First Flowers of Winter

As we come into February, the first of the winter flowers have emerged (some are also probably early spring).

First off, is the manzanita:


The flowers are small, white, and bell shaped:


The coral bells have been blooming since December (though only on one side of the front yard). The ones I planted on the other side suffered worse in the flood, get less sunlight, and so are only now beginning to show signs of new growth).


Here's a close up the bell-like flowers:


The wildflowers on the westside of the house are still only middling sized:


On the west parkway strip, which has the most arid plants, there still is only one blue sage that's blooming:


The white sages, however, are showing signs of new growth and vigor:


The wild flower seeds in the north parkway strip are growing fast and furious. I'm still not sure what some of them are:


They are really dwarfing the indian mallow (which is also doing far better than I thought last November).

The first of the wild flowers to sprout are the Lasthenia glabrata (aka goldfields):


There are several clumps of these growing across the yards, but I don't know yet what flower they will produce (I suspect that they are Collinsia heterophylla aka chinese houses).


Many of the plants that I thought I might lose in the floods of December have almost entirely recovered, including the canyon sunflowers (which I was sure were goners), which appear to be preparing to bloom:


Also doing well, the pitcher sage (with new blossoms forming):


The island sunflower (sporting new growth)


The lavender is also doing great.


A few plants aren't doing well, however, and I'm surprised by which they are.

The Mexican sage, which seems to be indestructible, seems lethargic:


But by far the worst are the buckwheats, which seem to be just barely hanging on.

This is the healthiest of the bunch:


This one doesn't look like it's going to make it

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.