It's raining cats and dogs!

No, it's not raining now.  Our most recent rain was last Thursday.  By late Thursday morning, all the clouds had left to offer were light sprinkles.  However, our rooftop weather station nonetheless suddenly went berserk.

When I looked to see if the weather gauge had recorded anything more than 0.05/inch for the day, I saw the numbers for both the daily rain and the rain year were rapidly increasing despite no evidence there was any rain outdoors.  Note the byline shown at the bottom of the screen, which actually said "It's raining cats and dogs,"  something I'd never seen before even during real downpours.

As the light sprinkles clearly didn't produce twenty-two inches of rain within minutes, my husband went up on the roof to take a look at our weather station.  He removed some debris and changed the battery in the unit.  We reset the data to the the last setting we knew to be correct, only to have the readings almost immediately jump again (without any noticeable rainfall).  At some point, the measure of the rain also somehow changed from inches to millimeters.  The next morning, this is what I found:

The system was no longer reporting any daily rain but look at the rain year total: 1,715.3 millimeters.  That's almost 68 inches!

My husband contacted the man who'd sold the weather station to him to see if he could account for the problem.  He offered one suggestion but my husband questioned it as, if that were the problem, it should've also affected the temperature and humidity readings, which it hadn't.  The seller agreed with my husband at that point.  They concluded that the sensor that tracks current rain may have been damaged somehow.  For the time being, we've reset the rain gauge again and will wait to see if the next rainstorm causes a repeat of the problem.

The weather station was a Christmas gift to me from my husband several years ago.  When I asked whether we should simply replace the unit, I was surprised to learn that a replacement would cost about $600!  So, if it happens again, he'll look into the possibility of replacing just the sensor.  For now, I have a backup plan.

I bought a simple plastic rain gauge, which I set out in my cutting garden

To the best of our knowledge, our current rain total for the 2026 "water year" (counted from October 1, 2025) is 10.64 inches in our location.  The nearby valleys, foothills, and mountain areas got much more.  We may have gotten a bit more at our location than we recorded in November as our gauge was temporarily clogged.  I found a monthly count for my zip code yesterday, which shows a total of 13.13 inches.  If correct, that isn't horrible, even if it turns out to be all we get for the current water year.

We've left our last recorded data as is for now as we can't definitively say that our total replicates that for the area defined by our zip code

There seems to be little chance of rain in the foreseeable future.  Our rainy season generally comes to an end by mid-April, which could mean that 10.64 (or 13.13) inches may be all we'll get until the next water year begins in October.  Last year's total was worse, though, at only 7.03 inches.  At least my rain storage tanks are full for the time being.

Meanwhile, there's snow in the nearby mountains again.

Until the stretch of rainstorms in February, snow totals statewide had been running low

And there are California poppies already blooming in my garden.

I had just a few poppies in total last year

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Pretty weeds

As I recall, I used this title once before during my early days of blogging and at the time was surprised by the volume of traffic it received by comparison to my other posts.  I quickly concluded that search engines had confused my content with a different kind of "weed." That may happen again but oh well.  This post is focused on the invasive weeds that have taken over an empty lot up the street from our house that I walk by nearly daily.  The house on the property apparently burned down decades ago, well before we moved into the neighborhood fifteen years ago.  It's a double lot, probably two acres in size with a view of the Port of Los Angeles.  There are trees and other remnants of the original landscaping, including decayed entrance paving.  Why the lot hasn't been sold and another home (or two) built on the property eludes me.

Possibly the most prevalent and invasive non-native weed in Southern California is the yellow one you see here, known as mustard weed (Brassica nigra).  It can grow up to 10 feet tall and, when the flower stalks die, they pose a fire risk.  The weeds on this lot are cut down once or twice a year by the city and I understand that the expense is charged to the property owner, who no longer interacts with our HOA.

Do you see the purplish flowers mingling with the mustard weed?  Those are tall shrubs, native to Mexico and Central and South America, commonly known as fiberglass plants (Wigandia urens).  Sold as ornamental plants, they have an invasive root system.  They run amok on this lot. 

Here are closeups of the most prominent weeds:

I briefly entertained the idea of taking a cutting of the Wigandia to try in my garden.  However, I was put off by their rangy structure, size, and spread and then I learned that, in addition to their invasive growth habit, their leaves can sting your skin.  Check out the nursery comments included at the bottom of the plant description found here. 

Closeup of the Wigandia's flowers.  I won't even try cutting the flowers to pop into a vase!

This wild radish (Raphanus sativus) also has pale purplish flowers and it's considered a highly invasive week in California too. Its roots and sprouts are considered edible, though, and the plants have been used in folk medicine to treat a range of ailments like urinary infections and heart conditions.

Onionweed (Asphodelus fistulosus) was originally sold as a decorative plant.  Native to the Mediterranean region, it's considered a noxious weed by the US Department of Agriculture.  Its flowers are pretty - for a nanosecond.  The dried plants pose a fire hazard. 

Next door to the empty lot, another plant grabbed my attention.  It's not a weed but it's a plant I've never seen anywhere else so I'll share it here.

This is Roldana petasitis, aka velvet groundsel and California geranium.  It hails from the mountain areas of Mexico.  It's reportedly drought tolerant; has large, velvety leaves; and it flowers abundantly.  Why have I never seen it anywhere but in front of this house?  San Marcos Growers has a write-up on the plant that can be found here.

 

I spotted this fellow further down the street, also checking out the local plants.

The big news is that we've had measurable rain and there's more on the way.  As I schedule this post for publication Wednesday morning, we've had nearly an inch and a half since Monday, bringing our seasonal total-to-date (counted from October 1, 2025) to close to ten inches.  As our roof-top weather station was clogged for a short time, my total may be understated.  I tried to check our total against that tabulated for our zip code but that number, and the associated AI evaluation of our rainfall this water year, is completely screwed up, showing just over one inch of rain in total.  While our peninsula has undoubtedly received less rain than nearby valley, foothill, and mountain areas, it's not that bad!  Like our president, AI needs to learn to acknowledge factual errors when they occur if it's to be trusted.  Human oversight is obviously required.

We had a brief pause in the rain on Tuesday.  There were even blue skies at intervals.

Photo taken during the late morning hours yesterday looking southeast from my back garden

The warmth of the sun on seat cushions on the back patio caused steam to rise from them, something I always find a bit alarming at first glance

More rain is expected overnight and into the early morning hours, followed by another pause for most of Wednesday.  Rain is back in the forecast for Thursday, to be followed by a weekend pause with another stretch of rain possible from next Monday through Wednesday.  My two smaller rain storage tanks are full again and I estimate that the 275-gallon tank is about three-quarters full.

Although some of my flowers have been flattened by the rain, I'm still discovering new blooms with every spin through the garden.  Here's one:

Ferraria crispa (aka starfish iris)

I took another local hike last weekend before the rain arrived.  I have it on the docket for Friday's post.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Unexpected raindrops

We received a small amount of rain on Friday and an even smaller amount the next morning, totaling 0.07/inch in total.  I haven't tried to calculate how much rainwater my barrels collected but at least there's been enough to fill my watering cans several times so far.  The rain, virtually unheard of at this time of year, was such a surprise I took my camera out into the garden on Friday to take photos of the raindrops on various plants.

Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt'

Agave attenuata

Artemisia 'Seafoam' - The droplets were visible to my bare eyes even though they don't show up clearly in my photo; however, I liked the combination of the silver foliage and the reddish peppermint willow leaves (Agonis flexuosa) enough to share it

Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'

Cotyledon in a pot but I can't identify it more specifically

Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira'

Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'

Leucadendron 'Jubilee Crown'

Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset'

Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder'

Spiderwebs on Acacia and Crassula

I'd planned to get some additional photos but I got distracted.  One of the distractions involved this visitor, which I think was a female house finch:

She hit the kitchen window hard but was upright.  She had her eyes closed for a time as shown on the left.  She recovered as shown on the right and flew away within about 30 minutes.  I remained at a distance but kept watch.  No bird has ever hit that window before in my experience but my impression is that she was being chased. 

Our 2025 "water year" ended yesterday with a total of 7.03 inches of rain for the previous twelve months at our location, less than half our average total.  Predictions for the 2026 water year, which begins today, aren't especially rosy but I'm holding out hope.

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

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