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Many years ago, when I first started my Web site, I created an online diary of my gardening activities and observations. However, with work and the commute from Hell, I was often so tired I had to choose between maintaining my garden and maintaining my diary. Sometimes, I did neither. In 1998, I stopped my diary and removed the pages from my Web site.
Now I am retired. I am well-rested and have plenty of time to both garden and maintain a diary. This diary is primarily for my own benefit, so that I can look back upon what I did and when. But I thought others might also be interested, so here it is.
Also see What's Blooming in My Garden Now?
Entries are in reverse order (latest at the top). Daily, I might stoop to pull a weed or use a hose to water some potted plants; however, I don't consider those significant gardening activities. Thus, you will not see daily entries. Also, I might accumulate a few entries before updating this page on the Web.
When plants have well-known common names, their scientific names are given only the first time they appear on this page (entry closest to the bottom). There, the common name is in bold or appears as a link to another Web page.
Dates refer to other entries in the same year as the entry in which they appear unless a different year is given. However, they may refer to entries on prior pages.
| Date and Weather | Observations and Activities |
|---|---|
| 23 February
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 55-74
|
Gave acid treatments to my roses, camellias (both C. japonica and C. sasanqua ), azaleas, and Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum). They all got a dose of soil sulfur. The roses and tea tree also got iron sulfate.
In addition to the acid treatment, I also fed the roses (front and back) with ammonium sulfate and Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). The latter promotes new shoots for rejuvinating the plants. Rain —
|
| 19 February
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 49-76
Rain —
|
The whole back yard is fragrant with the smell of Freesias.
Attacked one of the mounds of leaves on the patio. When the green trash bin for garden waste — for the county's composting project — was full, half of the mound remained. The other mound was not even touched. My graddaughter Sydney (age 5) enjoyed playing the the leaves. In the meantime, The Tree has completely leafed out. Potted the two valley white oak (Quercus lobata) seedlings (27 Nov 2013). First, I cut their tap roots. Nursery-grown western oaks always have their tap roots cut. This results in roots that spread more and make the tree able to thrive in an irrigated garden. Potted the rooted Dracaena cutting (13 Dec 2013). Then I broke off the remaining live shoot from the parent plant and put it up as another cutting. When this second cutting roots (or dies), I will then pot them in place of their parent. Planted the rooted Artemisia 'Powis Castle' (A. arborescens × absinthium) cutting (19 Sep 2013) into the ground. |
| 12 February
Clear, sunny, and warm Temp: 61-77
Rain —
|
Rain, rain, glorious rain! But not enough to end the drought. Instead of a new record-breaking dry year, California has tied the existing record-breaking dry year. We also got some more winter chill, but I think it is too little and too late. Plants are already blooming one or two months early.
Sprayed my 'Santa Barbara' peach with a mix of dormant oil and copper sulfate. I could only spray the climbing 'Peace' rose, which was the last to be pruned. Because of the very warm January, all the other roses are in leaf; and the spray would damage the foliage. Repotted the Cymbidium orchid into a larger pot. Since there are several small flower shoots not yet in bloom, I did not divide the plant. However, I did trim about two inches from the bottom of the root ball so that I could put fresh potting mix at the bottom of the pot. When I am sure there will be no more flowers, I will divide the orchid and repot it again. |
| 23 January
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 53-71
Rain —
|
The artichoke (Cynara scoymus) in my back lawn apparently died. It had been there almost 14 years, surviving the trauma of repairing My Hill (no watering, stepped on, covered over with planks and dirt). Today, I planted a new one in the same spot. Fortunately, that spot was not invaded by roots from The Tree.
By the way, as usual The Tree is already leafing out while mounds of last year's leaves still occupy the patio and paths in back. Pruned the 'Flame' grape vine at the top of My Hill. This effort exceeded the combined efforts of pruning the other two grape vines (19 Jan). First of all, this is an exceptionally vigorous plant. On top of that, my neighbor at the top of My Hill (on the next street) has allowed a flowering vine to grow through his fence and entangle itself in my shrubs and grape vine. I hope to talk to him soon since the vine is strangling the shrubs that the county required me to plant as a condition of the grading permit when I had My Hill repaired in 2007. The shrubs are supposed to help prevent surface erosion, which could then lead to another slope failure. My neighbor's vines, however, are not rooted in My Hill and thus do not substitute for the shrubs. If My Hill fails again, my neighbor's swimming pool (installed after My Hill was last repaired) would be undermined and might land in the dining room of my house. |
| 19 January
Scattered high clouds, hazy sun, warm Temp: 62-79
Rain —
|
It's been over five days now when the relative humidity has remained under 10%. California's Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency two days ago, but the drought already declared itself in my area when only 0.22 inches of rain fell in all of December.
Removed one of the small mounds of leaves from the path around the back lawn and started to remove another mound. The large mounds on the patio will be the last to be cleared. In the meantime, new leaves are already starting to sprout on The Tree. Pruned the climbing 'Dublin Bay' rose, the last to be pruned. I also pruned the two grape vines near the bottom of My Hill. The 'Flame' grape at the top of My Hill will be the last winter pruning to be done. Of course, I will then have to apply dormant spray to the peach tree, roses, and grape vines. |
| 15 January
Clear, sunny, and warm Temp: 69-80
Rain —
|
No, that is not a typo; the relative humidity at noon was only 7%; it has been a single digit for over 24 hours. A Santa Ana wind is blowing again. With little rain, "fire season" did not end. Yesterday, there were several brush fires around southern California. By this date last year — an exceptionally dry year — we had 2.91 inches of rain, more than four times the amount we have had so far this rain year. If last year was "exceptionally dry", what is this year? And we have had NO winter chill (temperatures at or below 45°F) so far this January.
Pruned the climbing 'Peace' rose. Although I cut the remaining canes somewhat shorter, it still spans 14 feet along the top of the low slough wall at the foot of My Hill. I have not year started on the climbing 'Dublin Bay' because it is still in bloom. Soon, I will indeed cut it even if it has flowers. |
| 9 January
Clear, sunny, and cool Temp: 48-68
|
Pruned the remaining two roses in front and the 'Iceberg' rose in back. The climbing 'Dublin Bay' and climbing 'Peace' roses in back remain to be pruned. The latter will be a major effort because it grows so vigorously.
To finish my winter pruning, I will have to prune the grape vines on My Hill. Climbing My Hill is something I always dread. When I reach the 'Flame' grape vine at the top, I must always stop for about 5 minutes to catch my breath. Then, I will have to climb My Hill again to apply dormant spray to the vines. Rain —
|
| 5 January
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 57-72
Rain —
|
The drought is becoming news item #1 in California. Also, while the East Coast and Midwest freeze, there has been no additional winter chill in the past 15 days.
When I went to do the biweekly feeding of the Cymbidium orchid, which I keep outdoors in back, I found the pot had broken into four large pieces. While the pot might have cracked from falling when strong winds knocked it over a month or two ago, I believe it came apart because the plant is so pot-bound. I temporarily moved the entire plant into another pot, just to protect the exposed roots from drying. It has started to flower, and I don't want to repot it until flowering is over. In the meantime, I placed it indoors, in our dining room, to show off the flowers. In my climate, however, Cymbidiums are really outdoor plants. Finally removed all the leaves from the windrow I created on the driveway and from the mound on the brick panel around the 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) (between the curb and sidewalk). There is still a mound of leaves on the brick path to the front door and (of course) many mounds of leaves in back. Pruned the climbing 'Fourth of July' rose in front. As I have noted before, pruning a climbing rose requires the effort of pruning two or even three rose bushes. It seems that there are far more thorns per inch of branch on a climbing rose than on rose bushes. |
| 1 January
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 57-78
Rain —
|
I hate beating the drum about our drought, but it is very serious. The rain year 2012-2013 was extremely dry. In December 2012, our local area had only 1.57 inches of rain. However, this 2013-2014 rain year appears to be even drier. In December 2013, our local area had only 0.22 inches of rain. December, January, and February are supposed to be our wettest months; but the National Weather Service is predicting a dry January. Severe restrictions on irrigating gardens are likely.
Pruned three more roses today. I have only six more to do. (The 'Salmon Ovation' miniature rose on the back patio does not get pruned.) |
Weather data are from the Cheeseboro (CHE) weather station, about 2 miles ENE of my house.
The high temperature (°F) is daytime for the indicated date; the low temperature (°F) is for the previous night.
Winter chill is the cumulative hours of temperatures at or below 45°F from 1 November through 31 March. It is reported during that period and through April.
The relative humidity is at noon. (In my garden, it is likely higher than reported, a result of regular irrigation.)
Wind speeds (mph) are average (not peak) low and high, midnight to midnight (subject to later correction for diary entries posted before the end of the day). I also indicate peak wind gusts parenthetically when they are significantly high.
Rain is in inches. Rain amounts are omitted after 60 consecutive days elapse without any measurable amount. Season is the cumulative amount of rainfall from 1 October until 30 September of the following year. Week is the cumulative amount of measurable rainfall from noon seven days ago until noon of the indicated date. If no rain fell in that period, Days since last is reported.
Characterization of the weather (e.g., Clear, sunny, and warm) is purely subjective; for example, "warm" might occur with higher temperatures than "hot" if the former occurs with lower humidity and more breezes than the latter. Also, a day that would normally be characterized as "mild" might instead be "warm" if the immediately previous days were quite cold.
The signature line I use when writing messages about my garden includes the following:
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