In the garden, and RAIN!!!!
POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, December 25, 2025 04:27
VIEWED: 1005090
PAGE 5 of 1154
Another late storm adding about 0.3" to the total.
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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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The last couple of storms coaxed the wild oats to grow.
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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Yeah, unfortunately someone helpfully weeded them for me!
RECIPE FOR CHICKEN TAGINE MOVED TO PROCESSED FOOD IS KILLING US thread.
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That last rain was the last rain for us, this rainy season. Not even at normal, but given how sparse the rains have been for the last three years the oak trees were signaled to bloom, and they're blooming like I've never seen them bloom before.
This is the height of the flowering season, and not only are my Joseph's Coat and White Lady Banks climbing roses (planted by the previous owner) at the height of their season, but ... list of blooming plants right now
avocados (Also dropping their leaves as usual. What a chore!)
pink and white geraniums
lavender (French and Spanish)
salvia gregii (deep red)
pink flowering currant (just fading)
camellias
sundancer daisy
blue-eyed grass
verbena lilacina
pincushion flower
Canary Island pine
kalanchoe
holly-leaf cherry (just beginning)
fuschia-flowered gooseberry (fading)
penstemon spectabilis
mimulus (monkey flower, renamed to diplacus, I think)
coffeeberry
golden yarrow
pink and white azaleas
No wonder the hummingbirds (and bees) are ignoring the feeders! But they'll be back in summer, when nothing is blooming!
The Dara's Choice salvia - apparently a very early bloomer- is done, but the bees had a field day with them!
Walking the garden with my gardener, a mourning dove burst out from under the Cleveland sage and a fledgling toddled out as fast as it could after her. Family and helper were stressed by the apparent abandonment of an "injured" fledgling, but I know that fledglings stay on the ground for at least a couple of days and that mom and dad might be back, given space. I tossed some seed out to induce the adults to come back, and saw two adults and heard cooing on the ground that day, and kept tossing seed out. Was gratified to hear that both adults and fledging were seen on a nearby roof- apparently the baby mourning dove survived its perilous time on the ground and is now flying. Yay birdee!
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The front garden is is looking better and better as the plants grow and fill in and the penstemons are attracting hummingbirds while the fancy-colored CA poppies are attracting native sweat bees. But the backyard is where all the action is!
Last weekend I refilled the hummingbird feeders - finally- and made sure the birdbaths were filled, and this weekend I tossed out some birdseed and peanuts and not only did the usual mourning doves show up but this time I had a small flock of happy English sparrows (their population had been decimated by West Nile), two female and one male hooded Oriole dicing with the hummingbirds for the sugar water and splashing in the birdbath, of course a lot of Allen's hummingbirds, and a couple of jet-black starlings with their bright yellow beaks. And a poor squirrel with a third of its tail missing.
Over the past several weeks I've seen crows hunting fence lizards in the yard (their population was also decimated) stalking the garden carefully, so I started putting out some meat scraps and sure enough, the scraps reliably disappeared. I assume the crows were feeding their young.
This is in a very suburban neighborhood, where everyone's lawns are mowed and all of the hedges are shaped into poodle-shapes, so not only is my turf-less CA native front yard a poke in the eye to all of the uptight neighbors, it's a refuge for small animals.
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Yesterday has a sparrow hawk wandering around underneath the hedge eating a baby magpie. Nature can be harsh. I have lots of salvia in my garden too- pineapple sage flowers bright red and you can make tea out of it as well.
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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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Quote:
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
Yesterday has a sparrow hawk wandering around underneath the hedge eating a baby magpie. Nature can be harsh. I have lots of salvia in my garden too- pineapple sage flowers bright red and you can make tea out of it as well.
When I feed the crows, I know that there will be more crows next year, eating more lizards. Feeding the hummingbirds just means that there will be more hummingbirds straining after the same resources next year. So whatever I put out isn't really a permanent favor, animals will breed to the capacity of their environment and there will still be animals dying at the margin between "just enough" and "not enough".
But people are smart, and we know to respect the limits of our environment, right?
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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
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"May it be" by Enya
May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh, how far you are from home
Morni? ut?li? (Darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Morni? alanti? (Darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now
May it be the shadows call
Will fly away
May it be your journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun
Morni? ut?li? (Darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Morni? alanti? (Darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now
A promise lives within you now
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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME