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Yes, my experience too.

I went and had a look at the 'before' photos. Wow, what a difference. It's a real shame these spaces have been allowed to deteriorate the way they have. I'm guessing it's to do with financial cut-backs - choosing not to pay the water bill needed or the salaries of the staff required to keep every space looking fabulous.

It has a very unusual branch formation.

Lovely flowers on this Hellebore. I used to love seeing your photos of Molly ... :o)

David, they haven't been seen in our garden since, but that doesn't mean they're not still coming in!

David, this has happened in another bird bath here, years ago, and the spike was very long and slim. Fascinating what nature can do.

David, I am pleased you had a lovely festive break in Cuenca, sorry you missed your flight home though. Happy New Year to you and your family.

Thanks all. Its been a good winter with rains and no frost. Today San Francisco had its mildest low ever of 53f for the date.
Bushberni, That little tree has a ways to go. Avocado's picked ripe off your own tree sure beat the supermarket fruits.

We returned from Cuenca, Spain yesterday afternoon. As we were returning home from the airport I saw there were many fields covered in water. I thought there must have been heavy rain & my thoughts were confirmed as we entered Huntingdon & drove alongside the river. It had flooded Riverside Park, though not as much as before Christmas.

On our balcony there was an old soup plate (1 on those that I put under my pots of plants during the summer) which had stayed out & was overflowing with rain water.

We hadn't heard of floods in the UK while we were in Cuenca. Nevertheless our hearts go out to people affected by them. A cousin of my wife's in Spain, close to Valencia, had her house flooded out when they had the Cold Drop (Dana) in November. They are expecting another one this weekend! Though it's not expected to be anything like that in November.

What a nice surprise, Shirley! We don't normally see them around here but years ago when I was doing the evening shift in a factory & was returning home I used to go down a very narrow path a couple of minutes from our place & I saw a fox. It also saw me & for a few minutes we both stood looking at each other.

That's the only time I've been that close to a fox in my entire life.

They look both very healthy Stan.

Sorry to hear you have broken your arm, Jane. I hope it heals up quickly & you can get on with your gardening activities during this new gardening year.

Like others above, it's always sad when you lose people in your life.

We remember Christmas Eve & Day particularly as that is when my father-in-law died & was buried! (A great many years ago now). So they are bitter-sweet days in our family.

This Christmas was the first one in 14 years that we had been in Cuenca, Spain. We were last there in 2009/10 for Christmas. Also our first trip back since my mother-in-law died nearly 8 years ago. So again it was a bitter sweet time for us.

Good to hear that you were able to do some gardening for your daughter. I hope she appreciates it.

May you have a happy & heathy gardening year 2025.

I've never seen anything like that before! Like Lindak says I've also seen small lumps but never spikes!

Wonderful blooms, Wylie! I've never had anything like it in the all the years I've grown Amaryllis!

They do like a cold, dry period in the winter (or before trying to force them to flower outside their usual,natural flowering period) as I've explained in my blogs on Amaryllis.

Just today I brought 2 of my bulbs into the house & given them a little water. They will flower again in a few months time. I have a few more pots of them on the balcony still & I may have to bring them inside the flat as we are forecast very low temps for the coming week. Amaryllis won't survive in frosty conditions.

I also brought in a small Clivia as, like Amaryllis, they will not survive frosts. I have 2 big pots of Clivias & I will have to bring them in s well! The way things are going we will almost have to move out to accommodate all the plants on the balcony that won't survive frost!

I also had to so a search for it as I'd never heard of it either!

Why are you growing it under the Mango tree? Wouldn't it remove nutrients from this tree? I can appreciate that it loves the compost you put under the Mango tree.

Just got back from 14 days away in Spain! Before you, or anyone else asks, it wasn't warm but it was very sunny until our last couple of days.

As is typical of Spain in the winter we were affected by the Azores anticyclone which brings many days of very stable weather conditions & clear, beautifully dark blue transparent skies, (which I miss so much living in the UK!), the days are very sunny & the nights very starry but also very cold. Only the last few days did night temps rise above 0C, in fact most days began with -3 or -4C! There was a yellow warning for low temps all the time we were there with as much as -6C forecast for many of the nights. But for a few hours in the afternoon temps got as high as 12-14C!

We had a few drops of rain while we were still in Cuenca on Friday evening but as we were in Madrid, (not by choice as we missed our flight on Saturday morning & had to stay till Monday morning), for Saturday & Sunday there was more rain.

Not a great forecast! Hopefully things won't be as bad as the winter of 2002 to 2003. 88mm is not much at all.

It must be devastating, I hope everyone affected will be able to get all the necessary help. There's been very bad weather this winter, from storms to snow, and flooding.
We've been lucky here, we've not had any snow or floods but we did have some gales before Christmas.
I count my blessings every day and give thanks for the good things in life, we don't know what's going to happen next do we.

Very beautiful pics! I especially love the Mussaenda ‘Calcutta Sunset’! The Cassia fistula is awesome, also!

I have Cassia fistula in a pot. I have no room in the ground for this tree, unfortunately. It grows too fast and large.

I have the same problem with all my Acalyphas. The grasshoppers love them! But, Acalypha grows so fast, it doesn’t cause a problem. I have 5 or 6 varieties of Acalypha in the ground. The yellow and green variety is called Kona Gold here. Is it called the same there?
In Florida there’s a different name for this variety.

Stan,

With all the rain up there the Ficus tree will grow super fast.

Hayward has literally the best climate for avocados. When I lived in Hayward I used to see the most beautiful giant, old avocado trees. Where my mom lives, close to the San Mateo Bridge some of the oldest, largest avocados trees are grown by the old properties. I know that’s only a few miles from you. Before you know it, your avocado trees will be huge (not unless it’s a dwarf).

Plant people are very good and generous. That’s been my experience.

No, I also find it very hard to throw away cuttings. I always remember how generous people were to me when I first started my own garden. It would have been very bare without the free gifts from others.

Yes, as long as they receive water they will grow like crazy.

That’s very generous of you. I do the same. Most of the time I don’t have the heart to throw the cuttings in the yard waste bin.

Definitely. There used to be groungcover, which of course cools the ground a lot.

This how this area used to look back in 2006.

https://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/47900-hyophorbe-langencaulis-bottle-palm/all

https://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/47901-many-palms/all

It’s my favorite Agave. I like that the tip of the leaves are soft and don’t poke people.

Yes Klahanie, it produces many plantlets from the flowers. Also, what’s nice about this Agaves is that it branches after flowering, not dying like most Agave species. I want to get the variegated form, as it looks beautiful and doesn’t grow as large.

It really is heartbreaking seeing so many dying trees in Balboa Park. I can’t imagine having so many beautiful, tall old trees and just letting them die of drought. Palm Canyon is in the center of the park, which should have the biggest budget and attention. Anyway, that would be logical to me.

This year is going to be particularly bad, as we still haven’t had any rain and none is in the forecast for the next 10 days. I hope it’s not another year like back in winter of 2002-2003! We only received 3.5 inches (88 mm) of rain for the whole season. That’s typically what the desert around the Salton Sea receives in a year in California.

It is quite lovely. Obviously a special plant.

Yes, I can see that it would no doubt reach the ceiling very quickly.

Ah, that would explain it. If there's enough food around that's easily found, then there would be no need to head off to other places.

Thank you Hywel. I'm always fascinated by the weather conditions that affect people's gardens and love learning about the impact it all has on gardening routines and preparations.

They were growing everywhere in central Mexico (near Guadalajara) when we wintered there, I thought it was an elegant agave . One house we rented had number of them and I was shocked when we came next winter and they bloomed and produced dozens of little ones before they died.

Thank you Bushbernie for finding its form fascinating. It grows so quickly here that it needs to be supported.

Hywel, I remember that you posted pictures of yours and I did try to find the reddish one in that time but had no success. Thanks for reminding me.

Bushbernie,
We have not got a cold weather this year, yet. I suspect that it could be a reason why it is prolonging its stay, especially if he/she is a young one and finds enough food.
So far our temperatures are decent for this time of year in comparison to rest of Canada.

Interesting to read about your climate and gardening routines to go with it. You have some beautiful flowers to look at :)

Yes, it's a commonly used plant here as well.

It’s an extremely common agave here. It called Swan Necks here, too.

It’s widely used along the freeways here.

Love the foliage on your Ficus. Very colourful! How wonderful that your Avocado is fruiting. I could eat Avocado every day.

Tragic result of drought conditions unfortunately. The ground itself would not only be rock hard but would be as hot as a furnace.

To the right of these palms are 3 tall, old bottle palms (Hyophorbe langencaulis) I posted a few weeks back.

This area faces south, so it’s an extremely hot exposure. The ground is like concrete, unfortunately.

I wonder why it didn't migrate as usual? It's such a lovely thing with that orange chest!

It has such a fascinating form.

Happy New Year Jane. I hope your arm mends well. Good luck with the Sweet Peas too.

Wonderful to have one that tall ! I have a green one and a red one but they are small.

You too Shirley! x

Thankyou to you all for your kind comments much appreciated - snowy and very cold here today - but looking towards the future I think I will try some sweet peas this year again not very successful last year maybe a Spring sowing - take care - Jane

It is 30 cm across! I feed my Hippies a liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks. But to get them to rebloom, they need a long period of cool (10° - 15°C) temperatures and then a dry period.

These are like the Tenerife agave that grow all over the island. Taller than they look in photos.

That one's definitely got the Wow factor Wylie!!