tz_garden

 I was on a joy "high" with the sunny warm weather at the start of the month.  That has come to a screeching halt with colder rainy weather.  I know I don't have a leg to stand on here, mostly we have great weather and we don't get snow or ice on the valley floor.  We will be getting a dusting of snow in the hills around our town.  Photo from my upstairs bedroom, wet wet.  The ground will be saturated with at least 2" of rain by Thursday and we're getting down to 31°. I'm bound to lose a plant or two.  You can't really tell in the photo, but my sofa bed needs recovering and new cushions.  Hence, why I didn't cover it like I usually do for winter. The new cushions are safely tucked in the dry garage for now. Material is here for the new topper.     Zoomed and a little to the right.  Far right -almost the corner- you can see one of the little houses I built to protect Agave chazaroi from the current conditions.  I'll wrap wi...

 It took 3 days (2 were afternoon only) of shoveling, but I have most of the front top dressed.  I say most because there are 2 beds not complete, makes no sense to top them off yet.  Of course, I CANNOT wait to fill in all the empty spots! A neighbor drove up and wanted to talk, I'm sorry it's in 2 parts. It is very gold, lol - but it softens over time.  Somehow it all looks more natural as time goes on and plants get larger.  We did get light rain yesterday, finally.  Today I spent the afternoon weeding while the ground was softened.  More rain forecast for next week.   I had enough gold fines leftover to spruce up the pathways in the back with a fine coat & a bit of raking.   I l💚ve when the sun is a bit higher in the sky and starts hitting more of the back garden.   The Dudleya are looking February fine, as they do.  Dudes. The spruced up pathways give it a boost.  Thankfully the aloes didn't suffer from...

Our temps have been ridiculously mild for this time of year, 70° today.  Next week we are headed into  a little colder than usual February forecast, 50's & 35's high/low with some scattered rain.  I know we need it, we're way dry -but still yuck.  We're at 7.22" for our water year rain, I think I misspoke in an earlier post.  I've been busy plunking in plants that I "think" can deal with colder/wetter. Finally, we're filling in! There are plenty of spots that I will fill in later, probably beginning of March.  In a few weeks, I'll feel better about giving small plants a proper start.  Today, I'm standing back, and not fiddling with close-in glamour shots. Lots of kids zoom or walk past when the middle school & high school lets out.  This morning I'm getting a load of 3/8 top dressing rock, California Gold.  I want to get it spread around (like mulch) before we get rain.  It really helps hold everything together.  Plus, I'll...