Halloween Garden Update

Northern California is finally easing out of the warm summer weather. Rain will be falling for the next several days, but the garden continues to grow. Heck, even roses are blooming!

The sweet basil is still going strong:






















Roses are going through a second bloom period.






















'Paris Market Mix' mesclun from Renee's Garden. The plants are really growing quickly in their cage!

Tomatoes on October 30th

Amazingly, I still have ripening tomatoes on my single plant, despite the fact that tomorrow is Halloween. Rain is coming in, and it looks like it's going to be rainy through Monday. Hopefully the tomatoes will still ripen.

Cymbidium Orchid

Cymbidium Orchid, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

I saw this cymbidium orchid at a retreat back in May. The retreat grounds were filled with all sorts of colorful flowers, especially California-native wildflowers.

Gold Lace Primrose

Gold Lace, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Sorry for not blogging in the past week...been busy!

This is the 'Victoriana Gold Laced' primrose from Annie's Annuals. The heirloom flower is very pretty and unique.

Annie's Annuals is a wonderful nursery in Richmond, California (which is sadly a dangerous town). When you enter the nursery though, you feel safe as you gaze upon variety after variety of very rare or heirloom plant. Everything I've ever purchased at Annie's has grown extremely well. If you can't make it out to California to visit them in person, you can order online.

http://www.anniesannuals.com/

The Mountains Loom...

The Mountains Loom..., originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

In this view, we see the incredible High Sierra jutting up from the desert. I took this photo on a drive back in July near Bishop, California.

On this particular drive, we left the hotel where it was 97 degrees. Upon reaching the trailhead at over 9000 feet, it was 70 degrees! Up at the lakes, clouds rolled in, wind blew, and we were forced to put on jackets. California is the place to be if you like climatic variation!

The Tower

The tower of morning glories in my garden, taller than anything, even the bananas. The ladder is shown for scale.























From below:

California Grape

A cluster of wild California grapes found on a vine growing in Las Trampas.

More October Garden Update Pictures

Some more photos of the garden on this warm October day:

'Heavenly Blue' morning glories are still blooming!






















The morning glory vines are over 17 feet tall, and still growing. I can't provide them with any more support because I don't have a tall enough ladder.






















'Thai Hot Dragon' chile peppers. They really are fiery hot.






















'Oregon Spring' tomato plant still growing and putting out tomatoes.

October Garden Update

I have not been taking many pictures of my garden lately. Here's what it's looking like right now. Most plants are doing well.

Giant lemongrass:






















Rose blooming by the morning glories.



































Mesclun and lettuce in a cage. The cage keeps the squirrels, raccoons, and birds out 100%, plus the snails and slugs can't find the plants because they're 3 feet off the ground. The plants are finally taking off because of the cooler temperatures, rain, and lack of animal attacks.

The Tree-Root Waterfall

The Tree-Root Cascade, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Here's a pretty unique waterfall.

This cascade is formed by the roots of a bigleaf maple growing through the creek bed. The water flows over the roots in a curtain and plunges into a somewhat deep pool.

This waterfall, like many others in the area, only flows during the rainy season. It's completely bone dry right now.