So last weekend was the Master Gardener garden tour and I wish I had some great photos to share but I was too busy running around visiting with people to take pictures! It was a nice cool day for visiting gardens and we had lots of guests. It is always nice to have other gardeners that actually know what they are looking at visit the gardens. When someone gets excited over my tall oakleaf hydrangea or rice flower bush it is so rewarding that all the hours preparing seem worth it. One of the shrubs looking especially nice that day was this duranta in the garden by the front door. I had to tell my garden helper to stop pruning it (he prefers neat and tidy) because it is rather large and sprawls all over the place in a somewhat wild manner, but the beautiful arching branches of purple blooms against the bright green foliage make it worth the visual space it occupies.
This weekend my SJC garden will be open to the Orange County Master Gardeners as a part of their annual tour. This is the third time over the past eight years I have participated and I am always happy to share my garden and experiences with my fellow Master Gardeners. Contrary to what most people may think, gardeners are much more forgiving as visitors to a garden, probably because they really understand just how difficult it is to create and keep up a beautiful space, especially when trying to practice ecologically responsible habits. I have to say though, while going back through pictures to find some that show the progression of the gardens over the years, it is obvious that the drought has taken its toll on the gardens. What were once lush beds and paths with overflowing edges and fillers are now bare dirt and sparse, even with watering from the automatic sprinklers. I had three yards of mulch delivered today to help with water retention and we are expecting some rain over the next couple of days but we need so much more. Luckily pretty blooms like this daylily are willing to bloom with just a little water weekly.
I have been very busy recently and happily I can say that some of that activity has been in the garden! After almost a year of a bum knee and a really sore shoulder I am feeling better and getting out and getting my hands dirty this past month. Of course the up coming holidays are the main focus and sprucing everything up for the big Thanksgiving family reunion is a priority followed by the Christmas holiday events, but there are still just a lot of fall chores that I am happy to be able to undertake this year. I've planted some bulbs, cut back some shrubs, and added some fall annuals. We have even made sure to add a new rock to the garden for our new little granddaughter, Rosetta. I'm sure her big brothers will check to be sure there is one for her when they arrive next week!
I have also been busy doing a new task for the UCCE Master Gardeners. It is one that I am really enjoying and that is writing posts for their blog! They are short posts focused on what is happening in the Southern California garden based on topics that are currently trending on their hotline where local gardeners turn for help as well as other current topics in the backyard garden. You can read and subscribe to their blog here --> UCCE Master Gardeners of Orange County.
Its good to be back in the garden!
