Two and a half days of steady rain and high winds, two inches overall. High winds are a common occurrence in the San Joaquin Valley; I often hear them when the house and land are otherwise quiet. The first clear day, and all the plants are responding spectacularly to the rain.
I ran the weed whacker down the driveway and along the rock wall at the bottom of the front slope garden. I pulled the grass away from the rock wall, hopefully for the last time this season.
The entry to the front slope garden is always a mess at this time of year, overgrown with grass and thistle. I cleared out the weed, applied Roundup generously and will add mulch tomorrow.
Lowe’s had a red tip Fraser’s photinia for sale. The young leaves start with a deep lipstick red color that changes to a dark green as they mature. I will plant it as the guardian of the entry just outside the rock wall at the bottom of the front slope garden. In the manner of the lions in front of the New York Public Library. The photinia will be an exception to my maxim of fuller, not bigger plants. This one I would like to be huge, and it could grow to ten feet wide and fifteen feet high. Hopefully it will discourage the wild grass in that area and soak up the ground water once it is rooted.
A Year at the Snake 