Winter Wonders

OK, it's official...our governor has declared a drought emergency. We've known we've been in a drought for over a year and with not a drop this January, I guess Mr. Brown could not deny it any longer. 

What this means is that we're heartily encouraged to cut our water use by 20%. This will soon become mandatory should this very dry winter continue. The water company will tell us how much we can use and any amounts over that will be charged at double or triple the rate...something like that.

It's good that I put in the drought-tolerant lawn this fall. Now, we'll see just how tolerant it is. 

In the meantime, this hot, dry weather has fooled some of the roses into blooming again. Look at the front garden, up at the top, and this Mr. Lincoln.

'Magic Moment' is spectacular right now.

Enjoy it, flowers, because pruning time is coming very soon.

Oh, almost forgot...we got our first orchid bloom of the year this weekend with this cymbidium.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
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January's Jewels

Just a quick hit to show you this week's harvest...

Still a lot left on the plants but this week we've got a couple of Cara Cara oranges that are just perfectly sweet and juicy, a couple of Meyer Lemons, tomatoes, guavas, and a bell pepper plus a pepperette.

The bell peppers are done with this week's picking but the hot chile peppers just keep going and going and going...

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Winter's Burdens

One thing those of you who live on those frigid tundras up to the north or back east...you can skip a lot of gardening chores during the winter. 

Here in Southern California, gardening season may take a short break but it never really stops.

The roses in the front yard have decided they'll have one more hurrah before pruning time starts.  Since they look so happy, I'll start at the other end...the far side of the backyard...and work my way towards these, letting them be last on the pruning schedule.

I thought I'd taken a before picture of this Angel Face and Moonstone before pruning, but I guess I was mistaken.  You can see more about how I prune in this pruning post from last year.

The plumerias, tender as they are, are shedding their leaves as the cooler evenings set in.  I'll sweep these up.

This one, in front of Mr. Lincoln, has gone completely bald for the winter.

Finally, I'm waiting for the grapevine to shed it's leaves completely, as it will when the temps drop into the 20's later this month, so I can give it a trim. The wife and I are currently debating exactly where those cuts will go.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved