Author Profile
Articles
Warm is a Relative Term
Southeast Idaho at 6,500ft in elevation about 70 miles west of Jackson, Wyoming. It's 10am and it's 15° F. I was told by a local resident that they were having an "unusually warm" winter just like we are down in San Diego wheres it's 77° F. "Warm" is obviously a relative term.
Baby Aeonium
Here's a baby aeonium I found in some rocks. Hard to believe that it's had no water or soil for nearly four months, because it looks absolutely radiant.
Video: Gopher vs Banana Tree
Gophers may be small, but that doesn't mean their damage is. Here's what one did to a 20 foot tall banana stalk.
Last Sunset of 2020
Looking west-southwest just before 5PM Pacific, the suns sets for the last time in 2020 on December 31. The other side of those hills is the Pacific Ocean.
Christmas Rescue 2020
In keeping with a long tradition of saving post-Christmas plants from the trash bin, this year's rescue is a 93 cent bargain. It's 4-inch tall poinsettia in a silver 2-inch pot that's definitely seen better days. It has one green leaf and a few red bracts still hanging on, probably because they've been sprayed with glitter glue. The glue has also attracted what looks like cat hair (or worse). My record's pretty good when it comes to nursing abused poinsettias back to health, but I have to admit, I think this one's iffy at best. We'll see how it goes. [keep reading...]
Happy First Day of Winter
Yes, this is the actual temperature in San Diego just before noon on December 21, 2020. The temperature just before noon on the first day of winter.
Orange Marmalade Aloe in Bloom
Walked into my greenhouse and there it was -- a glowing nuclear alien aloe with a 12" stalk as candy orange as the plant itself. So I took a few minutes out of whatever
Christmas Cactus Then and Now
Rescued a baby Christmas Cactus from a near-dumpster experience last year and brought it home. This year it's rewarding us with a Christmas red and candy pink and white display.
Keyhole Garden Update – December 2, 2020
Gardener’s Log : Keyhole Garden day 610. Weird weather--hot days, near freezing nights--has put a squeeze on the keyhole garden's output.
Peppers are Pooped Out
It has come to my attention that my Central American "Culebra Negra" peppers are not at all happy about the cold weather. It's the end of November so we've had a couple of near-freezing nights with 34° to 37°F lows right before dawn, but nothing that I would consider a hard frost. The Hidden Lake Hot Cayenne/Thai hybrids are still flowering and fruiting quite a bit, but the Culebra Negras are a different story. Seems these poor plants, with their burned and shriveled leaves, have a lot less tolerance for the near frosty temps.
Let’s Socialize