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Tried all those things like moth balls etc. The moles we had just dug another tunnel alongside the old one to avoid the things they did not like.
Sorry, hated doing it, but trapping was the only successful thing we did.
Unfortunately the so called humane traps are anything but. Moles will not survive being placed in another area.
a. They cannot take being above ground for any length of time and cannot dig quickly in virgin ground.
b. Relocated to an area with other moles, the new comer will be killed by the resident.
Guess who has done a lot of research on this!

Thank for telling us more Hywel. It is the prettiest of plants and those look-alike Christmas lights are perfect for this time of year. The close up photos of them are lovely. You do look after your many plants so very well.

Thank you Eileen, yes they also remind me of coral polyps.

What a lovely blog . As you may remember daughter Victoria did her dissertation on sea anemones and they remind me/her of the typical 'polyps' of corals & sea anemones.

They will naturally move on when they find fewer worms to feed on. but they do a lot of damage to a good lawn.
There doesn't seem to be any really effective treatment for them sadly.

It looks really nice. A job well done. A nice area to sit out in summer. I hope we gave a good one.

I've got one that I keep well away from. I cut it with a long handled branch cutter and drop the bits straight in the recycling bin. It has nice berries but the birds don't eat them.

Thanks for all your comments,

Rose I have been told that I am plant mad :D I love them ...

When we've destroyed this planet we can go and destroy another one Feverfew :D

They are very interesting Balcony, do you want one ? I've got some rooted cuttings.

I found moth balls down the runs to be effective.

I agree about the Pyrantha! Our hedge is mostly that and when the chap comes to tidy it up in Autumn, if there are some branches left, I have to wear very thick gloves!

Thank you for the info Hywel. It was very interesting.
You must be very dedicated to all your plants as they are all very healthy and is a good hobby for you!

Thank you Janey and Dotty ! It was!

Castor bean extract? If allowed in the UK, that is.
I know that it works on pocket gophers, and is supposed to work on moles, but I couldn't swear to that last, since we don't have moles, here in the desert.

Thank you ... I live on a hill so the house and garden next door are lower down than mine. The path at the side of the house is at the same level as next door.
You are right, I'll probably be long gone before the patio haha :)

They are not lethal, Roses and Pyracantha are lethal. This looks worse than it is.

Ditto to all the above.

Those prickles look lethal. Glad you are pleased with it.

Great news update on your new build. I didn't know that your patio was so much higher than your garden, quite a drop. I'm glad you have substantial hand rails by the steps & also the non slip decking. I'm guessing it will see you out if it lasts for 30 years :-). Keep us posted as it all develops & is tidied up.

Love the little starry flowers. Ty for this informative blog.
Shame that we are losing so many plants in the wild. Perhaps one day in the far distant future we will load the ones we gave saved into a space ship & take them with us to another planet, in cell form of course, ( another ark).

Thank you Klahanie. Photo,not so hot-lol. Was not wearing the bifocals.

A beautiful Amaryllis, Klahnie! 👏 I've found they can bloom at practically any time. I've had them in flower all the months of the year! (But then I had about 100 pots of bulbs!)

Beautiful Hummingbird! Like others I thought they all migrated south in the autumn & didn't return to the spring!

Lovely to see spring flowers in the autumn! 👏

Thanks for the info on this plant, Hywel! 👍 I quite like it & I think it might be a talking point for visitors when they visit people's homes where this plant is growing!

Thanks all. This one was grown from seed. We really don't provide enough hot weather for them to grow as fast as they do in hot summer climates..here,it's mostly steady if slow. The reward is that the fruit do get sweet. The best way is to plant many of them if you have large yard here in the bay area. We are marginal. On the other hand? It's only now in 21st century that they can be grown without a killing freeze as in 1990 and 1972 and other arctic old cold of the 60's and 50's,etc. The record says we've never gone 31 years without a hard freeze event.

I have now 4 pink cymbidiums in different places around the house . They never bloom. I am envious of your lovelies, Siris. The yellow is very pretty.
How long after the division was made they bloomed?

Lovely bloom.

When in Mexico we had these all over in our garden (and everybody else's) . They must be easy to propagate from seed. I guessed they were some kind of orchids but did not know which one. I have never seen purple one only orange.
How nice that you can grow them outside in a Bay area.

Lovely new growth, Stan. Looks happy.

Thank you for commenting Janey, Sheila, Anget, and Sbg.

Sheila, I hope you will succeed in forcing to bloom yours.
I have several branches and only one did not bud. It was bigger and thicker than others. I suspect that these blooms will not last long but only time will tell. It is an experiment. I used to do that in early spring but never tried in a fall.

Thank you for all your comments. I love them.

We do feed them all year round with sugary nectar.
I estimate we have somewhere between 30-40 in our house vicinity. It is hard to count them because they move like a bullet. We treat them like our pets.
The one in the picture is male Anna's hummingbird. They stay all winter and later in the spring we get Rufous hummingbirds as well. They are smaller and migrate to south for winter.

Thank you, they last a few weeks ...

How unusual this one is,especially the jointed stems....how long do the flowers last,Hywel?

Thank you :)

Thank you :)

It is lovely and especially nice to see in the winter. It looks so fresh :)

It's also Janey called "Mexican Breadfruit" because the leaves slightly resemble the super tender tropical Artocarpus tree. The undersides of the Bocconia leaves have a bonus,they are white. Nice contrast. This photo didn't do a thing to bring that out-ha.

what lovely colours Sue.

Yes. I can post a close up later. This is near the top of tropical Orchids that can be grown outdoors in a Med climate. They also come in a purple version.

I'm sorry Siris, I didn't see this. I've a feeling we'd talked about the foliage. Well, it really is a very pretty one and did you say it was more ground cover than clump forming? Very papery looking petals, just lovely...

It is a beauty Siris, you must be very pleased with it. Orchids don't like my cottage, more's the pity...

Lovely colour there.

How did this one get it's name? Has it got a cross on it's flowers?

How beautiful to have Hummingbirds around Klahani. Do you feed him?

Homebird, dont want to spoil your surprise, but I think this is part of the one I gave you. First time this division has flowered.

That is beautiful Hywel, Christmas in a pot!

Certainly does have Christmas cheer.

what a lovely simple form of flower. love it.

looking chilly though, I guess you have put lots of 'nectar ' out for it and its friends. Don't tend to think of hummingbirds and snow in the same breath.

That looks very interesting, I like the silvery/frosted sheen to it. Very seasonal haha.