Rain, Plants and Garden Tours

We get a little break today from what I can tell. Yesterday was a break in the rain, too. There should be more coming this afternoon/evening and tomorrow and then it looks like another short break, but then more rain a few days later. I am sure happy for all this rain! It is a little early to know how the season will pan out, but so far the totals for the last 30 days are at or above 100% of normal. I have read that the reservoirs that serve the San Jose area are at normal levels again. I know there are some hardships from the rain, but the native plants need this rain in order to be drought tolerant and healthy through the summer. More selfishly, the plants I have planted recently will have a better growth year and will become better established. And it is insurance against my neglecting them down the line!

I am glad for the short break we will get this week. I'm hoping it will give the soil a little drying out time so that I can get a few plants in the ground. I have quite a few, actually.

• Two California lilacs--Carmel creeper for the front yard as ground cover at the edge of the oak shade,
  
• three coffee berries that will go down in area that is slowly becoming a hedgerow against the west fence
• two sages that will need a sunny spot,
  
• an elderberry that died back but is coming back
• two coyote bushes for the sunny part of the hedgerow
• two yellow flowered, weedy looking plants whose name I forget! They are going where they can reseed and fill sunny space and compete with the weeds.

I also have some propagation successes!
The two cecile brunner rose cuttings are growing up a storm. These are not native, but the parent rose is quite a trooper. It survived being covered by ivy and living in the shade of overgrown trees. Now that it has been uncovered and there is a little more light (not full sun by any means) it is completely happy. It doesn't have any of the colorful fungus spot problems that we get on other roses in this coastal climate. It doesn't require any watering. I hope it's offspring will be just as vigorous. They are going down to grow on the corner of the cyclone fence.

The unknown sage cutting from a local wild area might be making it. It looked like the cutting had died, but then something sprouted in the pot. There is a sage smell in the pot and I think it is coming from the new foliage. Then again, this could be another of my pampered weeds! Once it is a little bigger I can pick a leaf and see if it is sage or if the smell is coming from the dead twig! I'm pretty sure propagation isn't supposed to work this way (the twig dies, but something else sprouts up in the pot!) but I will take what I can get.

Bush lupine!!!! I collected seeds from the same local wild area and planted them when I attemped all the cuttings. There are three of them coming up out of six! Hurray! I just have to get them past the stage where they are a snail/slug delicacy and then I will plant them.

Coyote bush??? None of the coyote bush cuttings made it. I took these cuttings because I want a female with the furry seeds and nurseries seem to only sell males. So I took cuttings when the plants were in bloom and I could tell male from female. Unfortunately, I don't think that is the time for taking cuttings. All the twigs are dead. But, there are some itty bitty green sprouts in a couple of the pots. I think the seeds might have fallen on the soil and sprouted. The leaves are little, but they have the same toothed edge. Then again, they could be weeds that I am protecting and watching and encouraging!

Looking forward to the spring garden tours, I have found a website that has a list. I put it in the sidebar, so take a look.