For Karen...what did you say about summer in our garden?

We had one after lunch,as well..got pelted by them,digging some Growmore in ! :o(

Oh dear! at least were having a lunch break when it happened, though we did need the rain, was having to water the pots and the bog garden.....

Is that today ? We haven't had anything it did turn cold though !

you were lucky,Amy,as a lot of places had it at some point..I wish it had rained here,Angela..it was over in a couple of minutes,and the sun came out again.Everything is bone dry..but some rain forecast later in the week..or we may have a shower tomorrow..

That's what I awoke to..except mine was a proper frost! However, it soon melted. The greenhouse got very warm...seeds germinated fast....and then it got very cold again..pooph!

Oh dear, don't know why I clicked on "like this photo" could do without this!!!

We had rain after, but there was quite a layer of hail left on the garden......this morning a frost!! took one of our winter flowering clems!! and the camellias hey ho!!

Oh dear..that's a real shame. :(

So sorry you lost some plants! My OH would say "look on it as an opportunity" what does he know! he's not a gardener.

How horrible! Since I don't get frost here in San Diego where I live...hail is the biggest enemy to my tropical plants.

On December 31, 2014 (New Year's Eve) we had a horrible hail storm which caused my papaya leaves and Angel's Trumpets' leaves to have so many hole in them.

Don't panic ladies ......it only killed the new growth on the Clematis, and the flowers on the Camellias will just go brown and fall off, but the plants are still alive......phew!!
Delonix I cannot imagine you having hail storms, must be a shock for your poor plants, we either get snow or hail at this time of the year now, never used to, just the last 4 years, climate change, so they say!!

You know, even with hail, it still looks so green and lush!

Dottydaisy2:

We get at least one to three big hail storms in winter (even at 32 degrees latitude. lol). It's caused by a cold storm coming from the north moving over the warmer waters off San Diego's coast. This will usually cause some severe thunderstorms which produce hail. The ground here can be covered with hail just like in your garden. Like I said: it's the biggest enemy for my tropical plants.

Delonix....I'd like to feel bad about your hail. But.....;)))) Only kidding....I hope the plants stand up to the shock. Imagine being a tropical plant in California and suddenly getting pelted by Ice!! We've had a persistenly cold winter here...by cold I mean UK cold which is about 0-5C. But that's been it since autumn and usually we will have a few milder spells in amongst the winter cold. With the equally persistent chilly winds, it's been 'real feel' minus a couple of degrees most days and I'm so tired of it now. I could do with a bit of Californian Sun. We were in Antigua in January, and that actually made it so much worse. We'd have been better going this month and coming home to spring intead of coming home to a long cold three months of winter. Hey Ho....the sun is getting stronger....slowly. :)

Cottagekaren:

Sorry to hear that your weather there has been so cold!

Well, you can't feel too bad for us here in San Diego. lol!

We've had an exceptionally hot winter (and we thought last year's record winter heat was bad). We're in the middle of a heat wave, yesterday it was 94ºF (34ºC) here...today it'll be warmer...and very warm all week. We've had consistently warm to hot temps from 75 - 95º (24 - 35ºC) all winter long with virtually no rain. All of California is in a historical, extreme drought. We only have enough water in our reservoirs to last about a year. :>((

Whoa! That's a bit Scary Delonix. Hope you get some spring rain soon!

Yes, it's a very dire situation. We are in a State Of Emergency for all of California because of the water situation.

The rainy season is done here in San Diego, unfortunately! Most likely we won't get any more rain unit November or December. We have an extremely long dry season here in San Diego. We possibly can get a few little showers during the monsoonal season, which is from July through Sept.(typically we just get the heat and humidity during monsoonal season in my location, though).

Oh dear. That's not giving you much to look forward to.

Yes, it's a horrible, horrible water situation. Last night on the tv news, the meteorologist said the long-range forecast is for hot and dry weather and reiterated that the rainy season it done here in San Diego. :>((

The state wants propose no watering to landscape trees/plants. This would be a disaster for many people who have beautiful landscapes trees/plants (most people have let their front yard grass die, already). I guess I'll have to use the water from the washer, shower and sinks for watering the plants.

Good idea. Keep us posted...we never hear any news from the USA unless there's a shooting or a political rally.

There's a lot of articles on California's severe drought on the internet. It's the biggest story in California...and most of the Western States.

Thank you! I have a friend in the USAbut she's in the Florida Keys...lucky her!

I must admit I did not realise just how serious is was, hoping you get some rain soon Delonix, cannot imagine how we would cope without rain here.....

Cottagekaren:

Not sure if your friend in the Florida Keys is so lucky. It's so hot and humid there all the time. I get enough heat here in inland San Diego. lol!

Dottydaisy2:

The severe drought is extremely serious. We don't expect any more rain this season...the only thing we are expecting is continued warm to hot weather and another heat wave this week.

Ha ha...have to agree Delonix. She also has scorpions, snakes, Alligators and jumping spiders that literally try to attack her when she puts them out of the house! No, I don't fancy it at all! Now, Santa Barbara...that's a lovely idea..But not with a serious drought!

There's a lot of scorpions, rattlesnakes (which are very active this year so far), luckily, no alligators or jumping spiders. We do have the extremely common black widow. The other common brown widow spider which in the last 13 years have taken over; however, they don't bother (even though they're 3 times more venomous than a black widow).

The biggest issues we have with bigger animals are with mountain lions, bears, bobcats and coyotes. There's more problems in the rural areas...the exception is coyotes, they're everywhere. The Los Angeles area has had a lot of problems with bears in the last couple of years, though.

There's been a lot of school lock downs (in San Diego County) because of mountain lions and bobcats sightings. This is due to the drought. These animals tend to come into the more urban areas to get food and water.

Santa Barbara is one of my favorite cities. Even though, it's only about a 3 hour drive...I don't get up there very often, anymore.

Well...I think I'll stay at home in Bonnie freezing cold Scotland!

LOL! I'm sure you have wild animals there, also. :>)

The one thing I don't miss at this house, compared to my last house is the giant centipedes...they were all over and looked like small snakes.

Well....I did see a Weasel a few days ago.....that's about as wild as it gets here! ;)

That sounds pretty tame. LOL! :>)

Exactly Delonix...and that's the way I like it! My friend in Floridas latest video is of an iguana in her garden. Apparently they eat all the plants.

Yes, that's a good thing, nice and tame. :>)

I've read in South Florida there's lots of iguanas. I hear they're all over the trees and in the water.

Here there's lots of alligator lizards; however, they're small only 22" (56cm) at the longest. Even though, they're not afraid of most people and can give a nasty bite, they usually don't bother and eat lots of bugs.

Here's a pic of one:

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/136391-common-southern-california-alligator-lizard/all