When it rains this time of year, there is a delightful lushness that sets in. The oaks are leafing out, seasonal streams trickle down from the foothills, all the plants take a deep drink and give their full attention to reproduction before the dryness comes.
I'm staying in the house this morning, enjoying what may be the last toasty fire of the year from the pellet stove. But I took some pictures for you.
Scene from the back door.
The lilacs are in full bloom. The lawn was cut just 3 days ago, but it has gone delirious in the rain.
Scenes from the front porch.
How many flowers can one camellia bush hold? This one is trying for a record.
Just beyond the camellias there are dogwood and redbud. There's also a dark blue ceanothus back there, but it doesn't show up on a dark, rainy day. I took special care to pick a ceanothus that blooms with the redbud because the colors together are spectacular together. A scotch broom with them would be just about perfect. I have two, but they bloom 2 weeks later and miss the party.
Looking out the bedroom window:
The rose that grows over the wood shed and halfway up the redwood tree is just starting to bloom. There's usually a cat on top of the post at the lower right corner, but this morning the kitties are all inside the shed, curled up and snoring.
All this flowery beauty is making me drunk. Eyeball drunk, not highball drunk. I need another cup of coffee.
For those of you in colder climes, you will eventually get some spring, but not until we've overdosed here in California.
9 comments:
Oh...I am loving your blooms! I am jealous...I want to be drunk on blooms...LOVELY!!!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
I like to be eyeball drunk. Things are blooming here, but it is only 44 degrees today, down from 76 over the weekend. It should be up in 80s in two days. Your views are spectacular. I try to get things to bloom so I have a good view. I am not that successful since the windows and first floor so high.
How lovely to be surrounded by all those flowers.I've always thought that your California climate was rather like ours but it seems your seasons are much more defined than ours - at least it appears your Winter is colder - but I guess there is a difference in the northern and southern parts too and perhaps southern California is more like Queensland?
I do believe you live in heaven!
Jane x
Scotch Broom is a good thing to stay away from. It is just a large weed. We have a heck of a time getting rid of it up here in the foothills. Give it an inch and it will take several miles. Almost as bad as Manzanita, which just chokes everything out. The only way to grow scotch broom is like we grow bamboo up here, in a big ceramic pot so it can't get away.
Helsie, it's warmer in southern California, but its natural climate is desert. The central valley of California is naturally grassland, surrounded by oak forests, with redwoods closer to the coast. From your pictures, I think you get a lot more rain than we do. When we get serious flooding it's because of warm rains on the snow in the high sierras, your flooding seems to happen just from too much rain. Am I wrong? To be precise about this, one of us needs to travel to the other's place and make some observations.
KennyD, I have had a Scotch Broom or two here for more than 30 years and have only had 1 seedling start from them. I think the nursery broom might be different from the wild one. Usually anything that spreads is an instant plague here where the soil is rich, but it's alkaline and I think broom prefers acid soil. Though camellias and dogwood prefer acid soil and they do great here. Hmm.
Nothing like a well-timed rain to lush things up. Raining here today. The last of the snow in the shady places is giving up and there will soon be green everywhere. Jealous of your flowers, but we know you'll share as soon as you've had enough.
Delightful. Thank you for sharing your lovely blooms. I am especially fond of lilac, perhaps because it is too warm here in the North of NZ to grow well.
Today it is raining- I can hear it on the skylights as I sit here, and is down to a still-mild 17ºC. But there is a slight hint of winter in the air, very welcome after our long, very dusty, very warm summer.
Yes. you're right Jan. Our climate traditionally has hot wet Summers and dry cool Winters. That is , unless we have drought ... or something else goes wrong !!! I'm talking of course of the climate along the southern coast of Queensland and not the rest of Australia.
I like your suggestion of a visit !
Post a Comment