Tag Archives: weather
Off to Vacation…
I’m off to a vacation with my three friends Howard, Bill and Dave to Southern California to visit our friend Rachel who is having her Bat Mitzvah.
I started waking up early, but before leaving home, I quickly planted some seeds. I figured that they’ll have a four day heads start if I sowed them now than if I sowed them when I return. I planted Coreopsis ‘ Plains (Bicolor)’, Yu Choy ’50 Days’, Broccolu Raab and Misome into Jiffy Peat Pots… my first time using this medium. I placed them into a propagation tray with a plastic lid (mini-greenhouse) and once I see sprouts, I’ll start hardening them off and bring them outside.
We left the Bay area around 11am and the weather was not bad, but after a hour or so it started pouring rain. At times, I think it was hailing, but most of the time it was sprinkling.
After a few hours driving, we stopped at San Luis Obispo at get some gas and some lunch at Burger King. It’s funny, because I saw a Bottlebrush Bush–I think that’s what they are called–at the Burger King parking lot and upon close examination, found what I think are seeds. So, knowing me, I collected some…
We continued driving and the weather got better. We drove on 101 because we heard that Interstate 5 required chains because of snow. The drive is longer, but I must say the views are nice, especially once we got to the Ventura/Channel Island area. We could see the Pacific Ocean and it was beautiful.
Some things I observed on the road was that there were lots of wild Prickly Pear Cactus and Agave along the freeway. There were also many Orange Orchards and I think we past by a place called Monrovia. I don’t know if that’s where the plant grower Monrovia is located, but I did see a lot of greenhouses and plant growers along the highway.
We encountered the evening commute around the LA area, so we were in stop and go traffic and it was bad. I was driving at this point and I hated it. My hands were sweating since it was stressing me out just a bit. We finally reached our destination around 9 or 10pm, checked into our hotel room then grabbed a bite to eat. Afterwards, we headed to bed and I checked my email, updated my Facebook and all that stuff.
Rain, finally…
Late last night, we got our first rain in a long time. It was raining when I woke up and commuted to work… But I didn’t mind, because we really need the rain… Our garden finally got a soaking that it needed and our rain barrel are filling up again with water. Yeay!!!
Still Light Outside + Warm + New Glasses
Today, as I was walking out of work, I noticed that there was still a little bit of daylight outside (I get out of work at 5:30pm) This is good news for me because it means that soon it’ll still be bright when I get home (I usually get home about 7:15pm)… Which means I can still garden (outside) a little bit when I get home… Yeah!!!
I also noticed that it is warm outside. Today’s high in San Francisco was 71 degrees F.
Earlier today, I picked up my new pair of glasses. They are a little squarer than my old pair… but I like how they look. A few of my coworkers said I look smart. Thanks (I think)
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Coleus I.C.U.
We’ve had nice weather the past few days, but it started to rain today. I’ve slowly been hardening some of my plants and taking them outside, but I haven’t started on my Coleus… except of 4 healthy ones. I just don’t want to chance a few days of cold weather killing or weakening them.
Overwintering can be a pain to maintain, but keeping a majority of my babies alive is worth it to me. I’ve gotten a little bit discouraged because a few Coleus have died after all those months taking care of them… and the mealy bugs are driving me crazy!!! I hate trying to control them. At least, I think a majority of the ants are gone.
Earlier this week, three of my Coleus seem to have just wilted. One day they were healthy or semi healthy, then the started drooping… I think something happened inside the stems and water stopped going up (or something like that).
I’ve have to do emergency precautions and snip the tips which I think will survive, and immediately dip them in water to relive them. It worked for one at home; the other two are at work and I will see how responded in the morning. I hate seeing some of my babies in I.C.U. but last year I had one Coleus that looked like this… recover and look like this.
BTW, These are half of my overwintering Coleus which are at work:
Massive Seed Sowing Sunday…
This weekend, we had beautiful summer-like weather with highs reaching 78°F (normal average is 63°F). Looks like we are going to have an early spring (which is what I think Mr. Groundhog told us). I remember last year, I couldn’t plant outside until May because he had rain everyday in April.
It’s funny seeing myself plant seeds… Does anyone else sit down cross-legged with slippers and short on and work on the ground like that? I think I need a potting table…
I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and start planting seeds… and I did some massive seed sowing:
– Lemon Cucumber
– Cosmos ‘Picotee’
– Cosmos ‘Sensation Mixed Colors’
– Orange Cosmos from treebreeze (Thank you for these! :)
– Sunflower ‘Summer Sun’ (Ox-Eye) (Heliopsis Scabra)
– Agrostemma ‘Ocean Pearl’
– Strawflower (Helichrysum) Tall Double Mixed Colors
– Nasturtium ‘Jewel Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Envy’
– Zinnia ‘Candy Cane Mix’
– Zinnia ‘Dahlia Flowered Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Giant Cactus Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Thumbelina’
– Lamb’s Ears (I think they are Lamb’s Ears) seeds that I collect from San Anselmo
Spiders, Spiders, Spiders: As I was filling the 6-pack cell pots with soil, I found a Spider living in between them. I released it so it can find a new home. My Mom then noticed a Spider that had made a home in our of our decorative bird house. Then when I was sowing the seeds, I notice hundreds of tiny baby spiders around the 6-packs, so I tried to disperse them around the garden to make new homes.
Peanuts: I also took the Peanut outdoors and repotted it (again) into a larger container (its permanent home) filled with potting soil and a lot of perlite to make the soil really loose.
Garden progress:
Recent blooms: Spring Starflower, Rananculus
About to bloom: the very first Columbine, Pears, Apples, Clematis, Wisteria
Emerging growth: Forsythia leaves, Taro
No Need to Water…
No need to water… because we just got our first rains for the season… which I like… It’s going to let up today and the weekend looks nice and sunny, but not too hot…
I wish it lightly rains once a week, so I don’t have to worry about watering… hehe
It’s Hot…
Yesterday, I spent the day in San Francisco, celebrating my friend Wincy’s Birthday. We went to the West Portal district and had a Mexican lunch… Yumm!… Afterwards, we walked around the shops. I happened to see a hardware store that was selling a Coleus… so, knowing me I had to get it. Hello Coleus ‘Red Ruffles’.
Today, it was really warm, reaching the mid 90s (°F). Once it cooled down a bit, I fertilized with a water soluble fertilizer, spray almost all my plants. That was pretty much the extent of my gardening.
I did notice that the tomatoes are finally fruiting… and I saw my first tomato!!! YEAY!!! It’s a Great White Tomato that is about half an inch wide. The Cucumbers are also starting to flower. Below is the Sikkim Cucumber blossom.
While in the garden, I snacked on some of our yummy Italian Plum, which I think is my favorite fruit in the garden.
Oh yeah, one of the Message Bean has emerged. The other one rotted :(