaping (until I plant the grass in spring).

Here's the finished walkway:



Here are the wildflowers (poppies by the look of them) coming up in the west side yard:



Here are more wildflowers sprouting in the parkway strip:


I also put in bulbs -- Rudy Ithuriel's Spear (Triteleia 'Rudy') and Queen Fabiola Broadiaea (Triteleia laxa 'Queen Fabiola') -- in the west parkway strip (the dark gashes in the decomposed granite):


[I also put in some Alba Leichtlin's camas (Camassia leichtlinii 'Alba') at the west end of the row of coral bells.]

And here is a container I put by the back porch:


Meanwhile, a few of the coral bells are blooming:


I'll post more photos of the landscaping as it grows and changes.

Front Planters are Done

Between trips to the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley and the Grow Native Nursery in Westwood, I've finished by front planter boxes.

On near the ends, I've put in Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa). This will get about two feet tall and wide, with three-foot high reddish-orange flower stalks. It only last a few years, but will reseed.


Closer to the front door, in the area that almost never gets sun, I've planted Canyon Sunflower (Venegasia carpesioides). This can get three to five feet high, with bright yellow flowers.


Here's the completed planter in front of the living room:


Here's the completed planter in front of the bedroom (I still need to mulch this one):


I put down wild flower seeds on the area where the UC Verde hybrid grass will go in the spring. Working with Kat at the Grow Native Nursery, I bought a packet of Clarkia Farewell to Spring (Clarkia unguiculata). This should mesh nicely with the grass, and fill in some of the gaps until the grass grows.


This means that I've planted wildflower seeds in all the areas of the front of the house, except the planters and the west parkway strip. In many areas, the seed has started to sprout. Here's a patch at the bass of the desert willow:


The hummingbird sage is a bit confused by the weather and almost all of them are in different stages of blossoming.

Here are two along the front walk way:



And here are the first ones I planted, in the planter between the side gate and the garage:


And here are some panorama shots of the front yard. I'm getting lots of compliments from neighbors.

Side Yard Done

I'm almost done with the external landscaping. I finished the side yard wild flower garden.

Yesterday, I prepared the soil and soaked the lupine seeds in boiling water overnight. Today, I finished the service path, sowed the lupine, poppy, and assorted wild flower mix, covered with a light dusting of soil, and then mulched. I didn't water since it will rain tonight and tomorrow.





The gaps are where I still need to plant some coyote mint.

I still need to finish the front planter boxes and put in the missing small penstemon, but after that all that's left is to wait, water, and pray.

Parkway Strips Done

I've made a lot of progress on the front yard, side yard, and parkway strips. Lets start with the right front yard. This is now effectively done until February 2011. I've put in all four borders.

First the walkway to the front door:


As you can see, I'm only missing two small penstemon on the right side to complete the border. I e-mailed the very helpful manager of the Grow Native Nursery on the westside and she's promised to let me know if there are any more at Rancho Santa Ana. If not, I'll have to order them.

For the upper border I went with coral bells again, but this time I used the "Rosada" cultivar.


After I put them in, I measured the area and tried to order the UC Hybrid Buffalo Grass. Unfortunately, this grass goes dormant in the winter and isn't available until February 2011, so for now, this will remain dirt. Here are two different panorama shots of the dirt:

[in morning sunlight]

[in afternoon shade]

I have a small spot in the corner of the house between my planter box and my neighbor, so I decided to try to plant a Verbena there. It's just an experiment.


I've mulched the north parkway strip and put in wild flower seeds. Hopefully in the spring there will be quite a show:



For the west parkway strip, I had to put in an inorganic mulch so I'm using decomposed granite. I bought seven 75 lb bags of the stuff, and I still haven't quite finished. I'm not sure how deep the coverage should be.




Opposite the parkway strip, on the west side of the house, I put in more coyote mint. I'm just three short of completing the border


So what's left besides the grass?

1. I need to fill in the two uncompleted borders.
2. I need to prepare the west side yard to make it into a wildflower garden. Before I can do that I need to finish the service path along the west planter box.
3. I need to finish the front right and left planter boxes.
4. I need to mulch the remaining borders of the right front yard.

In the meantime, I've got a few blossoms appearing.

California Fuschia:



Hummingbird Sage:


One of the Coral Bells has a flower stalk emerging:


And one of the monkey flowers: