These copious rains of 2022-23 have been very kind to native plants everywhere… in wild places and in garden spaces… abundant flowers, on both spring annuals and shrubs, and lots of new growth. This month we continue the enjoyment as we begin to methodically prepare for summer.
One of the best years for native plants in memory, and perhaps for some, the best year ever! We have 24.51 inches for the season total to date at Tree of Life.
In general, gardeners are an optimistic lot, and usually our optimism pays off… eventually. After nearly three years of meager winter rains coupled with extreme summer heat, we are now experiencing a “great” rain year, with repeated soakings and copious precipitation that will provide deep moisture for our plants well into summer and beyond.
June, 2022 in the Natural Garden. Your natural garden should be just fine in your absence, perhaps it’s at a stage having become “self-sustaining,” so you can go play in nature.
M is for May, Mothers, Matilija poppy and Maybe one last rain, (but probably not this year).
Diversity. It is what makes southern California’s flora so amazing, and the lack thereof is what makes southern California’s “ornamental” public landscape so dull. Take a hike, prepared with camera, sketch pad or notebook and you’re in for a pleasant treat.
Spring will have sprung after March 20, 2022. Natural gardens everywhere, even the wild ones planted by God himself, will be bursting into new realms of new life in the next few weeks.
Especially during drought periods, our natural gardens become rich oases, each one a green bullseye on the big target for local songbirds, hummingbirds, butterflies and other beneficials. A simple water source like a fountain or bird bath proves to be an additional invaluable habitat in even the smallest garden space.
The whole ecosystem is undergoing a silent recharge beneath cloudy skies and the sun’s arc low in the sky. And we can take a break from garden chores for a personal recharge on a cold windy trail, or curled up with a good book near a warm fire.
Forecast: Continued dry and unseasonably warm with no chance of rain. After a decent bit at the end of October, we imagined the storm gates might officially open for winter. It appears that through November, we may have to enjoy only imaginary rain, good enough for a poet or philosopher but completely meaningless in the realm of soil moisture.
