Spring is sprung. I'll ignore the fact that I had to scrape ice off the windshield yesterday morning.
Autumn Treasure in the yellow stage.
Spring is here!
It is gorgeous Mary ! I have Andrews Gold blooming right now and I was just admiring how the yellow stands out . I started planting mine out in the yard a week ago only to get a frost warning and have to jerk the real special one's out of the ground the other night. I guess tomorrow, I will be back to planting again.
Mary, I have no frost over here where I live, but my brugs aren't looking like Spring has sprung yet. Yours look so full and healthy. Is there something I should be doing?
Sue
Although we get the occasional light frost, it's also a bit warmer here in the day time, which may be what woke them up. Many of the brugs I have are still semi dormant so it may be some varieties just start earlier. Every one of them will be ready to bloom by the 1st of May though, but in July they'll start to get ugly from the excess heat. Yours will probably do a little better than mine in the summer. I've noticed better blooms just 5 miles west of where I live.
Mary
Thanks Mary. I'll be patient. I planted my first brug in the ground last month. Hopefully, it will do OK during the hotter summer months. The rest of mine are in pots. Do you keep yours in semi shade? Mine seem to do better overall, when they are in half day sun.
I have a big shade structure in the back yard. I like to have them under it on the edges so that they get part sun and shade. I have a small greenhouse too, but they'll need to be out of there by the end of May. Don't know what I'll do when the water rationing they're threatening for Poway happens. I'm thinking of reducing the amount I have before that goes into effect.
I wonder how they'd do with gray water?
Yeah, can ya believe the City wants to implement a water rationing program beginning July 1st, requiring us to reduce our landscape water usage by 45%?! Well I guess the remaining 55% will have to go to my brugs! Brugs and succulents...I can see it now.
Bettydee, gray water would be a great idea. Every new home built in San Diego should have a rainwater collection container for use with landscaping. We should also have grey water facilities available to existing homeowners. Unfortunately, our City does not walk the walk. As I write this, there are thousands of high density homes being built, all being fed clean, fresh, water. Go figure!
Isn't it amazing. When many were on well water and the well was hand dug, cisterns for collecting water were common. When we bought this place, there was an old cistern sitting next to the foundation of the original homestead. The original well was hand dug, brick lined and about 25' deep. Obviously, the water table was higher back then. The water table has fallen to 40'. It's probably lower now. Central Texas is in an exceptional drought. Last year we had less than 18" of rain compared to the average annual rainfall of 37" - 40". Austinites were encouraged to turn in neighbors who watered on off days last year. Not a good way to foster trust in neighbors to look out for each other. So far, we have no limits on well water usage.
Bettydee, funny thing, last month our city leaders mailed a pad of "report your neighbor" door hangers. I think most people tossed them. The money they used to design, print and mail those, could have paid for a lot of cisterns!
Sorry to hear about the xtended drought in TX. Are you on a mandatory water-rationing program? What kinds of gardens are popular where you live?
I don't remember a year without drought, forever telling us to conserve water. My brugs need large drinks of water so decided I should limit the clothes I wash and forgo showers. Might be a little stinky around here, but brugs and other plants will be happy. ^_^
I try to do all the things I'm supposed to do. We landscaped the front yard in decorative rocks to save water. I only hand water the brugs so there isn't wasted water . My hills are in drought resistance plants and are never watered. (ice plant and lantana) They get by just fine on the rain we get in our short rainy season. We never run the dishwasher until it's full; same with the washer. We produce our own electricity via solar on our roof, but still conserve. The extra we produce goes out on the grid with no profit to us. A well doesn't seem to be feasible on this property, but 25 minutes away my friend has a well that apparently taps into the underground river in Ramona. Maybe I should move. There is some talk of making everyone reduce by a certain percentage based on the last year, but this penalizes those who already have been conserving all along, while leaving the people that have always wasted water with plenty left to waste. 80% of a ton of water is still a lot of water. We're a reclaimed desert, so this was bound to happen when people want lush green lawns in the desert.
Mary, you are a prime example of why the water-rationing program is out of whack. You have done more than your share of conserving both water and energy and are in essence, being penalized. It's hard to take this "crisis" seriously when our City relies on homeowners to ration, yet they do little else. Seems odd to live next to the ocean and have no water. Gee, if a cruise ship can desalinate hundreds of thousands of water a day, then....
Zone10, no one could have said it better than you about conserving water and energy. Like banging your head again a brick wall at times. I love to recycle all the papers, cardboard, plastic bags,etc. but get upset when I see others not taking it sersiously.