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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?
Diary entries for 2004 through 2014
Entries below 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.
Unless a different year is given, dates refer to other entries in the same year as the entry in which they appear, including entries on prior pages for the same year.
| Date and Weather | Observations and Activities |
|---|---|
| 31 Oct
Overcast, some hazy sun, and cool Temp: 52-68
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Put up cuttings of nephthytis (Syngonium podophyllum),variagated pothos (Epipremnum pinnatum 'Aureum'), and dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's'). The first two are house plants. The nephthytis grows in the greenhouse window in the breakfast room. The pothos grows in a hanging pot adjacent to the greenhouse window. Both had become far too large. The ivy will be planted outside at the base of the mailbox in front, to grow up the post and cover the mailbox.
Rain —
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| 29 Oct
Clear, sunny, and hot Temp: 72-89
Rain —
|
Yes, we got rain, real rain. However, the bucket I place in back (22 Oct) only collected enough to water the dwarf lemon tree. The rest of the rain year is predicted to be quite dry. After skipping two irrigation sessions, I turned the sprinkler system back on.
Trimmed the fern pine (Podocarpus) growing to the left of the overhead garage door. It was interfering not only with the door but also withusing the walk that goes around the garage towards the back yard. With the angle of the morning sun not seriously hitting the north side of my house (which is not truly due north), I removed the shade cloth from the greenhouse window. Yesterday, I bought six plants to replace those that died or are dying in back: English thyme (Thymus vulgaris), three white Cuphea hyssopifolia, and two pink Cuphea hyssopifolia. I potted the thyme; it will sit in the shade of the house on the main patio until it is well established. The pink Cuphea went into the teardrop bed, and the white Cuphea went into the rose bed. |
| 22 Oct
Cloudy, occasional hazy sun, cool Temp: 57-73
Rain —
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Fruit on the dwarf navel orange tree are starting to get color. I hung four socks with blood meal on the tree to discourage squirrels.
Two of the pink Cuphea hyssopifolia in the teardrop bed in back died. However, I discovered a seedling growing in the path surrounding that bed. Today, I moved that seedling to replace one of the dead plants. Did not see many flowers on the pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana) last spring. I was therefore surprised today to see many fruits. They are all still quite hard and unripe. Rain is predicted in two days. I put a large pail in back, beyond the spread of The Tree to catch some free water for my potted plants. (My monthly water bill — which does not include sewer fees — is greater than the sum of my phone, electric, and natural gas bills.) |
| 8 Oct
Mostly cloudy, occasional hazy sun, cool Temp: 54-68
Rain (starting a new rain year) —
|
October is the best time for planting most plants in southern Califonia. Exceptions include bare-root roses and fruit trees, citrus, and a very few subtropicals. Right now, the soil is still warm from summer; but the air is cool. That means roots are encouraged to grow while foliage is minimally stressed.
Now that the weather has cooled, I reduced the amount of time the sprinklers run. Planted a well-rooted cutting of dwarf Burford holly (Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii Nana') in front, under the living room windows. I used to have a hedge of three of these hollies, but they slowly died after the house was tented and fumigated for termites. My favorite landscape contractor could not locate replacements; so he planted three of something else, which I could never identified. To plant the holly today, I had to remove one of those shrubs. I have another holly cutting which seems to be rooting but is not yet ready to be moved into a 1-gallon nursery can. I also learned of a nursery that might have 1-gallon dwarf Burford holly for sale. I plan to visit there soon. Fed the roses with a commercial fertilizer that contains an systemic insecticide. This will be the last time I feed them until I see the start of new growth in the spring of next year. |
| 29 Sep
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 56-80
|
Fed the dwarf citrus with small amounts of a commercial citrus fertilizer plus a pinch of zinc sulfate. Fed the same to the gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii') but larger amounts. This will be the last time I feed either the citrus or gardenia until March of next year.
The Artemisia cuttings (18&30 Aug) have all failed. I think I will have more success taking cuttings in the spring, with new shoots. Rain —
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| 26 Sep
Mostly clear with very thin haze, sunny, and mild Temp: 55-78
Rain —
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Trimmed the 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) growing in in front, in the parkway on the far side of the driveway. I mostly removed dead flower shoots, but I also slightly reduced the size of the plant.
Trimmed the eugenia (Syzygium paniculatum) growing against the front of the house, the one closest to the overhead garage door. It was interfering with the garage door opening and closing. Next spring, I will have to trim all of these. The Tree — commonly called an evergreen ash (Fraxinus uhdei, sometimes called a shamel ash) — gives welcome shade to both people and my garden in back. However, it also gives an abundance of seeds, so many that the most common weed in my garden is ash seedlings. Today, I swept about six gallons of ash seeds from the main patio in back. It will be a problem to remove ash seeds from paths in back because they are too small to rake while raking will remove some of the decomposed granite. Disbudded the potted spoon-flowered chrysanthemum (C. morifolium) on the main patio in back. It seems a bit early for it to have flower buds, but there they were. |
| 19 Sep
Clear, sunny, and warm Temp: 57-85
|
Finally removed the compact discs and socks containing blood meal from the 'Black Monukka' and 'Perlette' grape vines (16 Jul) on the lower part of My Hill. While this attempt to keep squirrels away from my peaches failed, it was quite successful. I picked several pounds of grapes this year.
The potted English thyme (Thymus vulgaris, 16 Aug) did not survive. Since more hot weather is expected, I will wait until next month to replace it. Rain —
|
| 8 Sep
Clear, sunny, and hot Temp: 67-94
Rain —
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It is still much too hot to spend any time outdoors in my garden. Two days ago, however, my calendar said I was supposed to feed both my dwarf citrus and my roses. I put that off until today, hoping the weather would cool. It did not cool.
Today, fed the citrus with small amounts of ammonium, iron, and zinc sulfates. Oops! I forgot to feed the gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii'), which I will do on Friday. I fed the roses with generous amounts of ammonium sulfate. |
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-year is the cumulative amount of rainfall from 1 October until 30 September of the following year (our "rain-year"). Week is the cumulative amount of measurable rainfall from noon seven days ago until noon of the indicated date. If no measurable 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. Finally, such characterization reflects when I was actually outside and gardening and ignores changes that occur while I am inside.
The signature line I use when writing messages about my garden includes the following:
Diary entries for 2004 through 2014
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