Garden
Getting The Eye
Found this little guy staring at me from an empty flower pot as I was walking up from the orchard. He did some scary lizard push-ups to show me who was boss, so I snapped his picture and moved on before he charged me.
Eucalyptus up close
Last winter during high winds and rain one of three enormous eucalyptus trees (about 60 feet) by the pond tipped over. Half the tree's roots remained in the ground, so the tree continues grow on the side facing the sky. I stood on the trunk, pointed my camera down and took this shot.
Fiery Sunset
Fire is terrible, but it sure makes for a pretty sunset. This is a photo of the Las Pulgas fire taken around 7:45 PM last night.
Surrounded by Fires
We're used to wildfires in San Diego, but they generally occur in late September / early October, not mid-May. It's been so hot and dry lately that the entire county is a tinderbox. Currently, we're within a couple of miles of four fires to the north, east, southeast and southwest, so any direction I turn is smoke. Fortunately, we're safe. (Wouldn't want to load all the livestock in a trailer and have to go somewhere.) But wow.
Picky Goldfinches
The local pack of goldfinches chowing away on Nyjer seeds. One time we made the mistake of buying the general "finch mix" seed and the little monsters threw everything that wasn't Nyjer seed on the ground where the squirrels picked it up. We learned our lesson and now we never buy anything but pure Nyjer.
Peruvian Lilly
Mom gave me a couple of different types of Alstromeria (aka Peruvian Lilly) 15 years ago when she re-vamped her garden. Stuff re-seeded, spread throughout the upper yard and grows like a weed in half a dozen place now. I've seen uglier weeds.
Joseph’s Coat Roses
This was another find on the clearance aisle of a nursery. Picked up two one gallon containers of these showy climbing roses for just $2. They bloom red and gradually fade to orange and finally yellow so when the bush is in full bloom it's a riot of color. Looks great as a backdrop for our herb garden.
Pride of Madeira
Echium candicans is native to the island of Madeira off the coast of Africa, which coincidentally has a climate very much similar to San Diego's. Not surprisingly, these shrubs thrive here. Bees love them.
Butterfly Iris
Nothing particularly special about this plant other than I never actually planted it. I think it came in with some plants that someone gave me and decided to stay. These days, I've got dozens growing in semi shady areas without any care. The purple, yellow and white flowers really look nice in contrast to the shady green around them.
Varigated Chinese Lantern
This is an unusual variety of the Chinese Lantern (Physalis alkekengi) with speckled yellow and green leaves. Native to southern Asia, I picked this one up as a 3 inch plant the local exotic plant nursery years ago. It's now well over 10 feet tall an produces lots of orange blooms without being watered or fertilized at all. (Interesting side note -- it's related to the tomatillo.)