New Developments

I've been making minor improvements to the house.

For example, I now have ornamental, black shutters on my bedroom window. I think they improve the way the house looks.


I've put in new decorative lights and also a drainage trench on the side, though those aren't finished yet.

Meanwhile, the Phacelia is getting really big and the poppies are preparing to bloom:


So far, only one of the Chinese houses is blooming, but the others are getting close:


Finally, both Ceanothus 'Concha' (California mountain lilac) have lots of reddish buds on them, but only one has bloomed. It should look spectacular in a few weeks when the rest are open.

More Wildflowers Sprouting

More and more wildflowers are starting to emerge.

The first ones to flower were the golden fields. The latest are the baby blue eyes:




The fern leaf phacelia have begun to sprout. These are quite tall:




It looks as if the next one to flower will be the Chinese houses. This one (with the lavender and white petals) has just begun.

More Rain, More Damage to the Sunflowers

Another set of rain storms, more damage to the canyon sunflowers. The first time they drowned; this time they keeled over.




I've spent the last three months fretting over my desert willow. It lost all its leaves in November and now looks completely dead.

The twigs and branches looked dead, dried, and lifeless. However, the guides all say this is normal, particularly the first winter, and that it will resurrect itself in the spring, and then bloom wonderfully all summer.

The wild flowers at its base are doing quite well.


Meanwhile, almost all my bulbs have begun to sprout.


The wildflower gardens are coming along nicely. This is a California poppy:


The coral bells on the east side of the front yard have finally begun to bloom. I worried that they may have been too affected by the floods of December.


They're still nothing like the coral bells on west side, but maybe they'll catch up.

Yellow Flowers of February

A few more flowers have started to emerge.

The biggest (pleasant) surprise is the Canyon Sunflower:


I didn't think this one would survive the flood. Now, it's the first to flower.

Early on, I thought this Indian Mallow wasn't doing very well. Now, it's also begun to flower:


Finally, another wildflower has sprouted. This one is called Layia platyglossa (Tidy Tips):

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.