March 2017 – Mind Your Dirt

A few months ago San Diego got hit with a lot of much needed rain. The gardener in me loved this break from the awful drought and I was oft found dancing naked in the backyard in celebration with much mirth and shrinkage. Here are the photos*

Then one day, I was entertaining some friends when we noticed some movement in the vacant lot next door. Fuzzy and cute movement in the form of three tiny kittens. The friends I was entertaining were the type that could not ignore the cute fuzzy before their eyes so they talked me into trying to feed them.

The pragmatist in me screamed out, “oh slippery slope of ownership! Run away before it’s too late”. But when lovely ladies want to see kittens, kittens will be seen by Jove! And thus began my decent into stewardship of three souls. Three timid and easily frightened souls as well. It took a while for the bravest of them to come and take some formula from my hand via a feeder syringe.

Continue reading “Help Save the Life of Stumps the No-tailed Kitten!”

I know what you’re thinking, “how many times can this fool write about the coastal coral tree?” or “Does he make out with that tree?” well the answers are; infinitely and just a little. Not necessarily in that order. I can’t help it. When I first pilfered a branch cutting from an undisclosed location (definitely NOT in Robb Field in OB), I intended it to be a bonsai tree. I was living in a small but lovely beach apartment at the time, so it was all bonsai for me due to space constraints.

Now that I have a wee bit of land, I can spread some roots. My erythrina caffra (coastal coral) couldn’t be happier that I did either considering the insane growth that this tree has undergone in the last few years. To force this beast into a tiny bonsai pot would seem cruel.

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And this year is no exception. She is just now beginning to wake up from her short winter slumber. All winter long she has been busy sending out miles of hungry roots and storing vast amounts of sugars for what is promising to be a vigorous growing season. Now she is putting out a lovely display of flowers right before she comes into full leaf.

Erythrina caffra will typically bloom before leafing to attract pollinators.

She starts off after winter with her flowers before the leaves really set in. This allows all the pollinators to see the blooms without any bland and flavorless leaves getting in the way. Hummingbirds adore these beautiful blooms. Here’s another tree that is rocking a very impressive bloom with some rando walking a cute dog. Continue reading “My Big Ass Lady: Update on the Coastal Coral Tree”