Lagerstoemia specisosa - Queen's Crepe Myrtle

The local news went on about down south...81.2F water..Hammerhead Sharks sighted- first ever. Warmest July ever.
Its been about super average here-lol. We are having a slight warmup..nothing hot.
I havent seen water temp averages...but I bet no more then 62 ocean.
I just checked...60f. Well,better then 48f like in winter.

Yes, the ocean has been really warm here. It's definitely not the first time hammerhead sharks have been off the coast here, though. The news is making such a big deal about them! In 2015 (El Nino) there were numerous hammerheads off San Diego's coast. lol! I waiting for Marlin, Manta Rays and barracudas to be sighted (like in 2015). Back in 2015 there was a Marlin, which was the first time since 1983 a Marlin was sighted off San Diego's coast.

Being also a fish person...I would bet Andy that many young tropical fish have drifted north from the Gulf of California latitudes into coastal San Diego waters. A good time to have a net and snorkel down there. Free Aquarium fish.
Do you know,there is a creek of recycled water near Los Angeles that has tropical Cichlids and Catfish thriving?..on YouTube. He said "about 45 minutes east of Los Angeles"..so Riverside area? He never answers the posts.

I'm sure there's a lot of tropical fish in the waters off San Diego's coast right now. I didn't know about the tropical fish near the L.A. area, though. Very interesting.

Did you know the giant Pacific Sea Horse lives in San Diego Bay? I read about that many years ago when I moved here. I'm still amazed by it! :>))

Tropical flora and fauna are lapping at soucal more and more by the year.
Its why what used to be only in soucal- the GBOP and some other's we never saw in the bay area as kids..are now here.
Plus..we arent getting hit with set backs every 15 years like all of the 20th century. Plants are going on.
I look at my Pleranda elegantissima,and think- never before. If I had planted them in any time prior to 1992,they would never have reached the size they are now, a good 12'. That's not a challenge to down south or the tropics..but for the bay area,pretty darn good. Healthy and dense too.

It feels like Banana Republic here in New York. Even after the storms. That's an awesome tree.

Many storys of certain tender plants living over in New York. The migration north coast to coast.

I've notice the Baltimore Oriole showing up more and more in the New York area, and the Red Admiral butterfly. They were never this far north until a few years ago.

The weather is definitely changing! It appears to be getting warmer and warmer each year. The ocean waters off San Diego's coast is remaining at record high levels. It's amazing to see the ocean's average temps on the weather (on tv) at 76 - 81 degrees. It's been like this over a month now.

Those temps are suitable for violent hurricanes. This season has been pretty quiet so far.

That's been a big concern here. San Diego hasn't been hit by a hurricane since 1858. The homes here wouldn't be able to withstand a weak Category 1 hurricane without major damage. There's been some ocean readings a little over 82 degrees, also.

I have just received seeds for this.

Good luck! This one is tropical, it needs a lot of heat.