On this first day of spring the sun preferred to hide behind the clouds most of the day. When I walked to the corner to get the mail, it was obvious that it had rained. The clouds, however, seemed to be in retreat and the sun did finally pay us a visit before it said goodbye for the night.
Now that we've had no rain for a while, beautiful sunsets inland are getting harder to find. I look at the sky in the late afternoon, see clouds, and get hopeful. By the time the sun starts to set, the clouds have disappeared. So I wait for these elusive sunsets most days, only to be disappointed when there aren't any clouds to make them unique and add color to the sky. Tuesday night I got lucky. The clouds decided to hang around until sundown.
Flowers Want Rain Clouds to Deliver More Water
My flowers, however, miss the rain. They begin to droop or look tired when they are dependent on the little water I can give them. At least the hollyhocks are blooming, but the carnations are fading fast. I hope the purple hyssop will have more abundant flowers in June, when it is normally at its showiest.
The clary sage on the right edge in the middle is producing large buds, so it's on schedule to be in bloom in June. I need to cut back those oregano spikes at the back before they bloom, so I can dry them for cooking. The irises have finished blooming now, but these that get the most water are busy preparing for next year's growth. We need more rain before summer starts.
Still Hoping for Storm Clouds to Deliver another Rain
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Until I started gardening in Paso Robles, I had never seen a live praying mantis. Then, a few years ago, I found one in my yard. The one you see in this photo decided to visit me inside my house. I have no idea why. I was sitting in the family room a few nights ago and saw this one flying above me. It landed on a wall high above my head. In flight I thought it was a dragonfly. Only when I focused my zoom lens on it did I see that it was actually a mantis. Later, it moved to different wall lower down, and with some effort to get behind some furniture that was blocking decent access, I was able to get this shot. Since it was night, I had to use a flash, but there was also a lamp to the left throwing off its own light.
I discovered my first praying mantis in my garden one year late in October. I was trying to get photos of a mullein in bloom, and didn't even notice this mantis until I was poised to take a macro shot of a flower. Do you see how well the colors of the mantis blend into the colors of the plant?
But I hadn't seen the whole show yet. As I continued to stalk the plant with my camera, I caught a mantis pair mating, and I could not resist taking the photo below and adding a bit to it.
Although the mantis is smooth in flight, it seems a bit awkward as it moves from one part of a plant to another. In the video below, I captured it moving from the flower spike it was on to the one a couple of inches away from it. As you can see, it is having a bit of a struggle making this short journey.
Other products with the design below are also available from Zazzle. You can change or remove the text if you wish. Most of the products are blank. I used to think the plant was clary sage because that's what the person who sold it to me told me. It was months before the plant bloomed and I accidentally discovered my mistake when I saw a photo of mullein online and in an herb book. The leaves are similar, but the flowers are very different. Some product titles still have not been corrected on Zazzle, but I'm working on it.
This photo came from my front flower bed about a month ago, in June. Two of the herbs are in bloom. The pale pink flower clusters are on the clary sage. To the left of it you see tricolor sage. Between that and the kale in back is oregano, which is now in bloom, but it wasn't then. The small purple flowers are hyssop blossoms. For a closer look, just click the photo to enlarge it.
The sages and oregano are in pots to keep them confined. I like growing these perennial herbs because they require almost no care and little water. I harvest and use the oregano. I grow the other herbs for their ornamental value. The bees use them for forage, and they add color in season. Herbs give me the most value for my money when water is rationed.
The photo on the card below comes from another of my herb gardens in Templeton. It shows the tricolor sage in bloom. To its right is common sage, which has finished blooming. The rosemary, which has also finished blooming, is behind.
It's been hot this last week, but today we hit the triple digits and it appears the rest of the week will be as bad. This heat has caused my chard and kale to bolt. I thought you might like to see my kale flowering. It is said that one can eat the flowers and they taste like broccoli. I'll have to try it.
Here's a larger picture. The kale pale yellow kale flowers aren't as high as they appear to be in this photo. I was holding the camera at an angle that makes them look taller than they are. In the distance you can see what's left of my pink hollyhock and the purple hyssop. The clary sage is in bloom in front of the brick pillar and juniper. The yellow flowers are calendula.
