Anyone else gettin' hammered by wind and rain ?

Love that---it's the "California" that lives in my head...LOL!

Very pretty, Janet. I was looking at a tree of Elegant Lady Anisodontea the other day thinking I should I get it. But yours isn't that is it?

Sue, what road is that?

That's Welch Canyon Rd of Calaveras Rd. to the upper part of Sunol Regional Park. It was so beautiful and green and there was sections of rock cliffs along the creek that runs right next to the road that were covered in moss and ferns, reminded me of Hawaii.

Last week Patricia took me on a back road to Sunol. I wonder if this was it. I had never been on it before. I need to explore in that direction!

Yes, Kell, I think it is "Elegant Lady". I got it at a grange 4-H plant sale, so labels were iffy at best. The bloom & leaves are very close to what's in PlantFiles, and that's what I'm assuming it is.

This was off 680, taking the Calaveras Rd right by that big nursery that's next to the freeway there. Then taking Calaveras south, Welch canyon Rd. only dead ends into the park.

Kathleen, that's such a wonderful scene in your photo -- the pond and the view are sublime.

I'm glad we're having some strong winds. It helps my big fir tree and black walnut do some of that nice self-pruning they can do with the help of a strong breeze. Last year we didn't have any storms and a lot of dead wood was left in the trees all year. Or worse -- it would come crashing down without notice. At least when it's stormy, no one's standing in the places where the branches are falling.

Today we had a very brief but very loud hailstorm. Jasper, my youngest cat, was on the sun porch and had never experienced hail before. He heard the noise on the glass roof and must have thought the glass was breaking because he ran straight out the cat door -- right into the hail.

I think the storm petered out by the time it got down here - it wasn't that bad, just a few heavy showers off and on during the day. Could have used a little more.

Thanks, Zuzu. DH really loves his pond, though he doesn't keep it as tidy as I would like. I don't mean pristine, but just clean out the dead plants, etc. Still, it's so soothing - there's a stream that runs downhill into the pond and the sound is just perfect. The birds love it and we have frogs, feeder fish, dragonflies, etc. Things come and grow there and if they're not too invasive we leave them alone.

Zuzu, how funny of your cat running out INTO it!
Sometimes I think I follow the logic of the cat ( Or lack thereof!) !!

Here today; sun, rain. SUN. Rain!

Is the drought cancelled yet?
CC

The drought never gets cancelled. Houses can slide off the hills into the ocean, whole communities can be under water when the rivers flood, and people can ride canoes down the highways, but they'll still tell us we're having a drought as soon as the sun comes out.

yeah ! I just caught three rainbow trout in my backyard. !

The droughts are all about snowpack. If the Sierras get enough (rare) then we don't have a drought. If 50% of all people in California left, we might not have a drought. But then we might not have a lot of things . . .

If 50% of all people in Ca left....we'd party in the streets!

Yeah! Hopefully, the productive ones would stay behind. LOL

Raining crazy this morning!!

Here, too!! DH just checked our home weather station, and we've had over 3" here in the past week.

This message was edited Feb 17, 2009 9:34 AM

rained heavy here this morning too - still drippy out... reminds me of home - it's like this for months . Few days is great, months of it is depressing!

Thanks for reminding me Sue, we're members at Wente Vineyards and I need to go pick up our wine. Went to Disneyland this weekend it was 60 and sunny, then part I-5 was closed yesterday (when we were coming home) due to snow in the hills... made for a long drive home.

ima - you have been very productive getting all your seeds in the ground, I'll try to catch up to you this week.

In spite of the recent rains, we are still very much in a drought. One of our big reservoirs in northern California, Folsom Lake, is only at about 45% of it's normal. It has not been this low since 1994. It's pretty much the same picture throughout California. I do hope the rain will let up for a few days so that I can spray my nectarine tree for peach leaf curl before the buds break. It is sunny today, but I am at work......, and unfortunately, rain is predicted for this weekend. When I went out to check the tree this morning, I can see pink in a couple of the buds, but most of the tree may be OK for another week.

I was hiking by Folsom a few months back, yes, very low! So is Lake Shasta

Drought in CA is, according to what I've read, determined by Sierra snowmelt---rainfall is almost irrelevant.

imapigeon, rainfall is almost irrelevant?! Darn, that is upsetting news! I was hoping that these rains would have helped all the farmers who so desperately need the water, and home orchardists like me, who so much want water....

Ok, this Belgian doesn't get that!

CC

It's definitely huge for us and the farmers. But as for the people who decide whether or not CA is in "drought" mode and whether or not watering restrictions can be lifted, my understanding is that rainfall is a minor factor---the biggie is the snowmelt, because that's apparently what fills most of the reservoirs.

I think a lot of people erroneously belive that rainfall dictates when a drought is over or not. In geology class, I remember hearing and learning that snowfall is the key factor, like Jungleman stated earlier.

You can see though, why people would associate rainfall with drought , more than snowfall. It seems logical unless you've actually studied it, which I haven't, just the little bit they touched on in school.

The other thing to remember is that we were so far behind before that having these couple of wet weeks still isn't enough to bring us up to normal levels for the year--I was just reading in today's paper that even with the precipitation we're expecting over the next week they're only expecting rainfall to be at 77% of normal at the beginning of March, and they're expecting snowmelt to be ~57% of normal. And since the reservoirs are already a bit low from the last couple dry winters I don't think they're going to declare the drought is over or drop plans for water restrictions...unless maybe we get some storms of biblical proportions in March!

Good boys! You paid attention in Geology Class.
The main difference between snow fall (more accurately snow melt) and rain is the length of time it takes to get to the ocean. Most rainfall goes directly into the ocean. Not all, but most. Snow fall takes longer to reach the ocean. Giving it (the water) longer to soak into the ground, or be channeled into the reservoirs. Our aquifers (natures underground water reservoirs) are seriously depleted due to overpopulation, poor water usage, and the simple fact that not enough water has time to sink into the aquifers. We have all the water we need to support our population, it falls mostly in Northern CA, and because it goes into the ocean we can't/or haven't found a way to use it. Then again that impacts the wetlands and the ocean itself.
Too many people and poor water usage have led us to this place. As farmers, DH and I have paid a lot of attention to the rainfall, and the weather trends. His family has been farming here for a century now. We've been going through a long period of drought followed by a year or two of wet. The creek on our property used to run clear all year round. Currently, it runs clear water seasonally, if we get above average rainfall. I believe that this is just part of a bigger cycle and we will see rainier years in the future. The pendulum has to swing the other way sometime! LOL!
Yes, we need more rain!
WIB,
SW

Sorry we cross posted ecrane. I am praying for a March Miracle. Will take photos if it happens and the creek flows!
WIB!
SW

Wow, thanks for the explanantions! For me, having spent my whole life in Belgium, it is hard to understand these droughts.
We have tons and tons of rain, in every season, so I never even had seen sprinklers for lawns before I moved to CA.

I am using very little water now, and I spare as much as I can for my fruit trees, about 60 in total.

In Belgium, water comes from the sky!

Christie

In Pacifica it does too, although mainly in the form of very wet fog. I know gardeners in Pacifica who don't even own a garden hose. The daily morning fog is enough to keep their gardens going even in summer.

England gets tons of rain, but they still have water shortages, too.

KaperC, I learn more than I could have imagined; The UK has water shortages too? We have the same climate, mostly!
How odd!
CC

Here you go - an article re England. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/29/water-shortage-england-wales-meters

@SingingWolf - I heard they are considering refilling Owens Lake up north of here, in order to encourage recharging the aquifer. I think that would be a great environmental restoration project for California. We need to undo some of the large scale damage we did in the name of Progress.

I'm really hoping that this economic crisis will encourage we Americans to re-evaluate our priorities: Less 'stuff', being more local in our ways, planting earth-friendly 'Victory' Gardens, and just simplifying our lives a little. My no-dig (some call it Lasagna) garden uses so little water it took me a while to get used to it. Since December, I watered it artificially only once, thanks to the rain, but during the warmer weather I watered about once every ten days, and then for about 20 minutes with a soaker hose.

I have heard a rumor, but nothing definitive yet about Owens Lake. Last two times we've been by the level of the lake was lower than the time before. It would be a lovely and worth while project.
Still evaluating the effects of the new Diamond Valley Reservoir/dam in our area. We are having some of those really heavy fogs that cause pile ups on the freeway. I think that we lost some of our water from our local aquifer when they were dynamiting over at the DV Reservoir.
I am also concerned about the poisons filtering their way through the earth into the aquifers. That is really scary! : 0
I've heard that people are starting Victory Gardens again! Bravo! With the exception of my green house, I am very frugal with water.
I just decided that I don't want to have Day lilly's in my garden. I just don't want to spend the water on such a small return. I'm all for xeroscaping, but need to learn more about it. I'll have to take a look at your lasagna garden. Still use drip irrigation, mostly because it's what we got, but also because it is a real water saver. You got me beat though! ^_^
I probably have been over watering, at least until I got rid of the lawn on my side of the yard, and put in the drip.
Don't have to water much in the green house because of the precipation. Even still, the rain has been helpful and we still need more.
WIB,
SW

You can easily use drip irrigation on a no-dig garden. In fact, it is better than what I have set up as far as water thrift. The cool thing is you have a layer of good, organic matter about 7 inches thick once you get it settled, then you plant on top, and it stays wet for days and days below the surface, and the roots just go where the moisture is!

Funny thing is - I just bought some daylilies! I love them, and equally coincidental is that I am going to use drip irrigation on my ornamental gardens! I will not be xeriscaping, as I am growing more tropical plants (I know, so not PC, but I am choosing the most drought tolerant plants I can find that give a tropical effect), thus I mulch about four inches with landscape fabric, and will install drip emitters this coming summer.

I don't mind xeriscaping in other peoples gardens - in fact it can be very nice looking when one goes for a Mediterranean effect (BTW, great design ideas in the book Gardens of the Sun), but too often they tend toward the bleak. Honestly, I love native plant communities, and would just leave it if I lived in the Chaparral! Such great sagey scents!

Come visit, smells great! Sage is putting on new leaves as we speak! Expect a dmail. Thanks for the name of the book, I'll have to check it out. Want some day lilly seed? I too love tropicals, but they will only survive in gh or house. Lost most of what was outside due to the frosts. Rats!
WIB,
SW