At the end of last summer, my lawn was a brown patch of drought parched straw.
Carefully watching the weather to maximize free water, overseeding with drought tolerant and heat tolerant grass, and adjusting the limited amount of water we're legally allowed to put on it...the lawn is making a bit of a comeback here in the middle of April.
The dandelion patrol has done some great things to limit those weeds but there's still quite a few mixed in with the grass but the war continues on that front.
I would be nice if my neighbors would take care of their weeds, too, since that's where the majority of the seeds come from.
I had my first session of deadheading the roses this weekend.
After, the front yard bushes look much cleaner.
Our first vegetable harvest were these onions with came from a recycled piece of an onion in the fridge (more on that later in the season).
I used them to make this delicious penne dish...
and this asparagus ham soup. You can find those recipes on our sister blog, Sunday Sauce.
DarrylCopyright 2016 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
The front yard rose garden is a bit played out.
We've pruned it but its time to give it a little boost. I added some bone meal to all the roses after pruning.
Now, I'm going to put a bag of mulch on.
After pulling the weeds, I dump a bag of GroMulch.
After raking in, it's ready for another season. Next up, do something about those rocks, and the front yard is done.
DarrylCopyright 2016 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
Now that the backyard roses and grapevine are pruned for the coming season, it's time to move on to the front.
The front yard rose garden has really suffered the effects of our prolonged California drought. Not so much from lack of water, directly, but from the effects of it.
The deer, driven by an extreme lack of water and food up in the hills came down and used our front rose garden as a feeder.
My Julie Newmar rose? Completely gone, killed off by the hooved invaders.
The rocks hiding my grass barrier have been knocked about by the venison hordes.
Oh well, it's ok. They were desperate and I was looking for a place to put a new rose I want to plant.
In the meantime, loppers ahoy...it's time to prune.
There we go. Still have to fix the rocks but that will come later.
DarrylCopyright 2016 - All Rights ReservedDarryl Musick
It's cool and gray on the patio today but it's dry. Good time to prune and clean for the upcoming season.
I'll start with the roses here in the backyard, then to the front next time. (my pruning tips are here)
The loppers cut into Angel Face...
...while Moonstone is done.
Next time, the grapevine and sweeping up this mess.
DarrylCopyright 2016 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
This years I've decided to push my garden chores back by a month. Last year, I pruned the roses over New Year's weekend. This year, I've waited until now. The Moonstone, pictured above, got tired of waiting and started the season without me. He'll just have to start over.
The same with Angel Face, which already put out a bloom.
Time for me to fish out my loppers and finish off the job.
That's it. Job done. All the roses front and back are now ready for another season. Hopefully the deer got their fill last year and they'll leave them alone for this season.
DarrylCopyright 2015 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
The first bloomers are here. Just a quick post to highlight those roses pushing the boundaries.
While there are still some in the front yard that have yet to bloom, almost all the roses along our hot, sunny back wall are in bloom.
That's 'Angel Face' at the top of the page...the very first to bloom this year. This one, just above these words, is an unknown variety we got cheap because it had no name tag.
'Moonstone' is beautiful but flawed. The flowers get very heavy and break the stems. It's also a magnet for earwigs.
'Double Delight' lives up to its name...
...and 'Mr. Lincoln' is the elder statesman in our garden.
DarrylCopyright 2014 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
Pruning. That's what this weekend was all about. Cutting back on the plants to make them ready for the coming growing season. Above, the front yard roses have finished their late winter bloom. They're last in line, it's time to cut them back.
I started at the far end of the backyard, pruned a couple of bushes a week, and worked my way over here.
Now, they're all done. I'm soaking the ground so I can pull up the weeds. The smaller trimmings are thrown onto the lawn to get chopped and mulched by the mower.
When it's all done, it looks like this - except I still have to pull up the weeds.
DarrylCopyright 2014- Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
Continuing the pruning of the roses highlights this weeks chores.
Above, you can see Mr. Lincoln halfway through the process. That dead-looking plant next to it is a pot of baby's breath. It comes back each year but I doubt there's any mix left in that pot.
Yep, pretty empty. I just pulled the whole thing up but I bet it will come up anyway from the roots that grew through the bottom of the pot.
Here's our Peace tree rose after pruning.
Another project I started is to sand, stain, and varnish this little table my wife bought for $5 at a yard sale.
My neighbor, Scott, is a mosaic artist and he's coming up with an insert that I'll install in the middle. It'll become a cocktail table on our patio when done.
DarrylCopyright 2014 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
OK, it's official...our governor has declared a drought emergency. We've known we've been in a drought for over a year and with not a drop this January, I guess Mr. Brown could not deny it any longer.
What this means is that we're heartily encouraged to cut our water use by 20%. This will soon become mandatory should this very dry winter continue. The water company will tell us how much we can use and any amounts over that will be charged at double or triple the rate...something like that.
It's good that I put in the drought-tolerant lawn this fall. Now, we'll see just how tolerant it is.
In the meantime, this hot, dry weather has fooled some of the roses into blooming again. Look at the front garden, up at the top, and this Mr. Lincoln.
'Magic Moment' is spectacular right now.
Enjoy it, flowers, because pruning time is coming very soon.
Oh, almost forgot...we got our first orchid bloom of the year this weekend with this cymbidium.
DarrylCopyright 2014 - Darryl MusickAll Rights ReservedThe Garden Blog Directory - Great gardening and landscaping blogs are all listed here!
While we break open a nice red for these crisp fall days, the roses are giving us their last hurrah.
At the top is Peace, which we grow as a tree rose.
Here's Julie Newmar with one last flush of yellow before the end of the season.
As of September 30, the roses are on their own. No more deadheading, no more fertilizer. Now, it's up to the plants to store food in their rose hips to get themselves over the cold weather of November and December.
Soon, they'll all look just like this Angel Face and go just a bit semi-dormant until pruning in January.
DarrylCopyright 2013 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved.
After finishing the chores this weekend, I had some time to reflect on the upcoming harvest. I nabbed some zucchini for the evening's barbecue. I think I'll get about a fruit a day from the plants the way they're going now. What else can I see...
I counted 13 ears of corn on the 7 stalks in our 4-foot long cornfield. We'll have some with the coming weekend's barbecue...I'm going to smoke a tri-tip in my new smoker. I think there will be more than that as the season progresses, too.
The chiles are showing fruit...
...while the plumerias bloom.
Our heirloom tomato is climbing in its cage while the sweet onions are maturing to the right.
For a long time, I didn't think this jalapeño was going to make it but we'll have some good salsa after all.
The guava tree is in bloom, we're hoping for our first crop in three years.
On the flower front, this epidendrum is back in bloom...
Mr. Lincoln is going on his third bloom of the season, with backing from the Lincolnettes...
...and this unnamed yellow rose is on its second.
DarrylCopyright 2013 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
