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Was it a dream? Only yesterday it seemed I was watching snow fall and my breath steam. Today I could have been dressed in shorts and enjoying a cool lemonade. It is always odd to travel from one extreme to another and this week seemed intent on driving that point home. Back in Los Angeles I am resettling into a warmer climate, but a more hectic schedule.

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All is well

First, let me say that the garden has suffered no great setbacks during our 2 weeks away. Our housesitter/catsitter/gardensitter , Renee, did an admirable job, as she has in the past. Of course, part of that success comes from the preparations I made before we left. If you are asking someone else to take care of your garden, especially someone who may not be an avid gardener themselves, it behooves you to automate operation as much as possible. My combination of timers, soaker hoses and drip systems covers the watering for almost the entire garden. Further, I created a simple plot of the garden so she would have a visual reminder of where the timers were located and how often they should run. If you are anything like me you might need reminders yourself so it is only fair to provide them to your caretaker. While everything might not be perfect when you return, these preparations can certainly help your garden thrive in your absence.

Of course, there are certain tasks that still need to be done. The roses look ready for one last dead-heading before their January pruning. I also noticed that wherever I had set out straw bales for our October harvest party has now sprung up with green sprouts. Most likely this is oat or wheat seeds that remained in the bales. We had a few good rains while we were gone so the seeds decided to germinate wherever they fell. I am not too worried about these areas since these sprouts are relatively easy to remove compared to the nut grass I continually battle.

As usual, the locust tree dropped almost all its leaves at the first wind and rain so I will need to clean up the golden carpet left behind. There are not many other leaves about, thank goodness, so there isn't a lot of other work in that department.

The one casualty of this trip was the camellia bush I transplanted from the alley. This plant had never expanded its root ball beyond the size of its original container and I guess the stress of moving it was too much. I will have to remove it and find another specimen from the nursery to fill that spot.

Here come the holidays!

The holiday season is rapidly approaching so our time in the garden will be overtaken with other tasks. Still, I always try to gather fresh pine boughs from my trees to create a few handmade decorations for inside the house. Since it is so dry here we don't have a living or fresh-cut Christmas tree, but the addition of a few garlands and wreaths can add that subtle smell that means Christmas to me. I only wish a had a Balsam Fir or other highly aromatic tree on the property. Still, the guests seem to notice both the fresh smell and colorful greenery.

Keep digging!

Douglas