Until two weeks ago I couldn’t venture outside, due to the impact of the atmospheric river storms. While providing much needed water supply to California, these storms caused a lot of damages and life-threatening conditions to the state with heavy rain and damaging wind gusts.
The skies on the other hand, have been very colorful.
The High Desert weather will never cease to surprise me.
Last month for instance, it rained lightly in some parts of Victorville, CA, and not a drop of rain in adjacent cities. An unexpected cloudburst on Sunday afternoon left some areas in the High Desert flooded with just an hour of heavy rain and thunderstorms.
Sunday’s Cloudburst.
My miniature hybrid ‘French Lace’ rose, with their delicate ivory buds and slight apricot tint is still producing pink roses. From my research, it turns out that the one I purchased over ten years ago was grafted onto a vigorous rootstock and canes from this rootstock are now overtaking the hybrid grafted onto it (pink roses). To save my ‘French Lace” roses, I will have to locate the graft and then remove any canes or suckers developing at the base so they do not take over.
Miniature Rose ‘French Lace’.Grafted Bareroot Rose. Image Source: Jackson & Perkins.
Dahlia ‘Bishop of York’ is putting out beautiful flowers.
Dahlia ‘Bishop of York’.
Last night as well, we had an unexpected cloudburst. The short and severe storm brought thunder, heavy rain and lightning. Every raindrop is always welcomed in California, as we find ourselves heading into a severe drought.
It’s October, the weather is cooling down and still not a drop of rain in some parts of the High Desert. In the midst of everything, I am still grateful to Mother Nature. The winds are picking up and allergies will soon be on the rise …
I haven’t done much gardening lately; however, strolling through my front and backyard yard, I catch a glimpse of beauties here and there. My Hybrid Tea Tree Rose Rio Samba isn’t doing so well. I have had it for over ten years now, and it was doing well until last year; I suspected curl grubs and other soil pests and took care of it. A couple of weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of buds emerging from the trunk, and last week one of the buds bloomed.
Hybrid Tea Rose Rio Samba.
The Crassula capitella I propagated through cuttings a couple of months ago are covered in white flower buds atop the stems. I am looking forward to seeing those buds open up.
Green succulent
I spotted a very small White Moth resting on the leaf of a Gopher Plant; possibly Cataclysta Lemnata, also known as Small China-mark. According to The Bay Magazine Swansea, their larvae develop underwater, after which the caterpillars feed on duckweed and live underneath the tiny plants floating on the surface of ponds and lakes. In order to disguise themselves, Small China Mark caterpillars fashion tube-like silken cases for themselves which they cover in duckweed, rendering them all but invisible.
Tiny White Moth, male.
Sunsets in the High Desert never cease to amaze me. Below is an image of the sun shining through a gap between the clouds while setting. It’s simply beautiful.
According to GeographyReal.com, as air descends, it increases in temperature, a process known as adiabatic warming or heating. That effect of descending air being warmer and drier is what created gaps in cloud coverage.
Sunset
A couple of week ago, at sunrise, the sun was orange-red due to smoke particles in the sky blown from various wildfires.
When designing our gardens thirteen years ago, we didn’t think about wildlife, we simply wanted to create a simple and relaxing atmosphere both in the front yard and back. As time went by our gardens became an attraction to various wildlife, so much that we had to take drastic actions to protect ourselves and our plants. We have many dense native bushes, shrubs and trees all over our property, which attract birds, hummingbirds, lizards, butterflies, bees, ladybugs, beetles, dragonfly, wasps, hoverflies, stink bugs, praying mantises, garden spiders, and much more (most of which are beneficial garden insects). These plants are nesting sites for birds, most of which prefer the front yard. We have bird feeders, bird baths, and water fountains all around our gardens to keep the birds and other wildlife happy.
Eight years ago we built two birdhouses in the backyard, one of which is double sided. A few years ago, a bird built its nest in one of them and laid ten eggs. Everything seemed to be going fine, the eggs hatched, and both parents went back and forth looking for food and caring for their young. At some point we noticed that the baby birds were constantly chirping and found one of the ground, dead. The parents eventually abandoned their babies most likely due to shortage of food and the remaining nine eventually died in the nest.
Birdhouses.
Early this month, a female House Finch laid five eggs in the nest. One of the nestlings fell out of the nest, in what seemed like an attempt to take flight, and didn’t make it. The remaining four flew from the nest a few weeks later.
House Finch fledglings in nest.
Last weekend while fastening Jasmine vines to a trellis, I saw a bird nest with five tiny eggs hidden among the leaves of the climbing Jasmine. I don’t know why this nesting place was chosen; perhaps it offered camouflage and protection, or because other birds have successfully raised their nestlings nearby.
Bird nest with eggs.
A few days later, we found two dead featherless chicks on the ground and realized the nest had been disturbed. We suspected a crow, since one of the chicks had disappeared. We moved the nest back in place, secured the opening, and hoped the last two eggs would make it.
On Tuesday, we found vines on the ground and noticed that the nest was pulled forward. One of the last two recently hatched chicks had vanished and the last one was lifeless.
Newly Hatched Baby Bird.
Our backyard is the heart of our home and the place we explore and observe. For now we are looking into ways to better protect and secure the bird nests from predators.
Last October I wrote about the The Fascinating Life of Mantises and shared a video of a praying mantis laying eggs. We decided, early in the Spring, to get one ootheca (egg case) and observe it indoor until it hatches.
For this observation we used a jar, a dryer sheet and rubber band (to secure the opening of the jar), and a small branch from the Pomegranate tree. We placed a branch in the jar and gently stuck the egg case on one of the thorns of the branch so that it would be suspended and also, for the praying mantis nymphs to perch on once they emerge. The dryer sheet was a used one, very soft and breathable, allowing air to flow into, out of, and within the jar.
Praying Mantis Egg Case.
We had the egg case in a jar for about five weeks and watched with delight as nymphs emerged from the egg case last week.
Emerged Praying Mantis Nymphs.
And no, young mantises do not eat one another as soon as they hatch. Not releasing them soon enough, however, will cause them themselves to become prey. We gently released them on the leaves of a rose bush, to start feeding on aphids and hide from predators.
By JM Perez
