Category: Gardens

Spring in the Garden of Good and … not so good

My garden is eclectic. Somewhat like me. It is not in the best of shape, this year, and hasn’t been for a while, as I struggle to make a living up here. I work long and hard, but unfortunately, not in my garden. Maybe next year. So you won’t see “long” shots – only close-ups. Like this one:

Apricot Tree

It’s in a hole surrounded by hardware cloth, but the gophers are still going for it!

My garden is a mixture of volunteer and transplanted natives – both Big Sur and California, and exotics. My watering system is by hand, with a garden hose. No blanket watering, no drip system (I’ve tried that, the gophers eat it) and no sprinklers. Each plant that needs water, particularly those that supply food, get “dripped” by hand by my hose.

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These little guys have been around for a few years. So long, I am always surprised when they pop up each spring, but I’ve lost the memory of what they are. Sweet, anyway.

Manzanita in bloom

This is a volunteer. It is either Hooker’s Manzanita or Hoover’s Manzanita, but I think the former, the big seed. It is like a weed up here, but the CNPS always gets excited when they see it!

Tulip

I have never planted tulips before, although I have planted many, many bulbs. Unfortunately, most bulbs seem to be gophers favorite foods. They ate dozens of lilies, which I adore, so I learned to plant my lilies in pots. But I found some tulips and decided to give them a go. Some time after I planted them in a raised bed, having forgotten they were there, I scattered a couple of native wildflower packets. Now, the tulips are covered, for the most part, but still coming up and forming buds.

Wildflowers amuck

I know I am supposed to thin them back, but I always have trouble doing that. Any seed strong enough to send up a sweet green shoot deserves a chance. I know, I know … but it is like baby killing to me. I let them compete. Maybe I will eventually, but right now, all those sweet seedlings are life inspiring to me.

Hummingbird Sage

Once I convinced the guy who weed whacks for me that this is NOT a weed, well, it started spreading like one!

BTW, I haven’t forgotten that most people voted they wanted to see me post more shots of Big Sur gardens, and I have permission from a couple people already, but most want their gardens photographed in the spring, not fall or winter, so I hope to get out and get a few soon!
And remember to vote, if you have not already. New header goes up tomorrow!

Let there be peace on Earth …



bigsurkate Xmas Card, originally uploaded by wind_dancer.

… and let it begin with me. These are all objects in my cottage, put together for this year’s web-based Christmas Card.

And yesterday, Christmas Eve., in gorgeous sunshine, I finally planted the Tulips that were beginning to sprout, and tossed handfuls of wildflower seeds in the raised bed I had prepared. My gift to myself this season is the planting, the sprouting, and the flowering of nature outside my cottage door. That, and the Makita driller & driver set I found on sale at that Orange Store! A gal’s gotta have her own driller & driver! (my other one was eaten by the dogs, a few years back.)

Today, Christmas Day, I will be attending a Christmas Open House, one mountain south of me — a chance to see neighbors and friends I only get to see a couple of times a year. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Butterfly

I don’t normally do this, but a reader, Tzila “Z” Duenzl, a former Big Surian sent me this incredible photo she took recently, and I thought everyone might enjoy it. It is of a “Black Swallowtail” (Papilio polyxenes) butterfly on Marigold flowers.

I really will get my meeting notes up soon. I promise! Working against my usual unforgiving deadlines, but this didn’t take any time at all. (smile)

Sunday on Top o’ the World

The weather today is unbelievable. It is why I love Fall. Nights are cool enough to sleep, the bugs are pretty much gone — although I did see the honey bees pollinating the pepper plants — and the days can be quite warm and sunny.

I’ve been working too hard at my job, and not working hard enough in the garden. Today, I changed the equation. I put in a couple of leisurely hours in the garden this morning (gotta start slow, or my body would revolt), and stopped to do the dishes. I love multi-tasking. Clean both my dishes and my fingernails at the same time. Don’t try this if you use an automatic dishwasher.

I had this old wheelbarrow just hanging around, not really doing anything useful, just sort of getting rusty. I have been thinking about making it into a planter. Today I did.
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Hmmm … should I have painted it first? Rustic more my style, I think — or at least my lifestyle.

First, I lined it with plastic, hoping it will rust out that much later. Then, I gathered up all the 5 gallon pots I had used for the nicotina rustica, which had already been harvested, and dumped the nice soil all in the wheelbarrow.

I took the rootbound Shasta Daisy from its pot on the deck, and planted it in the middle of the wheelbarrow, cutting it way back, first. Trust me, this will get big and busy by next Spring.
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I planted some bulbs that were just beginning to sprout (some South African exotic – which is why they are always in pots) and there is room for some of the bulbs I plan on buying tomorrow.
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This is the overall effect. Those are yellow pear tomatoes and jalapeño peppers in the background. They will come out next week so I can prepare the bed for more bulbs.

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After I finished my wheelbarrow planter, I relaxed on the deck for a while (which also got a clean-up) and watched the hang gliders soar from the top of Plaskett — er, I meant Prewitt, haven’t been able to soar from the top of Plaskett since I closed it in 1996. Very peaceful and quiet. I love watching them!

It was hard going inside to finish up a brief due tomorrow, but I eased the burden, somewhat by opening all the doors and windows. My desk is positioned to get the Cone Peak view, so … making the money to buy the bulbs, and bareroot roses, and fruit trees, and seeds and all sorts of stuff to bring my garden back to the glory it once enjoyed.

Grand daughter’s photo

We’ve got a budding “eye” here — Madyson, my grand daughter. She will be 12 soon.
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Ripplewood Garden

As promised several days ago, here is a photo of the colorful displays of flowers between Ripplewood and the Big Sur Library. Beautiful colors.

I’ve also asked for permission to photograph some private gardens. I don’t have a lot of time, at the moment, but will fit this into my schedule when time allows.

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The more I look at this on my blog, the more dissatisfied with it I become. The colors are “muddied.” I’ll have to check the white balance more carefully, next time.

Zen & the Art of State Budgets

My income has stopped. I haven’t been able to bill in a month. The state will start issuing IOUs next week, not redeeming them until 10/1, so I created this space (cyber only, I haven’t actually built it in the real world) for me to come and meditate when I stop paying my bills, stop going places, and hunker down for the long haul. Come here anytime the world gets you down. I’ll be here with a cup of tea for you.
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(taken at Cambria Nursery)

Nature’s Garden

BTW, it is RAINING up here on Saturday morning. Not pouring, just a nice soft, gentle drizzle, but rain, none-the-less.

It matters not how many times I come down my road, it is an ever-changing exquisiteness. This is some of the latest.
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And here are a couple shots of Pacific Valley Center’s garden. I love the rocks!
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