Weeds, Flowers 06-22-23

Since my gardener (mow and blow guy) retired in January I have tried to hire three different gardeners, but they just don't show up.  Now I have hired two guys who work in the neighborhood and come highly recommended.  They will get around to my yard when then have time between their regular duties.  I hope it is soon because the weeds are up to my waist in some places.  The excessive rain we had this winter/spring has reawakened seeds that haven't sprouted for a number of years and some I am not familiar with.  My yard is probably the wildest in the area!!

These are only growing in the front yard and I think they are very interesting with very dark reddish brown stems and unusual  leaves.    Sort like black oak, but I know they aren't that. 

I will try to do some research to see what the name is. 

The Lilies of the Nile are blooming, along with the Jacaranda trees.  The lilies that get full sun most of the day are in full bloom, but those that only get sun part of the day are lagging behind.  Mine are just barely budding out - no color yet. 

This yard faces east and has full sun all day.  Gorgeous. 

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Food for Bees 03-08-21

Yes,, they are a weed and infest our lawns every spring.  But if you possible can you should leave them blooming because they are a prime source of food for bees in the early spring.  I don't imagine that the neighbor who is growing this much cares, but his neglected yard is always full of every kind of weed.  A couple times a year he cleans it up, or hires someone to do it.  Meanwhile the bees are dining well.  

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Another dose of KoKo 03-08-20

I wonder if this homeowner is letting his grass grow so that the bees and butterflies can enjoy the dandelions.  KoKo just plops himself down and relaxes.  

He just HAS TO give me a bath sometimes.  It must be the salt, eh?  

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Drive from SJBautista to Placentia on Feb 22nd 03-02-20

I finally spent some time editing the pictures I took on I-5 coming home on the 22nd.  There are a LOT of almond trees; they line the highway and stretch to the rising hills for miles and miles.  In between there are fallow fields, open uncultivated land, other orchards, and, of course, off ramps that lead to gas stations, restaurants, etc.   It is harder to take pictures with a cell phone when I am driving and I plan to go back to a point and shoot camera.  I think the images are better using that method.  Here are some views from along the way.

  

Something that is pretty prominent are the billboards begging for more water for agriculture.  One of which questions: "Is it wasting water to grow food?"  I know that there are new methods for watering crops, very few farms along this route use overhead sprinklers now. 

I have no idea what the actual problem is, other than the continuing drought, but I do get tired of the signs.  

Almond blossoms.

Almond blossoms, bee hives, tumbleweeds. 

Almond blossoms and tumbleweeds. 

Almond blossoms and lowering clouds. 

NOT almonds, another nut or fruit, along with tumbleweeds. 

 More NOT almonds. 

And then it started to rain.  More almond blossoms and beehives. 

Well, you get the idea!  California grows 80% of the world's almonds and they are the #1 exported crop.  

There are other crops growing along I-5 in the valley.  Lots of grapes, both for wine making and produce.  I have seen the pickers packing the grapes directly in the boxes that are shipped to stores. 

Almonds in the distance, grapes in the foreground. 

And there are some orange and lemon orchards. I know these are oranges because I have driven the route when the fruit was still on the trees.  All picked and shipped now. 

Citrus trees have very dense foliage and the leaves are dark and glossy.  

Saw a lot of these low growing yellow wild flowers, but I don't know what it is.  This is uncultivated land.  But almonds in the background. 

A green crop in the background and plain old grass on the freeway verge. 

These are piles of dead almond trees.   It seems they cut down the old trees and let them dry out in the fields, then they are scraped into these huge piles. 

 And the piles are ground into mulch.

There are several facilities along the way to which the mulch is trucked and then processed for further mulching.  The trees have a life span of 20 -25 years and do not bear fruit the first 3 or 4 years.  Almonds are alternate bearing so that a large crop one year is often followed by a lighter crop the next year.  [Google]

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Opportunists 03-01-20

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Spring blooms 04-01-19

There is the super bloom of wildflowers in Southern California and I wish I could drive out to see some of it.  But currently have too much on my plate to do that.  But there are lots of spring flowers in my neighborhood. 

This very unusual iris has only one blossom, but it is very pretty. 

It looks very shy in a bed of nasturtiums, foxglove, orange poppies, alyssum, and a few other annuals.  I only have feverfew, wild oxalis, and sow thistle growing along the side of our house.  This morning I dug up the sow thistle before it can go to seed.  I suspect it comes from several neighbors who do not maintain their yards and let everything go to seed.  Very un-neighborly. 

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Wordless Wednesday 03-27-13

 

Wild Oats 04-17-10

No, I'm not sowing any wild oats! They just sow themselves on the slope in back of my house. I suspect a lot of them come from the seed eating birds who love them. The oats are beautiful when they are green and the wind ripples through, but they are also beautiful when they have shed their seeds and only the silvery husks remain.

I am having some trouble downloading pictures from the card in the appropriate slot on the front of my laptop. I tried the old Dell laptop and they downloaded just fine, but they I have to send them to myself to get them on the Fujitsu. I imagine the problem is in the Fujitsu. I have a card reader with a USB on the end of a cord, but I cannot locate it. Wonder if I left in a motel somewhere. Guess I will have to visit the shop again and see if they can help. This piece of junk will be a year old in June. Why, oh why, didn't I stick to Dell?