What is the weather like there? General Chat

Not much wind where I am, but 10 miles away a friend said it was very windy. It could have been windy while I took a 2.5 hour nap after lunch today. I’m recovering from a stomach bug. Going back to work tomorrow, but it could be a long day.

Thanks for asking!!
Did you have tornadoes?

I hope neither of you have any tornados!! In the UK we only have them very occasionally, and though they do damage property, nothing like the pictures we see from America.
Hope you are over the bug @who owns who, you must really need a spell of good health and stability Marc. Hope you feel stronger soon.
@Toedtoes Could you possibly let me know which plants UC Davis supply you with? I have had my front garden stripped and covered with purple slate chips - I have enough to do maintaining the garden at the back of the house - so will be having more plants in pots this year. Watering is a chore in the Summer, plus having to use water from the mains when the rain butts run dry. I'm going for some woody Mediterranean varieties - lavender, rosemary and heathers, but would appreciate one or two other ideas.

No tornados here. But we just got the remnants of the storm here. I'm glad you didn't get any at your place. Hopefully this is the last storm of the year and we'll just get a bit of rain here and there from now on.

Carole - here is their inventory: https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/plant-sales

Under the April 8 sales, they link to an online inventory or you can download the excel or pdf versions. They list average growth, water needs, sunlight needs, and if they attract beneficial insects.

I am going to get the following plants. All are full sunlight as my front gets the afternoon sun all summer.

For the front yard:
Little John Bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis 'Little John')
Coral Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora)
California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum) - the calistoga, carman's gray and marin pink varieties
Catmint (Nepeta × faassenii) - Whispurr Pink, Whispurr Blue, Kitten Around, Picture Purrfect, Purrsian Blue varieties
Lion's Tail (Leonotis leonurus)
Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea)
Poker Plant (Kniphofia) - Christmas Cheer,
Backdraft, and Poco Orange varieties

For the backyard:
Pink Micro Chip Dwarf Butterfly Bush (Buddleja 'Pink Micro Chip' PP26547 (Lo & Behold® Series))
Ruby Chip Dwarf Butterfly Bush (Buddleja 'SMNBDD' Ruby Chip PP32399 (Lo & Behold® Series))
Bicolor Butterfly Bush (Buddleja × weyeriana 'Bicolor')

Of course it looks like they added some more plants since I last looked, so I might add a few more.

All the ones I've selected are non-toxic to dogs and cats. UC Davis doesn't mention toxicity, so you have to check other websites for that info. Gardenia.net provides the info but doesn't have every plant or variety.

Thank you. Not a lot that would suit a small slate garden. Standard Buddleia produce so much seed that they go native here and can invade brickwork, so I was interested in the micro versions. I will look out for one of those. Can I suggest Ceanothus? A mass of glowing blue flowers early in the season, and in time for the bees emerging. My bush becomes alive with their buzzing - I can't remember the species, (they have yellow tails), but they are placid bees that very rarely sting. I have picked them up off walls and the ground and plonked them back on the bush, and they have never stung me. Unless a standard it does need keeping in shape though. We made a mess of keeping the size of ours down and it is now a rather strange shape - but it is Tally's favourite sunbathing shrub.

I looked at ceanothus. They do need regular pruning and they grow to 8 ft which is bigger than I want in the front yard, so I passed them over at this point. But they remain on my possible list if I lose any of these plants or I decide to add more in the backyard.

The majority of my choices are a squat contained bush with stalks sticking above for the blooms. They don't need any pruning - and some can simply be mowed over (weedwhacked) at the end of the season. The look will work well as I plan on putting bark throughout as ground cover - with paver pathways.

Check the website. They have a lot that work well in rock gardens and work in containers.

The pink micro chip buddleja is non-invasive, so that could be a good choice.

The helleborus is a nice plant that stays pretty small. Pretty blooms.

Oh, I didn't check. The helleborus is toxic to dogs and cats.

A neighbour has hellibores, a bit floppy and colourless for me. Will read the site when I'm not as tired - for some reason I only slept 1.5 hours last night. Can't plant through the slate as that would pierce the membrane. Everything will have to be in pots.

Thanks, I didn't know that.

There is a Dwarf Ceanothus Repens, the variety is California Lilac. It spreads outwards rather than upwards.

The spread is much bigger than I want. I only have one spot, in the backyard, that will easily hold a large spread and I am putting the bicolor butterfly bush there. If it doesn't survive, then the ceanthus is on my list of potential replacements.

I'll post my front yard diagram later when I'm at the computer. For the most part, I have the edges grouped by plant species to form borders - catmint along the driveway, fuchsia along the neighbor line, bottlebrush and yucca along the sidewalk, and sage and poker plant along the house. The rest are set individually within that space allowing for pathways to move around them and reach the borders for watering, etc. I will have a couple chairs and table so I can sit and watch the hummingbird* flitter around. And there will be a pathway that leads from the driveway to the sideyard.

My hummingbird is pretty territorial so I'm not sure she'll allow any others into the garden.

I love the Yucca flowers. One behind my house must reach 8 or 9 feet tall. I have not dared to plant one because of the sword-like leaves which might be a risk to the Beagles eyes. I bought a Rosemary this week, (and some sweet peas for the back garden). I picked a sprawling one hoping that I will be able to keep the height down.

I just started a separate thread for gardens. I posted my diagram.

Hit 97 here today. I was at work. Turned on AC when I got home, and inside temp is holding at 81. The AC is small for the room, so it will hold the temp where it is, but it won’t cool the room until it cools off some outside.

I imagine it’s a lot hotter where @Toedtoes is. How has your weather been @CaroleC, @Helidale. I’ve read you’ve had an unusually hot summer as well

It was 105 here today. Hot, but not beyond typical weather here for summer.

I've been spending a couple hours every day at minimum in the pool. That helps a LOT to reset my internal thermometer so I don't overheat.

Do the dogs go in the pool too?

We have had a hot early summer - but nothing like yourselves and the Spanish are enduring. We were into the higher 30's °C. It has hit the green veg production and I believe grain yields will be lower as there was less time for them to plump up.
The hot spell ended suddenly last week with 'showers' of torrential rain and the occasional thunderstorm! In between temperatures are short sleeve mild and we have a promised return of a sunny spell.
I didn't expect much from my supermarket outdoor tomato plant, but it has loved this weather and I'm expecting a bumper crop!

Neither dog goes in the pool. It's an above ground, so it's not really conducive. And Cat-dog is a wader not a swimmer (shepherds don't really like swimming) and Tornado-dog is already obsessed with the hose, I don't want him to decide the pool is fun too.

That's a nice crop of tomatoes!!!