In the garden, and RAIN!!!!
POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, December 25, 2025 04:27
VIEWED: 1005090
PAGE 3 of 1154
So, ahem - speaking of rain ... after an insane delay of 2 years with city permitting (never buy a historic house, and if you think it's going to hit the 90 - 100 year mark while you're still in it, pass it by!) ... I FINALLY got the new roof completed just last week. I was pretty nervous because all the long term predictions were that the 'powerful' el Nino was going to start at the end of November. So, let me just ask rhetorically - and WHAT month and YEAR is it NOW??! I just couldn't imagine what a nightmare it was going to be with it raining and the entire roof off. Though we desperately need the rain and I was disappointed at the lack thereof, I was at the same relieved. I had very mixed feelings.
But now I can say - let it rain, you rain spirits!! Do your best to help us out!
As for allergies - generally the flowering plants aren't an allergy problem. They have flowers to attract the pollinators because their pollen it too heavy to travel on the wind. OTOH grasses and many trees are wind-pollinated. So I suspect that an allergy that comes at the same time as a particular bloom is some unnoticed grass or tree (or mold) doing its thing.
I had allergy testing done to the most common allergens here (about 25 of them), foods, and some specific additional ones - like mouse and horse. If you live in an area with mice, you should get tested though it's not a common test, also, if you live within a mile of horses get tested for horse allergies, as I was told the dander's extremely 'sticky' and doesn't wash or blow away easily.
And it turned out I was very allergic to some molds and somewhat allergic to everything else that's airborne (except two plants), and also some foods. I did do allergy shots for many years and avoided those foods I'm allergic to, which helped somewhat - at least I don't itch everywhere all the time. But I think I need to go back because I still have a hard time breathing when it's humid. So some allergies may have strengthened again, or I'm allergic to some uncommon allergens that weren't tested for.
That's been my experience with allergies, and some of what I learned in the meantime.
Other things I learned are that Yews - planted everywhere for their landscape value, are slow growers that only start blooming after many decades, but once they do, they can cause severe allergic reactions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxus#Allergenic_potential
Allergenic potential
All parts of a yew plant are toxic to humans with the exception of the yew berries (however, their seeds are toxic); additionally, male and monoecious yews in this genus release cytotoxic pollen, which can cause headaches, lethargy, aching joints, itching, and skin rashes; it is also a trigger for asthma. These pollen granules are extremely small, and can easily pass through window screens. Male yews bloom and release abundant amounts of pollen in the spring; completely female yews only trap pollen while producing none.[4]
Yews in this genus are primarily separate-sexed, and males are extremely allergenic, with an OPALS allergy scale rating of 10 out of 10. Completely female yews have an OPALS rating of 1, and are considered "allergy-fighting".[4]
SAGAN: We are releasing vast quantities of carbon dioxide, increasing the greenhouse effect. It may not take much to destabilize the Earth's climate, to convert this heaven, our only home in the cosmos, into a kind of hell.
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Congrats on the new roof! Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!
I myself got new wiper blades last night. I haven't needed them for ... a long time!
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Hopefully just enough.
SAGAN: We are releasing vast quantities of carbon dioxide, increasing the greenhouse effect. It may not take much to destabilize the Earth's climate, to convert this heaven, our only home in the cosmos, into a kind of hell.
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According to LADWP (Los Angeles Dept Water & Power) most rain gages recorded somewhere between 2" and 5" of rain in the last 72 hours.
http://www.ladpw.org/wrd/precip/alert_rain/index.cfm?cont=48hr.cfm
I'd say that those were two good storms. Since that eliminated the deficit from OCT/NOV/DEC, all we need is about 10 more of those and we'll be right at average!
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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
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I hate to complain about lack of rain nearly every time I post, but we just had (yet another) blow-by rainstorm from this El Nino, that was supposed to be the biggest on record. Yeah, this storm huffed, and this storm puffed, and from three to one days away it was predicted to bring somewhere between 0.75" and 1" of rain. Which would have just brought us up to average, you realize. And then it did what most storms have done so far this year: Speed up and evaporate. I think we got maybe 0.1" out of it.
This El Nino, so far, is a bust. Out of something like 5 predicted blow-bys and five predicted direct hits, we get two real storms of about 1" each, and only a couple of other 0.1" rainfalls to nothing at all. Lady Rain- such a tease.
"The elephant labored and brought forth a mouse". It would take a miracle parade of storms in February and March to just keep So Cal at average, much less reduce the water deficit.
OK, I'll stop complaining now. I just had to get that off my chest.
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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
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Late to the topic, but that scrub jay with the peanuts is having the best day of their life.
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Oh damn! Here it is, too late today to do anything about the rain! I just thought - maybe I could wash the car.
SAGAN: We are releasing vast quantities of carbon dioxide, increasing the greenhouse effect. It may not take much to destabilize the Earth's climate, to convert this heaven, our only home in the cosmos, into a kind of hell.
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I heard and excellent idea- instead of building an oil pipeline from Canada to the USA, how about a WATER pipeline?
Imagine, the person who told me this said, what a kind of "damage" a pipeline leak would create: GREEN GROWING PLANTS.
I love it!
Oh, don't believe that groundhog, BRENDA!
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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
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Wind generally isn't a factor in LA. Rain isn't either, apparently! So you can have my umbrellas, BRENDA. Just tell me where to ship them.
Yep, that El Nino ... it's still there, but hasn't produced any rain for us. I keep hearing on NPR "We need your el Nino stories.." and I'm like ... WTF??? What El Nino"?
Not only are we way behind on rain, even with the so-called biggest El Nino on record happening, do you have ANY IDEA what the temperature has been like around here???
NINETY THREE!
Yep, NINETY THREE!
This isn't "like summer", this is like a summer heat wave.
So, my El Nino story is that I'm watering more now than I was in summer, because this is the season for CA plants to grow. Can we have that water pipeline from BC now, BRENDA? It's a good thing I had most of my lawn ripped out!
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On a happier note, I mentioned that I made a certified backyard wildlife habitat. I have all of the things in place for little critters to thrive: water, shelter, and food. Most of the natives that I planted are in deference to the small creatures that we share the earth with- flowers for the bees and hummingbirds and butterflies; berries for the birds, possums, etc.; and mulch which seems to keep a healthy population of bugs and grubs and lizards and raccoons going; avocados which the squirrels seem to enjoy, as well as hummingbird feeders.
Over the past few years, I've seen more and more unusual birds stopping by for a drink or food. So aside from the usual crows, English sparrows, mockingbirds, and Allen's hummingbirds, I've seen Orioles feeding from the hummingbird feeders, black Phoebes and yellow warblers picking bugs from the ground, mourning doves eating the seed I throw out from time to time, bluebirds (real honest-to-gosh bluebirds!), a scrub jay, and yesterday a Northern flicker drinking from the birdbath.
I'm just as excited as all get out! As my plants grow and start to bear fruit, I expect I'll see more and more birds stopping by. On top of that, my fuschia-flowering gooseberry set off a bunch of blooms this year, and my pink flowering currant is going to bloom for the first time too.
I wait in happy anticipation!
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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
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Sad to say. I'm watering my trees in February.
Last year even though it was dry, I skipped the water, and the trees were late to leaf out, with a far smaller number of, and smaller, leaves and flowers. (Though the flowers that they had were unusually bright.) So what I learned was that even though not much appears to be happening at this time of year, the plants - even the ones that appear dormant - are laying down the cells for growth. I intend to help them along this time. The other thing I noticed was that last year seemed to be a great year for wild oats, but not the other wild annual grasses (especially not the wild barley, which I loathe, because it catches in fur and works its way under the skin of many unfortunate animals - due to its sharp tip and barbs) . Though there wasn't a lot of rain last year as well, it was just the right combination of cold and wet, I surmise, at the right time, for the oats. This year, not so much. I think there was not enough rain and cold at the same time.
The little brown birds are secretively nesting again in the Catalina Island Cherry hedge. And, once again, I'm hoping for a Great Northern Owl pair to nest in the Incense Cedar. It only happens rarely but it does happen! C'mon guys - there's plenty of mice!
I have a lot of birds nesting in my yard during the year, but then they go make their living on the wild hill across the street, and probably elsewhere. I like to see their little comings and goings as they bustle about and raise their families. I'm glad they have the all those spots that suit them.
wild oats
wild barley
SAGAN: We are releasing vast quantities of carbon dioxide, increasing the greenhouse effect. It may not take much to destabilize the Earth's climate, to convert this heaven, our only home in the cosmos, into a kind of hell.
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