So Southern California took a direct hit from Tropical Storm Hilary this weekend. While gardeners on the east coast of the US and other parts of the world may be used to hurricanes and tropical storms, the Los Angeles Basin hasn't experienced one since 1939. We've been brushed by the remnants of tropical storms on occasion (Tropical Storms Kay in 2022 and Nora in 1997) but even that's unusual. I was initially excited about the prospect of rain, an anomaly here during the summer months, but constant alerts about the possible impacts - flash floods, landslides, wind damage, power outages and road closures among other things - put an edge on the event. And on Sunday, about an hour after receiving a flash flood alert on my cell phone, I got an earthquake alert! The 5.1 earthquake was in Ojai, about 112 miles north of us, and I didn't even feel it, although some of my friends did. Of course, the convergence of the two events was almost immediately given its own name: Hurriquake.
The tropical storm started as a Category 4 hurricane off the coast of Mexico but it lost strength as it moved northward through Baja California, becoming a tropical storm before reaching San Diego, California about 150 miles to the south of us. Rain preceded Hilary's arrival in my area, starting in the early morning hours on Sunday and getting steadier and progressively heavier in the afternoon. I try to collect as much rainwater as I can, passively through three tanks linked to roof gutters, and also more actively using a rain chain to channel water into plastic barrels and tubs before moving it to one of my larger tanks.
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| Because the rain was coming down so fast, I used a plastic trash can left behind by a prior owner instead of my usual plastic tubs. After it filled up 3 times, I gave up transferring the contents to my larger tanks in the middle of a continuous downpour. I filled a second trash can and several tubs before giving up the effort Sunday evening. It was still painful to watch all the water I couldn't catch flow down the pipes that shed the excess into the drainage system. |
I'd taken advantage of calm conditions late Saturday afternoon to cut material for 'In a Vase on Monday'. My first arrangement features two unexpected dahlia blooms.
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| I didn't plant any pale yellow dahlias this year, at least not intentionally. One sprouted from a leftover tuber that never flowered last year, which I missed when I dug up the rest of them in the fall. The other was supposed to be 'French Can Can', which it definitely is not. (You can see what Dahlia 'French Can Can' should look like here.) |
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| Back view, featuring assorted Zinnias and Abelias |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia 'Hopley's Variegated' and 'A. Kaleidoscope', Cosmos bipinnatus, Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Dahlia 'Luna', Zinnia elegans 'Lemon Peach', Z. e. 'Benary's Giant Salmon Rose', and Dahlia NOT 'French Can Can' |
My second arrangement was inspired by the Amaryllis belladonna that are currently blooming en masse in my back border.
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| The Amaryllis belladonna (aka naked ladies because they bloom after their foliage dies back) are more strongly scented than I remember. They were flopping over on tall stems and, try as I might, I couldn't get them to straighten out to stand up properly in this vase. |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Dipladenia 'Sundenia Coral', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Leucadendron salignum 'Jester', Amaryllis belladonna, and Zinnia elegans 'Mazurkias' |
The first bloom of Dahlia 'Lavender Ruffles' prompted a third arrangement.
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| This feels a bit like a repeat of one of last week's arrangements but I cut all 3 of these dahlias assuming that they wouldn't hold up against 1-2 days of steady rain |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: noID Pentas, Plectranthus scutellarioides 'Limewire' (previously known as coleus), Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Purple', Dahlia 'Lavender Ruffles', and D. 'Mikayla Miranda' |
Overnight and this morning we picked up more rain. As of 8am our total for the storm is 1.99 inches. That's a LOT for us within about a 24-hour period. Other areas reportedly received almost a foot of rain and some have experienced mudslides. There's a lot of leaf debris to clean up in my garden and more rainwater to move into my collection tanks but so far I haven't discovered any damage to trees or shrubs. We didn't even lose power. I'm very thankful.
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
I know what you mean about seeing rain bouncing down that you are not able to collect - the connection to one of our butts from the greenhouse gutter was broken recently, meaning some of the rainwater was not beng collected. I guess our water butts are probably all full now though!
ReplyDeleteWell done for thinking ahead and picking your blooms on Saturday, and I am pleased to see you now have some dahlias, including some you hadn't expected - I especially liked your last vase today with its grouping pf 'purple' dahlias.That patch of Amaryllis belladonna must be wonderful!
Siting Amaryllis belladona with its tall, naked stems is an awkward thing, Cathy. Mine would look better if their naked stems were better covered by grasses or other low-growing plants. Given that they're not standing at all straight, I probably should stake them too!
DeleteI have been wondering how things were with you Kris after reading about Storm Hilary on the BBC news website. So glad that you and your garden have come through it relatively unscathed. What has caught my eye in your vases this week is the plectranthus scutellarioides 'Limewire'. Did you grow it from seed?
ReplyDeleteNo, I've never grown coleus from seed as it's so easy to find as plugs or small plants in multiple varieties here, Anna. It roots easily from cuttings too.
DeleteBeautiful flowers, but of course I came here hoping for a storm report. I've been thinking of you and Hoov all weekend. So glad you've had no damage. I've seen a few harrowing photos in the news, but it seemed like they had to go hunting for them, and it wasn't the norm.
ReplyDeleteThere's probably more flooding than I'm aware of, Loree, but we were lucky. I drove into town for groceries late this morning and my biggest fear was fallen trees but, while there was plenty of debris on the ground, I encountered nothing serious. And no landslides to report either - that's been an issue on the peninsula since a recent slide (10 miles from me) sent 12 houses into a canyon and prompted the evacuation of 5 more. Of course, that event didn't directly follow a storm, even though it's been attributed at least in part to our heavier rainfall this year.
DeleteEven though you couldn't collect as much rain as you would have liked, I'm glad you got some extra via your buckets and glad it wasn't a worse storm for you.
ReplyDeleteTwo of my 3 rain tanks were already full by late afternoon yesterday and the third is about 2/3rds full. And, once I transfer all the rain I collected in the garbage barrels to that tank, I may be close to filling it. Of course, moving that water into storage isn't an easy or fun task ;)
DeleteThose lavender Dahlias with a color-agreeing Zinnia make a particularly lovely arrangement. Does Coleus hold up in a vase? I just read somewhere they moved Coleus back into its old genus again, but I could be wrong. Maybe they moved it back in, and then back out again, ha-ha!
ReplyDeleteWe got 2.62" for August which includes Hilary plus 0.01" on one other day when we got some extra-lavish drizzle. A whopping 27.02" for the rain season. We had some strong winds for about 10 minutes--the Acer outside the window was lashed about--then the wind was gone.
Same here--watching wonderful rain go down the drain instead of into the soil made me cringe, but we can only collect so much. Didn't put out all my collection barrels but did some, and put out the patio pots for a thorough wash and soak. Also washed my seriously dusty car in the rain.
It occurred to me this morning that I should have left my car out yesterday for a free wash! One opportunity missed. My Leucadendron 'Pisa' is living up to its name with one major limb leaning into the patio table but the branch hasn't broken or torn. I'm going to prune it a bit to take some weight off it. 'Pisa' is too top-heavy for its own good. Our water year-to-date total reached 23.67 inches.
DeleteYour comment about Coleus/Plectranthus sent me down a rabbit hole. After scanning several sites my conclusion is that the placement of coleus in the Plectranthus genus is still under dispute. A 2019 post by Atlas of Florida Plants says Coleus is Coleus. A very detailed 2019 paper that caused my eyes to cross published by the National Library of Medicine seemed to indicate that a dispute isn't fully resolved. However, a 2022 post by Scholarly Community Encyclopedia claims without a lot of detail that Coleus is Plectranthus. I pulled up the WFO Plant List (formerly The Plant List) and it lists Coleus scutellaroidies as Plectranthus scutellaroidies. Ugh!
Oh my gosh! Rain! I am sooooo envious! Nothing here since the end of April.
ReplyDeleteI've gotten quite a few mislabeled bulbs over the years from various bulb companies, usually narcissus and muscari in my case. Makes me wonder about their labeling processes back at the nursery. Never had the oomph to request a refund.
We almost never get rain during the summer months here, Jerry. A heavy marine layer now and then is usually the best we can hope for. Ours is a true Mediterranean climate and we're generally dry from April through October or November. Of course, according to some experts, more tropical storms could be in our future. One of the main factors that has kept such storms away from us is the generally colder water of the Pacific flowing south from Alaska south but our ocean water may be getting warmer due to climate change...
DeleteThis isn't the first time I've been sent the wrong bulbs. This one is particularly annoying because I was really taken with the colors promised by Dahlia 'French Can Can'. I've never filed a complaint or requested a refund either, though. If it happens too often, I just knock the seller off my list.
I'm glad to hear that you survived the heavy rain unscathed. I know you are up on a hillside, so I thought you probably weren't too susceptible to flash floods, but I did wonder about landslides.
ReplyDeleteWe have had so much heavy rain this summer (think 1-2 inches per hour) that it has become a routine event for my 50-gallon rain barrel to overflow -- despite the fact that a tap at the bottom is open, continuously draining into a rain-shadow area of the garden.
I'm impressed that you managed to plan ahead to make flower arrangements even while you were preparing for the coming storm.
There are a lot of canyon areas on our peninsula so some flooding is possible but luckily I didn't see any, Jean. Fallen trees are usually our most immediate threat. Landslides are a point of real sensitivity here. There's an area just 5 miles from us that's been slowly sliding since 1956 - it took a lot of homes out in the early days but, even now, the earth is still moving approximately 8 feet a year. There's a multi-million dollar plan to remedy the situation that's yet to gain funding. More recently, 10 miles away, 12 houses suddenly slid into a canyon and 5 more had to be evacuated days later. Rainwater is a factor, although the failure to conduct appropriate geological surveys before building and other construction may be more fundamental.
DeleteI have been thinking about you today. Glad you made it through the storm. Hurricanes are so weird, you just never know. And you filled the rain barrels. The flowers look great today - I love that coleus in the mix.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is Amelia above.
ReplyDeleteThanks Amelia. I was really looking forward to the storm until we started getting one alert after another ;) The fact that we have no prior experience with a real tropical storm (as opposed to remnants of one) did put an edge on things!
DeleteKris, glad you made it through the storm without damage or loss of power. I can just picture you collecting all that bounteous rain water. Your flowers are so beautiful, the arrangements as well as the individual flowers. I see what Dahlia 'French Can Can' should look like and it certainly doesn't match, does it? But your dahlias are really gorgeous. The coleus is striking. I kept meaning to buy some this year. I used to grow it every summer but it dropped off my attention zone.
ReplyDeleteThe newest 'NOT French Can Can' dahlia flowers are coming along in a stronger yellow color but they're still nowhere near the tangerine and red-orange color they were supposed to be. There seem to be new coleus plant varieties every year, Susie - they're worth experimenting with in floral arrangements.
DeleteI'm glad the only thing you received was some rain. I'm sure the plants were happy about the extra drink. The weather has definitely been a challenge this year. The mystery dahlias are pretty despite not being what you wanted. Sometimes I think they revert. I have a patio red one where all the tubers have reverted to a lavender.
ReplyDeleteWe got some wind too but, luckily, nothing like the 84mph gusts some areas of San Diego experienced. A red-flowered dahlia reverted to lavender? That's interesting, although I'd think that a major grower like the one I bought most of my tubers from could manage to avoid that impact.
DeleteMy brother is in Orange County north of San Clemente and he said it was just raining so he didn't get as much. But still rain is a good thing within reason. Glad you weren't terribly affected. So many gorgeous blooms and combos. I do love dahlias so anything with them is a fav for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your brother also came out of the tropical storm unscathed, Donna. I'd heard that Orange County might be hit harder than we were.
DeleteI was thinking of you all weekend. I looks like you got a good amount. I hope no damage from wind. I'm sure you'll post an update soon.
ReplyDeleteIf my garden experienced any damage, I haven't found it yet, Gerhard. (The only area I haven't checked yet is the back slope.) A few shrubs were bent down by the combination of rain and wind but most sprang back into shape once the foliage dried out. The only exception was Leucadendron 'Pisa', which lived up to its name with one major branch leaning into the table on the back patio. But that branch isn't broken or torn, just in need of some judicious pruning because the branches tend to get top heavy. We were lucky. My main tasks are moving the extra water I collected from a rain chain into a storage tank (which I finished this afternoon) and cleaning up a massive amount of leaf litter.
Delete2" of rain in August! Has that ever happened in your memory? What a boon for your garden. Was there much wind with the storm? Of course, flooding and mudslides are not a welcome side effect. Earthquake, too. Earth speaks!
ReplyDeleteA. belladonna are lovely flowers and nice to see more dahlias coming on board. Last night, I was looking online at dahlias for next summer and Mikayla Miranda was one of the ones I was considering! Do you like it? Since I mostly use them for cut flowers, they have to have a long stem, not too wide a flower, nor too tall a bush. I love dinner plate dahlias, but they are somewhat useless in a vase unless they are the only flower in it! Eliza
We almost never get summer rain and I can say with confidence that I've never seen that much rain in August. In fact, I'm not sure I can remember many occasions in which we've received 2 inches of rain in one 24-hour period in any month, at least during the time we've had this garden. As El Nino tends to bring extra rain to SoCal, maybe we'll see other records broken in the next water year starting October 1st. As it is, the 2023 water year-to-date total now stands at 23.67 inches - MUCH better that the 4.12 inches in 2021 and 8.63 inches in 2022!
DeleteI love Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda'. It's classified as a late bloomer. As I recall, it produced only a couple of blooms for me last year but with 3 blooms already out the gate and more buds showing, it looks like this will be a better year for it. All my dahlias have been late to bloom this year, probably due to our protracted cool season but 'Mikayla Miranda' is ahead of the pack.
Glad to hear you got so much rain but no real 'storm' as such. When you said that trash can filled up three times (and more) I thought it must have been a tremendous amount, but 2 inches over 2 days is not much by our standards if we get thunderstorms. Your first arrangement somehow looks as if it was refreshed by rain, even though you picked the flowers before! Lovely and light colours with the fresh green of the Abelias. They are all lovely arrangements - the Dahlias especially!
ReplyDeleteThe 2 inches of rain all came within 24 hours, which is unusual for us, but rain in any amount in August is virtually unheard of! It is truly amazing how much rain a roof can shed. All 3 of my rain tanks were empty prior to this storm but now all 3 are full - so that's 475 gallons of rainwater collected and I probably lost at least that much just because I had no way to capture or store it.
DeleteWe were just back in SoCal earlier this month to visit my parents and I am simultaneously glad and sad that we missed this. Mostly because it was such a rare occurrence that I kinda wanted to be able to say we witnessed it. Turned out there were just a few fallen tree branches in their area but the rain...! Glad you were able to fill some off the containers, at least. Every bit will be worth it later.
ReplyDeleteIt is, Angela! I don't think I've ever had any stored rainwater available to me in late summer before - whatever I collect in winter and spring is long gone by then. I'm glad your parents avoided any significant damage too.
DeleteI am hearing non-scary reports from the tropical storm, at least around LA, just lots of rain. And that rain totals are setting records for August -- any rain in August sets a record!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that San Bernadino and areas near Palm Springs suffered the most ill effects of the storm, Denise. We were lucky.
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