Here goes… January bloomday, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. The front garden, like the rest of my lot, mixes California natives with exotics from all over. Our local bladderpod in the foreground, yellow and perky and virtually ever-blooming,… Read More »january bloomday
What are bloggers talking about during these cold January days? Here’s an addictively fun way to find out. Wordle lets you generate word clouds that are stunningly beautiful to look at. The site calls itself “a toy for generating ‘word… Read More »words, beautiful words
It’s time for my annual tribute to the winter sycamore trees. The week of rain leading up to Christmas has left most of the trees bare, their leaves on the ground. So, when life mainly gives you fallen leaves, that’s… Read More »winter sycamores
If there’s a story of the year for the garden, one of the competitors would definitely be the December rains. The prognosticators were promising us a La Niña winter, cool and very dry. Instead we got one of the rainiest… Read More »2010 highlight: la niña loca
I tried to go Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve on Monday to burn off some of the holiday calories but the gates were shut tight. I’d forgotten that they close the place down after heavy rains to protect the trails. In… Read More »a freeway runs through it
Before the holidays got in full swing I got some pitcher plant seed and seedlings from Rob of The Pitcher Plant Project. Rob is super-enthusiastic about the genus Sarracenia and his blog bounces along with his energy. Check it out!… Read More »thank you rob!
Red and green seem to be the predominant colors these days. Instead, how about a shot of hot magenta-pink against green? Of all my pitcher plants this season Sarracenia Daina’s Delight is probably looking the best of any of them.… Read More »more december colors
Six days of wet weather were coming to an end this morning when John and I left the garden with its pockets of standing water and did a little grocery shopping. We weren’t far from the San Diego River, and… Read More »après le déluge
Winter Solstice is a celebration for optimists. Six months of ever-diminishing sunlight leads up to this, the day with the longest, darkest night. If you weren’t an optimist or schooled in the rational ways of the world you might expect… Read More »white solstice
So there I was, taking my early morning route to my office, admiring the red, bronze, green and yellow leaves of liquidambars in December… …when I came upon an unusual sight. Instead of the dangling seedpods that you see on… Read More »not your parents’ ornaments