Cold and Rainy

12/18/11

San Pedro cactus offshoot

     We have had more rain in the last two weeks than we have had all year.  And when it is not raining, there are heavy, dark clouds covering the sky.  It's been colder than normal, only in the 50's during the day.  We are having our normal nighttime temperatures in the 30's and 40's.

     This weather is a little early.  We usually don't get the winter rains until January or February.  But by midweek we are supposed to have warming temperatures and sunny skies.

     With the cold weather, growth in the garden and yard has really slowed down.  But surprising to me, one of my San Pedro cactus in the front courtyard has two pups or offshoots around the base.  It is growing more arms I suppose.

San Pedro cactus offshoot

     The only other thing happening in the yard is that the trailing rosemary is blooming again.  The last time it bloomed was six months ago in June.

trailing rosemary in bloom

     There was one more thing that happened in the yard.  My husband overseeded our bermuda grass that turns brown in the winter with rye that stays green here in the winter.  Well, that drew any birds right to the rye seeds.  The birds were having a feast when a hawk swooped down and killed one of the birds.  It stood there for a minute or two with the bird under its claws before taking off.  I so wanted to go out and rescue that bird.  But I knew it was too late, and that's just nature taking its course.  But it still sent a pain through my heart.

Rosemary and Ruellia

Trailing Rosemary

6/24/11
     There has been a lot of complaining about the heat on many garden blogs I have visited in the last few weeks.  Now it's my turn to complain.  It was 113 F yesterday and 111 F today!  It is supposed to be over 110 F (45 C) for the next six days.  We are getting to the time of year where it doesn't go below 85 F at night, and soon won't go below 90 F at night.  And when the wind blows at 110 F it's like a blast furnace.  Get me outta here!  My trips to the flower garden are short-lived and limited to early morning or evening.  But the plants that love the heat seem unfazed.

Rosemary blossoms

There are several trailing or creeping rosemary plants in the front yard.  These trailing varieties of rosemary are widely grown here as an ornamental plant or ground cover.  Most of the ones I've seen here are 6 to 12 inches in height and spread to about 3 feet.  Native to the Mediterranean region, they grow easily in our poor soil, are drought resistant, and can tolerate our blazing heat.  Although I don't know the variety, mine have light blue flowers.  The plants survived the couple of freezes we had here, and I understand some cultivars are winter hardy to zone 6 or possibly 5.

   



dwarf Katie ruellia



 Several dwarf Katie ruellia plants are scattered in my back yard.  I was not familiar with this plant until we moved here.  Although I don't particularly like the standard 3 foot ruellia, these plants are low-growing perennials with lovely purplish blue flowers.  Each blossom lasts only one day, but there is a succession of new blooms over a long period.  In full sun they bloom prolifically spring through fall.  They form neat, round mounds and have sword-like leaves.  I have read that ruellia self sows and can become an aggressive, invasive grower.  The dwarf variety doesn't seem to present this problem.  Since our soil is not rich and moist I have not noticed this occurring in the standard variety that grows around the neighborhood.  The flowers provide a nice blue contrast to all the yellow perennials in the yard.

Ruellia blossoms