The day started overcast and cold. The rockrose pruning must continue for Spots and the coming blooms are cheerful. The rockrose further down the slope has more buds and blooms earlier, perhaps because it is less sheltered by the great valley oak at the edge of the front slope garden. The ceanothus in the center of the front slope is spreading and blooming magnificently. I even saw one small hesitant lilac bloom on the small ceanothus next to the house and did my best to encourage it.
I do not remember the tiny white blooms on the cotoneasters from this time last year. Can’t miss them this year. A pure white snow drift everywhere against the dark green branches.
Mike dragged a long section of black 1 3/4 inch PVC pipe up the hill. It reaches from the lonely spigot beside the driveway down to the fire prevention pond. We used our overstock of rebar to sink supports on both sides of the pipe and clamp it between them. The pipe will not wander off, and I expect it will disappear in the rye grass shortly. A short length of hose attached to the spigot feeds into the PVC pipe. At the end of the dry season I can simply turn on the spigot and feed water into the fire prevention pond.
Mike is fascinated by the wildflowers along the driveway. We are trying to identify a plant with several thick stems and a broad leaf. Later I pulled out grass around this unknown plant and the poppies and other wild flowers to allow them room to breathe.
We investigated the irrigation system for the new 21 foot section at the edge of the back lawn. The connector to the main pipe is at about the halfway point of that section. the solution will be to install a tee at the connector and run lines in either direction along the bed. We will also cap the pipe to nowhere.
Bright sun and warmth drew me outside late in the afternoon for a little contemplative weeding. Delighted to see that daffodils are taking hold – I will continue to give them supplemental water. I pruned the outliers off the lower sunset rockrose in a desperate and probably futile to keep it contained. I also pruned back my favorite variegated geranium. The sprawl already has gorgeous blooms, but I want to encourage the new growth that I found in the center of the plant. With trepidation, I threw one-third of the sprawling branches down the bank.
A Year at the Snake 