What a difference rain makes!

It rained off and on from late Saturday evening into early Monday morning, delivering 1.14 inches of rain in total, and bringing our tally since the start of our "water year" on October 1st to 1.43 inches.  While that isn't great, it helped to bring the fires in Los Angeles County to almost full containment.  It should also place a damper on wildfires in the near future, especially as there are no Santa Ana winds in the immediate forecast.  My 50- and 160-gallon rain tanks are full and my 265-gallon tank is half full, which means I have approximately 240 gallons of rainwater available to give my garden a boost when needed.

This was the second round of rain I collected off the rain chain hanging from the back of the house.  I dumped the first trugs I filled on Saturday night into the beds under the roof's overhang as they contained a lot of dirt and silt.  As the majority of the rain on Sunday and Monday arrived during the overnight hours and I wasn't quite crazy enough to collect it during a thunderstorm, I missed the opportunity to capture more; however, I did transfer what you see here to the largest rain tank attached to the garage roof, which isn't an effortless task.

There's no assurance of more rain before the season comes to an end in April; however, February is generally the wettest month in Los Angeles so it's a good, if not certain, possibilty.  Fortunately, Northern California is expected to receive more rain than the southern part of the state, which is helpful overall.  But this is still a moment for celebration and I made the rounds of my garden to check the effect of the rain we got.  Everything is looking fresh and clean after eight dry and dusty months.  My survey was entirely random and it's heavy on succulents, with relatively little in the way of commentary.

In the back garden:

A look at 2 borders off the back patio looking northeast.  The 2 Arbutus 'Marina' (strawberry trees) in the background look particularly good and the Aeoniums are so clean they shine.

View of 2 more borders looking toward the harbor

Three 'Pineapple Express' Mangaves surrounded by fresh Agapanthus and Westringia foliage

Mangave 'Red Wing'

Agaves bracteosa and 'Joe Hoak' in the southeast corner of the back border

'Bright Star' Yuccas living up to their name in the same area

In the south-side garden:

Agave 'Blue Glow's' twin bloom stalks are reaching for the sky now

Euphorbia rigida has suddenly produced blooms to complement the 'Blue Flame' Agaves 

In the front garden:

Five Agave desmettiana, all pups of 2 former plants, are full grown now (and probably destined to bloom all at once)

Not the best photo but it shows that a Ceanothus griseus horizontalis 'Carmel Creeper', planted from a one-gallon pot in 2022, has finally spread to cover much of the ground on this slope.  I placed the water bottle shown there to provide a slow drip in a relatively dry area when it was small.  I can probably do away with it now.

Two 'Multicolor' Agaves with a sprawling Aloe labworana in the middle

Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' with a background of a couple dozen blooming Aeonium arboreum

In the north-side garden:

Agave funkiana, no longer being pushed around by Agave 'Rosa Gorda'

Alright, Agave ovatifolia always looks food but now it's clean

A collection of Mangaves, including 2 'Lavander Ladies', 2 'Purple People Eaters', one 'Silver Fox' (with its bloom stalk outside the frame) and one 'Catch the Wave' 

On the back slope:

The back slope still needs fillers but it looks fresher

The Aeoniums have fleshed out; foliage of a handful of calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) has appeared; and it looks like the peach tree stump is starting to decay.  Under "normal" conditions, there'd be dozens of calla lilies nearing bloom stage by this time.

And along the street:

The entire expanse of plants is looking rejuvenated

Chrondropetalum elephantinum looking good even it it's partially covering 3 'Blue Glow' Agaves

I'm not sure the rain had much effect on the cutting garden.  As it is, I give that part of my garden more supplemental water than any other area.  The sweet peas and most of the other seeds I sowed back in November have yet to show much progress but the anemones are slowly offering one bloom after another so I'll end this post with one example.

Anemone coronaria 'Azzurro'

AccuWeather currently predicts a strong (sixty percent) chance of rain the weekend after next but such long-term projections often evaporate.  In the meantime, we can but hope for more of rain's magic.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party