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Shower

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We are getting a bit of rain today.   Why not let the Staghorn ferns that normally hang out under cover on the porch get a dusting off and good drenching of fresh rain? I removed them and put them on the mounds of soil to the left of the porch. I've been working outside most afternoons, but don't feel like I'm completing any task I start.  It's kind of driving me crazy!  It is winter tho, so that's just the way it is.  Not Mr. Handsome tho, he's too big for me to move. Platycerium superbum I love the underside of the apron, with it's rich brown spore patches. Just for fun, I looked for an earlier picture.  The oldest one I found, July 2023 -I believe we had just had the house painted (the porch is SO CLEAN).  Just a baby, unbelievable that in 2+ years it has grown taller than the window frame!   Wow, do I need to clean the porch.  I DID manage to take photos of the Veradek patina Selena planters FINALLY.  I purchased these during a ...
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Chilly morning

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 I hope everyone had a fun holiday.  We enjoyed ourselves, and I think I've recovered from a few late nights and general indulgence.  It was 37° this morning.  We're headed into a few rainy days, but we are supposed to get a very polite amount of rain over the week - under an inch total.   Doesn't that Aloe striata look like she could use a puffer jacket? I have to remind myself that the plants are better handling the weather than I would be.   We did not get the deluge of rain that other places did over Christmas.  A few light showers over a few days did add up to just over an inch. Still, with more rain coming I've been checking the borders of beds.  If it gets too soggy, I'll just pull smaller plants out.  Better to be undressed on higher ground if we get rain like a few years back.  *I know it seems silly, we are SO dry here.  Only 50-ish days with rain, 14" in a year, which predominantly falls Dec-Feb.  But, it j...
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Winter Solstice

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Inside, I've been getting ready for Christmas.  Wrapping & such.  Outside, mostly picking up leaves before we get our first rain of the month! Always nice to start with a pretty photo, and the Nemesia surprised me with it's winter bloomin'.  I didn't feel like I was getting very far, until I realized one of the bins was filled! Aloe suprafoliata bloom is beginning to open.  Book aloe, aptly named.   I decided to give the Lotus berthelotii a haircut, it was out of control and full of leaves -in the Pseudopanax crassifolius pot.  better.. I noticed that the middle Pseudopanax leaves are growing upright, and the outer two are growing down. Curious.  Then onto something kind of fun.  I had moved a bunch of newly planted plants to make way for the forklift.  I decided I liked the path a bit wider. I've been struggling to get the green bin through the path to the left there.  Anyway, my idea was a small mountain of sempervivum ciliosu...
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The Meteor Has Landed!

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I was on pins & needles Friday morning, wondering if I had cleared enough space for the forklift to drop the rock. Or if it would be left on the driveway.  Just before 1pm, I could hear a big truck arriving! I ran outside to meet the driver.  Could he fit the forklift through the pathway?  He responded "well, the forklift is 9.5' wide".  Oh no!  I let out "I don't mind if you run a few things over".  That's all he needed to hear, he actually grabbed a shovel and popped a salvia out of the ground he thought might be in the way.  I liked his attitude immediately.   It really was a wide machine.  Although moving the rock ourselves via the winch anchored by the tree stump would've been effective.  I was happy to have some of the work done for us.  Heres a video of the actual drop, if you are interested. I worked on putting a few things back, then had to get myself cleaned up. James' office Holiday party in San Francisco. The ve...
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