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My Garden Diary

January and February 2012

Copyright © 2012 by David E. Ross

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?


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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
26 February

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 50-71
Humidity: 40%
Wind: 1-19

Rain —
Season: 3.81
Days since last: 11

Trimmed the edges of the front lawn, except along the driveway. That latter portion will wait until my wife takes her car away. This trimming involved not only getting the pink clover off the brick path and the public sidewalk and away from the shrubs that are against the house but also trimming the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') away from my neighbor's front lawn.

While trimming along the brick path, I had to move the large pottery bowl where 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender is growing. The bowl came apart in my hands. I wonder if someone tried to move it but dropped it. I pushed the two parts back together, but I'll have to replace it.

22 February

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 62-82
Humidity: 13%
Wind: 0-21 (gusts to 34)

Rain —
Season: 3.81
Week: 0.06

Planted a 'Burgundy Iceberg' rose in front to replace the "destroyed" 'Paradise' (22 Sep 11). Bare-root roses are no longer available, except possibly by mail-order. When I removed this one from its nursery can, however, most of the soil in the can fell away and left me with a bare-root rose. I mixed some of that soil into the planting hole and saved the rest for later use.

Noticed some broken branches in the Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) in back, apparently the result of having The Tree trimmed (29 Jan). I gave the tea tree a general trimming, removing crossing and hanging branches and branches that were too low over the surrounding paths.

19 February

Mostly cloudy, some hazy sun, cold

Temp: 44-61
Humidity: 43%
Wind: 0-11

Rain —
Season: 3.81
Week: 0.06

Planted a statice in the east bed in back to replace one that died (12 Feb). Because it requires good drainage, I planted it slightly raised above the surrounding soil level. I also stirred a generous amount of gypsum and wood chips (5 Feb) into the planting hole; since the decomposing wood chips will take nitrogen out of the soil, I added a handful of blood meal to compensate.

Trashed two bucketsful of wood chips. Finally, I'm seeing some progress in reducing the pile.

My dwarf orange is already forming flower buds. I hope the frosts that are still possible for another month don't eliminate this year's crop.

12 February

Cloudy, mostly gray with some hazy sun, and cool

Temp: 44-61
Humidity: 54
Wind: 0-9

Rain —
Season: 3.75
Week: 0.01

Because of the warm winter (5 Feb), the roses have all leafed out. Today, I fed them with ammonium, iron, and magnesium sulfate.

Dug away more shredded branches left when my trees were trimmed (5 Feb). I again added mulch to the camellia and east beds in back and around the oak in front. I also saved some in the metal trash barrel that I wanted the tree service to use in the first place. I guess I'll have to start trashing some of the shreds.

One of the statice plants (Limonium perezii) in the east bed died, and another has been struggling. The Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum maximum) have also been growing poorly. Both require soil that drains well, which is not my soil. I gave the surviving statice and daisies generous doses of gypsum to improve the drainage.

The 'Simply Marvelous' rose cuttings (11 & 24 Dec) have all failed, which does not surprise me. A Dracaena cutting, however, is still alive but has not yet sent out roots. I failed to note in this diary when I took the cutting, but I think it was last month.

After I finished the above tasks and went indoors, the weather indicated to the left changed to clear and sunny but still cool. There was not a cloud in the sky after I went inside.

5 February

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 52-69
Humidity: 17%
Wind: 2-12

Rain —
Season: 3.74
Days since last: 13

This winter continues drier and warmer than last winter. So far, we have had only 3.74 inches of rain and only 120.7 hours of winter chill. By this date last year, we had 11.05 inches of rain and 237.5 hours of winter chill.

Trimmed some Camellia japonica and the dwarf lemon that had branches broken when The Tree was trimmed (29 Jan). I also trimmed the 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavenders (Lavandula lanata × dentata) in the circular bed that were growing out over the surrounding paths and were crowding the adjacent azaleas.

When my trees were trimmed, I requested that some of the shredded branches be placed in a metal trash barrel on my patio. Instead, a mound of shreds — possibly 10 times as much as I wanted — was piled near my compost pile. I dumped several buckets full of shreds into the trash barrel. I spread even more buckets of shreds in the camellia and east beds in back as a mulch. And I spread one bucket of shreds around the oak tree (Quercus lobata) in front. The pile does not look any smaller. In the meantime, the shreds that I dug out of the pile were already getting warm, indicating they had started decomposing.

29 January

Partially cloudy, mostly sunny (sometimes hazy), warm

Temp: 58-78
Humidity: 7%
Wind: 0-16

Rain —
Season: 3.74
Week: 0.51

Two days ago, I had the larger trees in front and back trimmed. Today, I rearranged the flower pots on the paths in back, restoring their prior setup; I discovered that three pot toes are missing. My 4-year-old grandson helped me pick up small branches from The Tree that the service missed. I also tested the sprinkler system, repairing two heads in back. While this tree service does excellent work, I'm glad I only have them once in three years.

While testing the sprinkler system, I discovered that the valve for the drip irrigation for the roses in front had failed. It could not be shut off. I called my favorite landscaper and left a message. He returned my call — on a Sunday — and advised me on a temporary measure so that I could use the rest of the system to water my garden the following morning. The failed valve is plastic; all the others are brass. While it will cost much more, I requested that I want it to be brass if the unit has to be replaced entirely.

18 January

Clear, sunny, and cool

Temp: 42-68
Humidity: 31%
Wind: 0-8

Rain —
Season: 2.85
Days since last: 32

Sprayed the peach tree, roses, and grape vines with a mix of light oil and copper sulfate emulsified in water. The oil kills over-wintering insect eggs, and the copper is a fungicide. The peach tree will have to be sprayed again just before it leafs out.

Two Camellia sasanqua in back — one of the 'Yuletide' in the east bed and the 'Jean May' in the rose bed — appear somewhat chlorotic. I mixed some sulfur with compost and spread it around each plant. The compost contains soil bacteria that will slowly convert the sulfur into sulfuric acid. Although they are blooming, camellias are dormant at this time of year, at least as dormant as a broad-leaf evergreen can be. When they begin growing again in the spring, I will apply some iron, zinc, and magnesium sulfates, all of which leach through the soil too quickly to be of any benefit right now.

16 January

Cloudy, gray with occasional hazy sun, cold

Temp: 44-53
Humidity: 78%
Wind: 0-7

Rain —
Season: 2.85
Days since last: 30

Yesterday, my diary entry commented about the lack of winter chill. Last night, the temperature dropped to 45°F and below for the first time in over three weeks, adding 4.5 hours to the accumulated chill. However, it is still below 100 hours since the beginning of November. By this date last year, it was already over 220 hours.

Planted a Camellia sasanqua 'White Doves' in the rose bed, replacing the same variety that died. Actually, this is the third C. sasanqua 'White Doves' in that spot. This time, I put a lot of effort into improving the soil in that location. I covered the bottom of the planting hole with gypsum to improve drainage and blended much peat moss and some compost into the native soil to improve the overall soil structure. I also blended in small amounts of bone meal to improve flowering and soil sulfur to ensure the acidic environment that camellias favor. The planting hole was deep, but I back-filled it with the amended soil so that the camellia's root ball was slightly above level of the surrounding bed; this too will improve drainage. Camellias prefer soil that is always moist but never wet.

The efficacy of gypsum in improving heavy clay was demonstrated. I had spread a generous amount of gypsum in that location last month (11 Dec 2011). Today, it was quite easy to dig a planting hole deep and wide although the soil was quite wet. (I hope the amendments and gypsum reduce the wetness.)

15 January

Overcast, some hazy sun, cool

Temp: 50-63
Humidity: 22%
Wind: 0-8

Rain —
Season: 2.85
Days since last: 29

One pot of rose cuttings (11 & 24 Dec 2011) failed completely. The other pot is still alive, but new growth has ceased.

Put up a cutting of the variegated Dracaena that is in my greenhouse window. From past experience, I expect this will do much better than the cuttings of a rose or Shasta daisy (4 Jan).

Trimmed pink clover (Persicaria capitata) away from the Cuphea hyssopifolia and blue fescue (Festuca glauca) in the rose bed. The pink clover was beginning to overwhelm the other plants.

Climbed My Hill and pruned the 'Flame' grape vine. I also cut away some parts of a vine that was invading the top of My Hill from the neighbors in back of my house. I think I will be using an herbicide on that invader in the spring.

I had planned to apply a dormant spray to the grape vines, roses, and peach tree today. However, the weather forecast indicates a 50% chance of rain showers later today, which would then require a repeat spraying.

In the meantime, this winter has been drier and warmer than last winter. By this time last winter, we already had at least 8 inches of rain compared with less than 3 inches this winter. So far, we have had slightly over 85 hours of winter chill (hours of 45°F or less) versus 227 hours by this date last winter.

8 January

Clear, sunny, and cool

Temp: 56-68
Humidity: 6%
Wind: 7-39 (gusts to 62)

Rain —
Season: 2.85
Days since last: 22

Finished pruning all the roses. I also pruned the peach tree. Since the peach is quite young, pruning involved only some light trimming. Now, only the 'Flame' grape at the top of My Hill needs to be pruned.

The Phalaenopsis orchid in my greenhouse window died! One of my favorite local nurseries wants $40 to replace it. A local grocery only wants $15. I am leery of buying an orchid plant from a grocery because it's too easy to bring bugs or plant diseases home that way.

4 January

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 65-85
Humidity: 9%
Wind: 0-17

Rain —
Season: 2.85
Days since last: 18

Tossed some high-nitrogen fertilizer (urea, 45-0-0) on my compost pile and then thoroughly watered it.

Both Shasta daisy cuttings (27 Sep 2011) are quite dead.

Have not yet finished raking the leaves from The Tree, but its buds are already swelling in preparation for leafing out again.

Finished pruning the roses in front and also pruned the miniature 'Salmon Ovation' rose on the patio in back. I have only two more roses to prune, but the green garden-waste bin is full. I'll have to wait until this coming weekend to finish. The peach tree and 'Flame' grape also need to be pruned.

Ran yellow "CAUTION" tape along the rose bed in front to warn the neighbor's gardener not to step on the pruned roses. Without any leaves or flowers, the plants might be hard to notice.

1 January

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 64-80
Humidity: 7%
Wind: 0-15

Rain —
Season: 2.85
Days since last: 15

Raked more leaves in front. The oak (Quercus lobata) is almost bare, so this is a task I won't be repeating much more.

True to a New Year tradition of mine, pruned a rose. This time, it was the climbing 'Peace' in back. Before pruning, canes arched over the path that fronts the rose bed. Now there are three canes in each direction, neatly tied to the top of the slough wall at the bottom of My Hill. From tip to tip, this climbing rose now extends more than 25 feet.

My hands show several scars and scabs where the rose attacked me while I was pruning it. My wife asked why I don't wear gloves. I told her that some of this task requires me to feel what I'm doing where I can't necessarily see.

Weather data are from the Cheeseboro (CHE) weather station, about 2 miles ENE of my house (reported in prior diary pages as 1.2 miles).

The high temperature (°F) is daytime for the indicated date; the low temperature (°F) is for the night ending on that date.

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).

Rain is in inches. Rain amounts are omitted after 60 consecutive days elapse without any measurable amount. Season is the cumulative amount of rainfall since the start of the current rainy season, which began on 5 Oct 2011 with the first measurable rain in 120 days, until noon on the indicated date. Week is the cumulative amount of 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:

Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
See also The Climate.

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