Safety in numbers

For weeks now I've seen flocks of birds moving across the sky but I wasn't able to identify them.  Even after I filled the feeders, none of the birds in these flocks showed interest in visiting my garden.  They moved from tree to tree in large groups, clearly looking for something I wasn't providing.  On a few occasions, smaller groups of them stopped midway, resting in the tall pine tree on our neighbor's property.  I kept my camera fitted with a telephoto lens to grab photos of the tree and finally got lucky.

This was the best photo the telephoto lens could give me

The birds had red-orange breasts and were noticeably larger than our resident house finches.  An online search helped me to identify them as American robins (Turdus migratorious).  Although they're said to be year-round residents in the wilder areas of Los Angeles County, I can't remember seeing them here before now.

 

At the point I identified members of the flock as American robins, I still hadn't managed to get a decent photo of the flock in flight.  Keeping my camera ready, I tried again several days later and I got lucky again.

The flock was much looser than the dense swirling pattern called a murmuration but it was impressive nevertheless

 

I photographed a group of the birds in the tree, hoping for a clearer shot of an individual robin.  I was surprised when I enlarged the image.

These were cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum), a species I've caught bathing in our fountain in mass numbers in 2019 

However, a larger cropping of the photo showed 2 American robins in the tree as well.  Whether they join in the waxwings' flock or their joint presence at that particular moment was a coincidence, I can't say.

 

Both species of birds favor fruit and supplement their diet with insects so perhaps it shouldn't be surprising to see them mingling.  When our native toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), laden with berries during the winter months, died I expect the waxwings lost interest in our garden.  And I don't put out the fruit the robins might like as I expect the squirrels would get it first.  

I continued to attempt better photos of both birds but they eluded me.

I suspect this fellow kept both the robins and the waxwings away.  He spent a considerable amount of time in the pine tree yesterday afternoon, until 2 crows began harassing him and he finally flew off.  I just missed a shot of him in flight, followed by one persistent crow.

 

Late Monday afternoon, while I had my telephoto lens on hand, I caught a couple photos of the Los Angeles harbor during a pause between rainstorms.

There are more boats just outside the harbor again

This photo shows the Vincent Thomas Bridge (in green) that connects our peninsula to Long Beach.  The buildings in the distance, lit by the afternoon sun, are part of Long Beach.

 

I took advantage of the break in the rain we had yesterday to pull weeds, deadhead flowers, and dig out the ruby grass (Melinus nerviglumis) that I was unable to clean up to my satisfaction.  (It's already self-seeded so it should be back unless the rabbits get out of control.)  The rain that returned Tuesday night is expected to stop by mid-morning today.  At present, earlier forecasts of possible rain this coming weekend appear to be overstated.  But then our weather has been anything but predictable of late.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Seeking Inspiration

Even in coastal Southern California, January is not a particularly exciting time of year in the garden.  I've got holes to fill all over my garden.  While I've ideas in mind for at least some areas, I know that the shelves of local garden centers tend to be relatively bare at this time of year.  I nevertheless paid a visit to my local store hoping to find inspiration to fill the empty half-barrel my husband bought me as a Christmas present.  Unfortunately, I found little that appealed to me.

The shelves really were quite bare

Rather than go home empty-handed, I selected seasonal plants as temporary fillers.

The barrel sits in the front garden in a bed partially covered by the canopy of our Magnolia tree so it's in partial shade.  The bed has a variety of foundation shrubs and the soil is so riddled with roots I've found it difficult to establish anything in the bare area around them.

I filled the barrel with packaged soil, planting mix, and pumice to improve drainage.  I planted Pericallis 'Senetti Violet Bi-color', Calibrachoa 'Cabaret Sky Blue', and Viola 'Penny Peach Jump-up'.

 

I'd hoped to see a new flowers popping up in my garden on their own following the heavy rain we had during the early part of the month but the reality is they're creeping in all so slowly.  It hasn't been warm enough yet to get things moving quickly in spring's direction.

Recent arrivals include: Top row - Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' and Echium handiense (propagated from cuttings)
 Middle row - noID paperwhite Narcissus
Bottom row - Senna artemisioides and what I think is Narcissus 'Geranium'

 

Unlike my perennials and bulbs, some things are moving along at a quicker pace.

The bloom stalk of my largest Agave 'Blue Glow' grows taller by the day and is now nearly straight

 

 

My thanks to all who offered good wishes for my cat's recovery.  We still have to look at the potentially serious issues underlying the sudden onset of her medical distress last week but, at least for now, she's stabilized and seemingly much more comfortable than she was.

She still likes to find a pool of sun to bask in and, because she had trouble jumping onto surfaces, like her favorite sleeping area at the foot of our bed, my husband built her a ramp out of cardboard and leftover carpet.  Her aim has improved when jumping but she's still using the ramp on occasion.

 

As this post is already a hodge-podge of topics, I'll throw in another photo of the view from my back garden at dawn on Sunday to brighten your day.

View looking northeast from our back garden

 

Best wishes for a happy hump day!

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Hurricane drama

We didn't actually experience a hurricane along coastal Southern California late last week but we did get a taste of the remnants of one.  Hurricane Kay started in the Pacific and hit landfall in Baja California.  It moved north as a tropical weather system, sparking reports of 100mph winds and dropping as much as 5 inches of rain in parts of the San Diego area.  As it moved into my own area of Los Angeles County last Friday afternoon (September 9th) we briefly experienced extreme wind, followed by light rain, which eventually became slow and steady rain in the evening hours, breaking our 10-day heatwave.

In addition to delivering 0.61/inch (15.5mm) of rain here, ongoing storm activity to the east of us set the stage for a pretty sunset on Sunday.  We get better views of the sunrise in my location than we do sunsets.  Our back garden faces east and the western view is largely blocked by hills so what we see of sunsets is displayed in the clouds rather than images of the setting sun.

This was the view to the east, overlooking the Port of Los Angeles, as the sun set in the west

Another view, looking roughly northeast from the back garden

and the view looking northwest, framed by the hills that obstruct the setting sun

 

I visited the local botanic garden Monday morning, hoping to see whatever was left of the floral arrangements created on site over the weekend as part of their Music x Flowers exhibit.  Unfortunately, the floral displays had all been cleaned up and carried away, although I was given a small bouquet of carnations when I checked in at the garden's entrance in commemoration of the event.  I noted that there was a lot of debris strewn about, presumably stirred up by the wind that accompanied the storm.  There wasn't much new to see since my prior visit 6 weeks ago but I strolled the garden for an hour nonetheless.

Then I saw this.  More than simple leaf debris, it appears the storm may have brought down this tree

.

Closeup of the tree's trunk, which had been torn apart

View of the same tree from its other side.  I've no idea what species of tree this was but it appeared to have a twin nearby.  In any case, its removal will leave a sunny spot in an area that was once in shade.

 

Other trees, still intact, were in full flower.

I believe this is a Chitalpa, an intergeneric hybrid of Catalpa (aka cigar tree) and Chilopsis linearis (aka desert willow).  It's a lovely, graceful thing, if too big for most residential gardens.

The garden had advertised that the floss silk trees (Ceiba speciosa, formerly Chorisia speciosa) were in bloom and they were.  The trees are native to South America.  I saw 5 of them on this visit but I recall there are more in parts of the garden I didn't visit on this occasion.  This one is in the garden's upper meadow.

This one near the visitor entrance gives you an idea of how big the trees are.  The tree's trunks are studded with spikes to deter climbing critters.  After, flowering, the hard shells of the seedpods break open to release their seeds, which are surrounded by a fluffy silk-like material.

The temperatures were far lower than the prior week but humidity levels were still high so I couldn't bring myself to walk deeper into the garden on this visit.  Temperatures have cooled even further since the start of the week.  Dare I say, it's feeling a little like fall here?  Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Nature's air conditioner

It was sunny at our elevation when I stepped outside just before 7:30am on Monday but a heavy marine layer had created a wall of clouds between us and the Port of Los Angeles below us.  Starting the day with a marine layer is a good thing as it helps to keep our peak afternoon temperature down.

The cloud cover topped out below our elevation, which is about 830 feet above sea level.  The garden glowed in the sun's filtered light.

This is the view looking northeast

And this was the view looking southeast.  The harbor below was invisible.

 

I assumed that the marine layer was moving out but less than half an hour later we were socked in.

This is roughly the same view as shown in my first photo.  The blue sky was gone and the sun's glow wasn't discernible but my plants stood out against the pale gray clouds.

The house across the canyon, visible in the second photo above, could no longer be seen

A fuzzier view looking southeast

The fog wasn't so thick that I couldn't see in front of me so I proceeded with my morning walk, twice around the large circle that makes up our neighborhood.  This is the view as I walked up hill toward a neighbor's 2 large trees, recently pruned.

The longer the marine layer remains intact, the lower the afternoon temperature is likely to be.  Unfortunately, this one cleared relatively quickly.  Our temperature later that afternoon peaked just below 90F/32C.  Yesterday, with no visible marine layer, it was over 80F by 8am and the afternoon temperature peaked at 94F/34C.  It remains to be seen what today will bring.  All things considered, we've been luckier this summer than many other areas that historically run cooler than we do.

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: Want a ride?

Yesterday, I was finishing round one in the garden before going in for lunch and I looked up and saw something I hadn't seen in some time.

I used to see the Goodyear blimps quite often but it seems as though it's been at least a year since I saw it shuttling over the Port of Los Angeles.  Maybe it too has been sidelined by the pandemic.  The sighting seemed yet another sign that changes are afoot.

Curious, I looked up some basic facts about the blimp:

• Rides are provided at the invitation of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and generally limited to Goodyear customers, winners of charity auctions, dignitaries, and members of the news media.
• A ride for two obtained through a charity auction costs an average of $14,000.
• There are no bathrooms on the blimp and no beverage service.
• Headsets are required if you want to hear anything as the engines are very loud.
• Blimps cost $2-3 million and their operating cost is estimated at $500,000 per year.
• Only about 25 blimps are still in service, half of which are used for advertising purposes.
• They can travel 150-200 miles per day and their maximum cruising speed is 73mph.
• Since the Hindenberg, 4 blimps have crashed due to bad weather or malfunctions.
• They've operated using helium rather than hydrogen since the 1930s.

After reading about them, I've lost whatever glimmer of interest I might have had in taking a ride in one.

For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: Moody harbor views

We've been riding a weather roller-coaster of late so I've been taking plenty of wide shot photos of the Los Angeles harbor area visible from our back garden to capture the shifts.  For today's Wednesday Vignette, I'm sharing shots taken over five different days during the latter part of January.

My husband and I trade off on grocery shopping.  I was up well before sunrise on January 11th to get to the market before customer traffic got heavy.  I captured this scene just before sunrise as I headed out the door.

This photo was taken late last Friday afternoon as rain clouds began to move in

This was the scene at sunset Saturday after a day of rain

That same evening, as night fell, clouds were still moving in as shown in this photo pointed in the direction of the mountains to the northeast (barely visible due to the cloud cover).  We received more rain overnight.

Monday, January 25th, we had ferocious wind almost continuously during the day.  At sunset, clouds moved in again, creating this odd ribbon of colors.

On Tuesday, I was once again up early to do the grocery shopping.  I caught this photo just before sunrise.

And, this time, I tarried long enough to actually capture the sun's emergence on the horizon

We're expecting more rain tomorrow night into Friday.  Warnings about possible mudslides are already being sounded.  Hopefully, we'll have none of that here, just lovely rain to fill my remaining collection tank.

For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at The Creative Flux.

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: Harbor views

I got up very early (for me) on Monday in an effort to get to the supermarket soon after opening time to avoid any crowds.  COVID-19 is surging again in Los Angeles County, as it is in most of California and much of the country.  The ICUs in our local hospitals are reportedly already at capacity even without the influx expected to follow the Thanksgiving holiday, making me even more cautious about public venues.  But the pantry was bare and the online grocery shopping I did during our earlier lockdown was frustrating to say the least so I didn't feel I had a good alternative.  However, my reward for being up and dressed before dawn was a brilliant sunrise.

A slightly wider shot

Did you notice all the boats sitting outside the harbor?  Traffic was low for a time earlier this year but now cargo ships are backed up off-shore waiting for berths in the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports so they can unload their cargo.  

On Saturday, I counted 25 ships anchored between the Port of Los Angeles (shown here) and the Long Beach port beyond.  Seventeen are visible in this shot.

It's not clear that the shipping backlog will be resolved any time soon.  Labor and equipment shortages, as well as complications stemming from the pandemic, are elements of the problem. The delays may be  something to factor into any holiday shopping you're doing online.

For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: A touch of fall color

Coastal Southern California isn't known for fall color, and what little we get usually comes closer to winter than fall.  We had a good stretch of cold weather this month until Monday, when summer paid us a return visit.  Despite that blast of heat, yesterday I noticed that my coral bark maple (Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku) had colored up nicely.

I have two other Japanese maples but this is the only one that's thrived probably because, planted against the garage, it's protected from the afternoon sun and the wind

On the other side of the cutting garden, Persimmon 'Fuyu' had also suddenly turned orange when I wasn't paying attention.

I could swear this color change happened in the matter of a day or two.  The leaves on my other persimmon ('Hachiya') never color up like this and most have already fallen.

The ornamental pear in our front garden and a neighbor's noID maple and Gingko trees usually lead with their color displays but for some reason these two trees in my cutting garden are off to an early start this year.

Luckily, Monday's heat was short-lived.  On Tuesday, I woke to the sound of fog horns in the Los Angeles harbor and knew it would be cooler even before weather forecasters confirmed that.

A thick blanket wrapped the harbor, leaving the shipping cranes jutting up above it like prehistoric creatures rising from the sea

Yesterday was a good day for gardening and I hope that will remain true for the balance of the week. Whatever your weather, I hope you're able to get out and enjoy what nature has to offer.

For more Wednesday vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: Scanning the horizon

Late Tuesday morning last week, I spent a couple of hours working in the garden before finally deciding I needed to take a break for breakfast.  Standing at the kitchen window, I scanned the horizon and noticed noticed an unusual cloud formation.  Actually, it wasn't the shape of the clouds but rather their color that was surprising.  Once I decided I wasn't imagining things, I grabbed my mobile phone and snapped a couple of shots, then followed up with my "good" camera.  I posted a photo on Instagram last week but I thought the photos I captured with my DSLR camera were better.

The effect is known as a "fire rainbow," although it's not technically a rainbow and doesn't have any relationship to fires.  In scientific terms, it's called a circumhorizontal arc.  It's created by ice crystals in high-level clouds like these wispy cirrus clouds when the sun is at a low angle.  It's most common in midsummer and more likely at some latitudes than others.  For example, one source I consulted stated that it is five to ten times more likely to be seen in Los Angeles than in London.

I don't know how long it was visible before I noticed it but it disappeared even before I mentioned it to my husband (but then I did take several photos before I hailed him)

I'm glad I got the cloud shots as there's no telling when or if I'll see such cloud special effects again.  Yesterday afternoon, sitting in my home office, another view caught me by surprise: a cruise ship sitting in port.  Under normal circumstances, that's a common sight during summer but this isn't a normal time.  I checked online and verified that ocean cruise ships are still not authorized to sail with passengers but a Port of Los Angeles site that lists all ships in port (as well as those scheduled for arrival or departure) showed me that the Norwegian Jewel arrived shortly before I noticed it.

I decided to try my telephoto lens for this shot.  It delivered a much clearer view of the ship than my usual shots from the back garden.

The ship is scheduled to be in port for less than ten hours so I assume they're just picking up supplies.  The ships were placed under a 100-day "no sail order" on March 14th.  This was extended once through July 24th but another extension is expected this week.  The Norwegian Cruise Line has apparently suspended passenger trips until at least October.  How weird it must be to sail the ocean without passengers for months at a time.  Talk about going crazy!  By comparison, even with the prospect of another shutdown here, we're pretty lucky.

Everything is relative.

For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party