The rainstorm, predicted for days now, did not hit us as hard as expected. That happened elsewhere and the photos and videos from Los Angeles are frightening. We got the first rain last night at around 4 in the morning, a rather benign downfall, not the expected pouring and lashing. Now it probably will be…
Author: Petra
Avant le Deluge
Waiting for the first of two atmospheric rivers (aka Pineapple Express) to hit California. Yes, SoCal too, not only NorCal and the coastal regions, reaching far inland. At 6 AM we got a fabulous sunrise, as if to make up for the rains coming later. Here’s the sunrise. Enjoy, as we did.
Important Dates
Every year two important days have their place on the calendar. No, not Thanksgiving and Christmas. No, not birthdays. It’s the days when we switch the house over from summer to winter mode (right now) and back again next year (hopefully not before May/June). Happy days in the desert! It is what we deserve after…
Plumeria
Plumeria have always been high up on the list of my favorite flowers. Give these guys the proper surroundings, and they grow into big, big trees with the most fragrant and beautiful flowers. No wonder therefor that amongst the first plants for our garden were two Plumeria trees. Tiny they were, not even shoulder high…
A Scale of Perfection
On a scale from “oy, it’s a wee bit warm” to “that’s what we booked when we came here” we are in the latter stage. Perfection. Enough said.
Add A Drop Of Water…
…plus a bit of shade and even the most bare and rock strewn mountain side turns green.
Kurapia – Part II
Two weeks in the experiment is running full steam ahead – with very varying success. The range covers “full, healthy plants spreading out” to “sad, brown corpses”. But then again, this is the result after only two weeks. Somehow I assume that some of the slightly lagging plants will recover over time, with the total…
Kurapia – The Experiment Begins
Kurapia is a new highly versatile drought tolerant groundcover that replaces traditional lawns, turf, and erosion control plants. The plants establish fast and are easy to control, and can be mowed into a low cushiony turf or left to bloom into a lush groundcover. Adaptable to many landscaping situations, including extreme weather, heavy slopes, irregular…
We Survived!
Happy dance! The (thankfully downgraded to tropical) storm came, with plenty of rain* and rather strong winds, and moved on. In our little community there was hardly any damage, other places did not fare so well, but overall – it could have been worse. Now one can only hope that this will not happen more…