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My Garden Diary

March and April 2021

Copyright © 2021 by David E. Ross

Many years ago, when I first started my Web site, I created an online diary of my gardening activities and observations. However, with work and the commute from Hell, I was often so tired I had to choose between maintaining my garden and maintaining my diary. Sometimes, I did neither. In 1998, I stopped my diary and removed the pages from my Web site.

Now I am retired. I am well-rested and have plenty of time to both garden and maintain a diary. This diary is primarily for my own benefit, so that I can look back upon what I did and when. But I thought others might also be interested, so here it is.

Also see What's Blooming in My Garden Now?

Diary entries for 2004 through 2014

Entries below are in reverse order (latest at the top). Daily, I might stoop to pull a weed or use a hose to water some potted plants; however, I don't consider those significant gardening activities. Thus, you will not see daily entries. Also, I might accumulate a few entries before updating this page on the Web.

When plants have well-known common names, their scientific names are given only the first time they appear on this page (entry closest to the bottom). There, the common name is in bold or appears as a link to another Web page.

Unless a different year is given, dates refer to other entries in the same year as the entry in which they appear, including entries on prior pages for the same year.

Date and Weather	Observations and Activities
30 Apr Clear, sunny, and hot Temp: 70-95 Winter chill: 321.4 Humidity: 10% Wind: 3-20 Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 Days since last: 46	Trimmed two of the 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavenders in the circular bed in back. Three more need to be trimmed. They are crowding adjacent azaleas and potted herbs and have narrowed the path that surrounds the bed. Began and almost finished pruning a third dwarf myrtle (28 Mar). Exhaustion and a full green-waste bin made me stop. It is official. California is in a drought emergency. In the last rain year at this date, we had accumulated 15.02 inches of rain, over four times of what we now have. More rain is not likely until near the end of the calendar year.
21 Apr Overcast, gray, and cold Temp: 49-59 Winter chill: 321.4 Humidity: 67% Wind: 1-8 Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 Days since last: 37	Last year, I noticed the mailbox in front was leaning to one side. I trimmed the dwarf ivy that grew up its post and covered the box. I discovered the post was broken at the very bottom where it entered a coupling that screwed into a pipe flange that was mounted on a concrete plug buried in the ground; actually, the coupling itself broke and left only part in the flange. The ivy was the only thing that stopped the mailbox from falling over. I could not get the coupling out of the flange. Thus, I jury-rigged an alternative post; but I just could not get it not to lean. Yesterday, I had a contractor who was doing other work on the house finally get the old coupling out of the flange. Today, I remounted the mailbox on a new post that is straight. I also put up two dwarf ivy cuttings with the intent to plant them — after they are rooted — at the base of the post. UPDATE 30 Apr: No, I was not able to remount the mailbox. I thought it was mounted; but the next morning, it fell over. On 26 Apr I asked the contractor to return. He used expoxy and large pliers to get the coupling at the bottom of the post lodged into the flange. The next day, I was finally able to mount the mailbox. It is still upright.
19 Apr Clear, sunny, and hot Temp: 68-89 Winter chill: 321.4 Humidity: 11% Wind: 2-17 Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 Days since last: 35	Our house is not square on the compass. Thus, the greenhouse window on the north side gets excessive morning sun in the summer, actually starting about now. Today, I hung shade cloth over it. Finished trimming the edges of the front lawn (9 Apr), including along the rest of the brick path to the front door and near the liquidambar tree (L. styraciflua). I also trimmed the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') growing around the base of the liquidambar. Weeded the parkway (strip between the public sidewalk and the street). Since there is landscape cloth between the crushed rock and soil, it was quite easy to pull out the weeds.
18 Apr Almost clear with a very thin haze, sunny, and warm Temp: 61-82 Winter chill: 321.4 Humidity: 7% Wind: 9-24 (gusts to 38)	My favorite landscape contractor came out last Monday and fixed the broken sprinkler line in front (9 Apr). Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia with commercial citrus food plus zinc sulfate. Finished pruning the second (not so) dwarf myrtle (5 Apr). Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 Days since last: 34
9 Apr Clear, sunny, and warm Temp: 52-82 Winter chill: 321.4 Humidity: 26% Wind: 2-20 Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 Days since last: 25	Trimmed the edges of pink clover groundcover (Persicaria capitata) that is my front lawn along the driveway and public sidewalk and on one side of the brick path to the front door. I also trimmed the dwarf coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) where it was growing out over the public sidewalk from under the rosemary bush. Discovered a break in a sprinkler line right at the base of one of the Podocarpus trees. I need to get it fixed because it is wasting water whenever the sprinklers run. However, fixing this will be difficult because it is only an inch from the tree and only slightly farther from the brick path to the front door.
5 Apr Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 50-72 Winter chill: 321.4 Humidity: 36% Wind: 0-12 Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 Days since last: 21	Finished pruning the first (of five) myrtles (28 Mar) and started pruning a second. Put up cuttings of dwarf Burford holly taken from the shrubs in back. I located a Web-order source for these plants, but they are quite expensive. If these cuttings fail, I now know how to buy them. Took the tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) out of its pot, divided it, and repotted one division with a mix of the old potting soil and some new.
2 Apr Clear, sunny, and warm Temp: 54-78 Winter chill: 321.4 Humidity: 35% Wind: 1-13 Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 Days since last: 18	Earlier this week, I modified a shrub head in front. While the riser is quite tall to clear the adjacent eugenia (Syzygium paniculatum) along the east property line, some of the shrubs still block part of the spray. Thus, I put a dogleg section of pipe at the top to extend the head about 6 inches towards the lawn. While doing this, I discovered that squirrels had chewed away about half the head. In a quick trip to a local hardware store, I bought a new head and installed it. Everything seems to work okay now. Climbed My Hill to scatter 27-0-2 lawn food. While I was up there, I added about a foot to the riser of one of the sprinklers there. I then ran the sprinklers for 15&nbdp;minutes per valve to start watering in the fertilizer. I will run them again tomorrow. When My Hill is dry, I want to adjust the angle of the head, which should be perpendicular to the slope. Moved the rooted dwarf Burford holly (Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii Nana') cutting from a quart pot (20 Sep 20) to a 1 gallon nursery can. I will try to root two more cuttings soon.
28 Mar Clear, sunny, and warm Temp: 61-84 Winter chill: 321.4 Humidity: 12% Wind: 0-20	The myrtle (Myrtus communis 'Compacta') in the west bed in back is supposed to be dwarf, but it has grown taller than I am. I started pruning it today and filled the green garden waste bin for the county's composting program. Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 Days since last: 14
24 Mar Clear, sunny, and cool Temp: 51-69 Winter chill: 304.4 Humidity: 14% Wind: 3-26 (gusts to 38)	Although we have had almost an average amount of winter chill, much of it has been too late. We had only 8 hours in February and over 138 hours in March. As a result, my peach tree started blooming before it received almost half of its needed chill. Also, some of my spring bulbs failed to bloom. Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia with ammonium, iron, and zinc sulfates. Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 Days since last: 9
21 Mar Mostly clear with a few scattered clouds, sunny, and cool Temp: 47-66 Winter chill: 299.3 Humidity: 22% Wind: 4-24	Fed the rose bed with 27-0-2 lawn food, avoiding the roses and Camellia sasanquas. Those two get special feedings at other times. Now, only My Hill remains to receive an annual feeding. Finished pruning all the Artemisia 'Powis Castle' (A. arborescens × absinthium, 21 Feb). Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 The past week: 0.21
18 Mar Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 59-98 Winter chill: 260.9 Humidity: 36% Wind: 0-10	Fed the west and east beds in back with 27-0-2 lawn food. Rain — This rain-year: 3.47 The past week: 0.22
14 Mar Mostly cloudy, some sun, cool Temp: 45-60 Winter chill: 260.9 Humidity: 57% Wind: 1-15 Rain — This rain-year: 3.26 The past week: 0.47	Some branches on the 'Santa Barbara' peach tree (Prunus persica) already have flowers. On other branches, the flower buds do not even have color. It appears to be both too early and too late for the usual second application of dormant spray. In anticipation of rain the following day, fed the back lawn with the same 27-0-2 lawn food that I used on the ground cover in front (6 Mar). I also fed the perennials and shrubs growing in the lawn, except for the gardenia bush. The gardenia likes abundant nutrients, so it gets fed every 3 weeks when I feed the dwarf citrus (2 Mar). (The rain did fall: 0.21 inches, which was enough.) Weeded the brick panel in front, where lavender grows amidst utility boxes.
6 Mar Clear, sunny, and cool Temp: 48-67 Winter chill: 192.3 Humidity: 34% Wind: 1-12 Rain — This rain-year: 2.79 The past week: 0.02	Fed the roses in back with a 6-9-6 commercial fertilizer that contains a systemic insecticide. I would have also fed the roses in front, but I used up all the fertilizer. (I am not thrilled about the 9% phosphorus in the fertilizer. Phosphorus does not readily dissolve and thus must be placed into the soil in the root zone and not on the surface. However, the systemic insecticide is very effective in preventing aphids, spider mites, and leaf miners.) Trimmed some of the 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) in the circular bed in back. Fed the front yard with a 27-0-2 lawn food. I had a little left over; so I also fed the teardrop and circular beds in back, avoiding the azaleas in the latter because they will get a special feeding when they finish blooming. I also gave the potted plants in back small pinches of the fertilizer. I only do this feeding once a year, in the spring. While the roses and citrus get periodic feedings throughout the growing seasons, a general feeding of the rest of my garden promotes extra growth which then requires extra water. Since it appears we are in another drought, I definitely do not want to unnecessarily increase irrigation.
2 Mar Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 53-71 Winter chill: 192.3 Humidity: 8% Wind: 0-14 Rain — This rain-year: 2.77 Days since last: 29	By this date last year, we had 6.8 inches of rain, almost 2.5 times the amount so far this rain year. Today, I set the hose to trickle near the valley white oak (Quercus lobata) in front. I will leave it there for two days. Next week, I will do the same on the other side of the tree, between the tree and the rosemary bush (Rosmarinus officinalis). Some of the dwarf citrus is early in showing signs of spring. The navel orange (Citrus sinensis 'Robertson') has flower buds about to open and tiny new shoots. The lemon (Citrus limon 'Eureka') has flower buds. I fed each of the four citrus with a small handful of commercial citrus fertilizer plus two pinches of zinc sulfate. I also fed the gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii') with larger amounts of those. While feeding the citrus, I also pruned three of them. The lemon and tangelo (Citrus reticulata × paradisi) had grown quite tall. I was concerned that the potted lemon would outgrow the ability of its roots to supply water during the heat of summer. Also, the height of both exceeded my ability to measure well, which is important when mixing systemic insecticide to combat leaf miners; the strength of the insecticide is based on the height. For the orange, I merely removed a few leafless or crossing twigs. The kumquat (Citrus margarita) did not require any trimming. Also while feeding the citrus, I actually found a ripe lemon, which means the fruit was formed last year. I thought there was no fruit in 2020 because of the tree's near-death experience last year (8 Feb 20), so this was a surprise. I also picked and ate three ripe kumquats.

Date and Weather

Observations and Activities

30 Apr

Clear, sunny, and hot

Temp: 70-95
Winter chill: 321.4
Humidity: 10%
Wind: 3-20

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
Days since last: 46

Trimmed two of the 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavenders in the circular bed in back. Three more need to be trimmed. They are crowding adjacent azaleas and potted herbs and have narrowed the path that surrounds the bed.

Began and almost finished pruning a third dwarf myrtle (28 Mar). Exhaustion and a full green-waste bin made me stop.

It is official. California is in a drought emergency. In the last rain year at this date, we had accumulated 15.02 inches of rain, over four times of what we now have. More rain is not likely until near the end of the calendar year.

21 Apr

Overcast, gray, and cold

Temp: 49-59
Winter chill: 321.4
Humidity: 67%
Wind: 1-8

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
Days since last: 37

Last year, I noticed the mailbox in front was leaning to one side. I trimmed the dwarf ivy that grew up its post and covered the box. I discovered the post was broken at the very bottom where it entered a coupling that screwed into a pipe flange that was mounted on a concrete plug buried in the ground; actually, the coupling itself broke and left only part in the flange. The ivy was the only thing that stopped the mailbox from falling over. I could not get the coupling out of the flange. Thus, I jury-rigged an alternative post; but I just could not get it not to lean. Yesterday, I had a contractor who was doing other work on the house finally get the old coupling out of the flange. Today, I remounted the mailbox on a new post that is straight. I also put up two dwarf ivy cuttings with the intent to plant them — after they are rooted — at the base of the post.

UPDATE 30 Apr: No, I was not able to remount the mailbox. I thought it was mounted; but the next morning, it fell over. On 26 Apr I asked the contractor to return. He used expoxy and large pliers to get the coupling at the bottom of the post lodged into the flange. The next day, I was finally able to mount the mailbox. It is still upright.

19 Apr

Clear, sunny, and hot

Temp: 68-89
Winter chill: 321.4
Humidity: 11%
Wind: 2-17

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
Days since last: 35

Our house is not square on the compass. Thus, the greenhouse window on the north side gets excessive morning sun in the summer, actually starting about now. Today, I hung shade cloth over it.

Finished trimming the edges of the front lawn (9 Apr), including along the rest of the brick path to the front door and near the liquidambar tree (L. styraciflua). I also trimmed the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') growing around the base of the liquidambar.

Weeded the parkway (strip between the public sidewalk and the street). Since there is landscape cloth between the crushed rock and soil, it was quite easy to pull out the weeds.

18 Apr

Almost clear with a very thin haze, sunny, and warm

Temp: 61-82
Winter chill: 321.4
Humidity: 7%
Wind: 9-24 (gusts to 38)

My favorite landscape contractor came out last Monday and fixed the broken sprinkler line in front (9 Apr).

Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia with commercial citrus food plus zinc sulfate.

Finished pruning the second (not so) dwarf myrtle (5 Apr).

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
Days since last: 34

9 Apr

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 52-82
Winter chill: 321.4
Humidity: 26%
Wind: 2-20

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
Days since last: 25

Trimmed the edges of pink clover groundcover (Persicaria capitata) that is my front lawn along the driveway and public sidewalk and on one side of the brick path to the front door. I also trimmed the dwarf coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) where it was growing out over the public sidewalk from under the rosemary bush.

Discovered a break in a sprinkler line right at the base of one of the Podocarpus trees. I need to get it fixed because it is wasting water whenever the sprinklers run. However, fixing this will be difficult because it is only an inch from the tree and only slightly farther from the brick path to the front door.

5 Apr

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 50-72
Winter chill: 321.4
Humidity: 36%
Wind: 0-12

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
Days since last: 21

Finished pruning the first (of five) myrtles (28 Mar) and started pruning a second.

Put up cuttings of dwarf Burford holly taken from the shrubs in back. I located a Web-order source for these plants, but they are quite expensive. If these cuttings fail, I now know how to buy them.

Took the tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) out of its pot, divided it, and repotted one division with a mix of the old potting soil and some new.

2 Apr

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 54-78
Winter chill: 321.4
Humidity: 35%
Wind: 1-13

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
Days since last: 18

Earlier this week, I modified a shrub head in front. While the riser is quite tall to clear the adjacent eugenia (Syzygium paniculatum) along the east property line, some of the shrubs still block part of the spray. Thus, I put a dogleg section of pipe at the top to extend the head about 6 inches towards the lawn. While doing this, I discovered that squirrels had chewed away about half the head. In a quick trip to a local hardware store, I bought a new head and installed it. Everything seems to work okay now.

Climbed My Hill to scatter 27-0-2 lawn food. While I was up there, I added about a foot to the riser of one of the sprinklers there. I then ran the sprinklers for 15&nbdp;minutes per valve to start watering in the fertilizer. I will run them again tomorrow. When My Hill is dry, I want to adjust the angle of the head, which should be perpendicular to the slope.

Moved the rooted dwarf Burford holly (Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii Nana') cutting from a quart pot (20 Sep 20) to a 1 gallon nursery can. I will try to root two more cuttings soon.

28 Mar

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 61-84
Winter chill: 321.4
Humidity: 12%
Wind: 0-20

The myrtle (Myrtus communis 'Compacta') in the west bed in back is supposed to be dwarf, but it has grown taller than I am. I started pruning it today and filled the green garden waste bin for the county's composting program.

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
Days since last: 14

24 Mar

Clear, sunny, and cool

Temp: 51-69
Winter chill: 304.4
Humidity: 14%
Wind: 3-26 (gusts to 38)

Although we have had almost an average amount of winter chill, much of it has been too late. We had only 8 hours in February and over 138 hours in March. As a result, my peach tree started blooming before it received almost half of its needed chill. Also, some of my spring bulbs failed to bloom.

Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia with ammonium, iron, and zinc sulfates.

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
Days since last: 9

21 Mar

Mostly clear with a few scattered clouds, sunny, and cool

Temp: 47-66
Winter chill: 299.3
Humidity: 22%
Wind: 4-24

Fed the rose bed with 27-0-2 lawn food, avoiding the roses and Camellia sasanquas. Those two get special feedings at other times. Now, only My Hill remains to receive an annual feeding.

Finished pruning all the Artemisia 'Powis Castle' (A. arborescens × absinthium, 21 Feb).

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
The past week: 0.21

18 Mar

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 59-98
Winter chill: 260.9
Humidity: 36%
Wind: 0-10

Fed the west and east beds in back with 27-0-2 lawn food.

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.47
The past week: 0.22

14 Mar

Mostly cloudy, some sun, cool

Temp: 45-60
Winter chill: 260.9
Humidity: 57%
Wind: 1-15

Rain —
This rain-year: 3.26
The past week: 0.47

Some branches on the 'Santa Barbara' peach tree (Prunus persica) already have flowers. On other branches, the flower buds do not even have color. It appears to be both too early and too late for the usual second application of dormant spray.

In anticipation of rain the following day, fed the back lawn with the same 27-0-2 lawn food that I used on the ground cover in front (6 Mar). I also fed the perennials and shrubs growing in the lawn, except for the gardenia bush. The gardenia likes abundant nutrients, so it gets fed every 3 weeks when I feed the dwarf citrus (2 Mar). (The rain did fall: 0.21 inches, which was enough.)

Weeded the brick panel in front, where lavender grows amidst utility boxes.

6 Mar

Clear, sunny, and cool

Temp: 48-67
Winter chill: 192.3
Humidity: 34%
Wind: 1-12

Rain —
This rain-year: 2.79
The past week: 0.02

Fed the roses in back with a 6-9-6 commercial fertilizer that contains a systemic insecticide. I would have also fed the roses in front, but I used up all the fertilizer. (I am not thrilled about the 9% phosphorus in the fertilizer. Phosphorus does not readily dissolve and thus must be placed into the soil in the root zone and not on the surface. However, the systemic insecticide is very effective in preventing aphids, spider mites, and leaf miners.)

Trimmed some of the 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) in the circular bed in back.

Fed the front yard with a 27-0-2 lawn food. I had a little left over; so I also fed the teardrop and circular beds in back, avoiding the azaleas in the latter because they will get a special feeding when they finish blooming. I also gave the potted plants in back small pinches of the fertilizer. I only do this feeding once a year, in the spring. While the roses and citrus get periodic feedings throughout the growing seasons, a general feeding of the rest of my garden promotes extra growth which then requires extra water. Since it appears we are in another drought, I definitely do not want to unnecessarily increase irrigation.

2 Mar

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 53-71
Winter chill: 192.3
Humidity: 8%
Wind: 0-14

Rain —
This rain-year: 2.77
Days since last: 29

By this date last year, we had 6.8 inches of rain, almost 2.5 times the amount so far this rain year. Today, I set the hose to trickle near the valley white oak (Quercus lobata) in front. I will leave it there for two days. Next week, I will do the same on the other side of the tree, between the tree and the rosemary bush (Rosmarinus officinalis).

Some of the dwarf citrus is early in showing signs of spring. The navel orange (Citrus sinensis 'Robertson') has flower buds about to open and tiny new shoots. The lemon (Citrus limon 'Eureka') has flower buds. I fed each of the four citrus with a small handful of commercial citrus fertilizer plus two pinches of zinc sulfate. I also fed the gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii') with larger amounts of those.

While feeding the citrus, I also pruned three of them. The lemon and tangelo (Citrus reticulata × paradisi) had grown quite tall. I was concerned that the potted lemon would outgrow the ability of its roots to supply water during the heat of summer. Also, the height of both exceeded my ability to measure well, which is important when mixing systemic insecticide to combat leaf miners; the strength of the insecticide is based on the height. For the orange, I merely removed a few leafless or crossing twigs. The kumquat (Citrus margarita) did not require any trimming.

Also while feeding the citrus, I actually found a ripe lemon, which means the fruit was formed last year. I thought there was no fruit in 2020 because of the tree's near-death experience last year (8 Feb 20), so this was a surprise. I also picked and ate three ripe kumquats.

Weather data are from the Cheeseboro (CHE) weather station, about 2 miles ENE of my house.

The high temperature (°F) is daytime for the indicated date; the low temperature (°F) is for the previous night.

Winter chill is the cumulative hours of temperatures at or below 45°F from 1 November through 31 March. It is reported during that period and through April.

The relative humidity is at noon. (In my garden, it is likely higher than reported, a result of regular irrigation.)

Wind speeds (mph) are average (not peak) low and high, midnight to midnight (subject to later correction for diary entries posted before the end of the day). I also indicate peak wind gusts parenthetically when they are significantly high.

Rain is in inches. Rain-year is the cumulative amount of rainfall from 1 October until 30 September of the following year (our "rain-year"). Week is the cumulative amount of measurable rainfall from noon seven days ago until noon of the indicated date. If no measurable rain fell in that period, Days since last is reported.

Characterization of the weather (e.g., Clear, sunny, and warm) is purely subjective; for example, "warm" might occur with higher temperatures than "hot" if the former occurs with lower humidity and more breezes than the latter. Also, a day that would normally be characterized as "mild" might instead be "warm" if the immediately previous days were quite cold. Finally, such characterization reflects when I was actually outside and gardening and ignores changes that occur while I am inside.

The signature line I use when writing messages about my garden includes the following:

Climate:  California Mediterranean

Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)