Theme Day: One Color - Ivory

Ivory Dominates in This Theme Day Cat Photo

The challenge for this theme is to post a photo where just one color dominates. I could have easily gone with green, but then I discovered this photo I took Friday afternoon which is mostly ivory.

Siamese Cat by Ivory Color Garage Door, © B. Radisavljevic

The Siamese cat caught my attention as she wandered around this xeriscaped yard. She finally wandered over to pose in front of the ivory garage door beside this tall shrub. So I decided to use this as the theme photo. The next one is a variation.  I allowed a few more of the colors into this one.

Siamese Cat by Ivory Color Garage Door Sniffing Shrub, © B. Radisavljevic

Kitty sat for a while near the middle of the yard.

Siamese Cat on Rock Mulch, © B. Radisavljevic

Kitty Leads us away from the Theme to More Colorful Surroundings

Siamese Cat beside Bed of Jupiter's Beard, © B. Radisavljevic

This clump of Jupiter's Beard adds some needed color to this yard. Like the other plants, it doesn't need much water to look lovely. It's a very popular plant in my neighborhood, and I finally got some it it planted in my yard. I'm waiting for it to bloom.

The most colorful thing in this garden is this colorful sculpted snail -- definitely a bright piece of yard art. It appears to be a planter, but I couldn't get close enough to see if anything was planted there yet. Time will tell.

Siamese Cat beside Colorful Snail Planter, © B. Radisavljevic

Kitty seems to prefer to look back at me than face the snail, even though I was much less colorful. Do you think that the snail fits well within this garden? Contrast it with the rest of the garden art and meet the other cat that lives here, in this post: Cat on the Rocks in a Xeriscaped Yard

See how other City Daily Photo Bloggers treated the One Color theme here.

Cat on the Rocks in a Xeriscaped Yard

The Cat on The Rocks

As I was walking around my neighborhood this afternoon, I almost missed this very still cat crouching in the rocks in this xeriscaped yard. She appeared to be hunting and waiting patiently for some prey to come out. I'm guessing she may have been waiting for a lizard, since I've seen a lot of cats hunt them, but she also may have heard a rodent.

Cat waiting for prey in xeriscaped yard, © B. Radisavljevic

The cat was alert, not asleep. She was very patient. She didn't move during the ten-fifteen minutes I was taking photos of the yard.

Cat waiting for prey in xeriscaped yard, © B. Radisavljevic

The Xeriscaping and Yard Art

Xeriscaping is landscaping that is designed to use very little water. It depends upon drought-resistant plants, drip irrigation, mulch, and decorative art to make it beautiful. You can see all these things in this yard. The cat I introduced above lives here, and if you look very carefully, you might see her lurking behind the rocks. But you need very sharp eyes.

Xeriscaped Yard, © B. Radisavljevic

Notice the rock mulch, drip irrigation, and drought-resistant plants used in the design. The benches are there so the owners can enjoy the garden. The cats also seem to enjoy roaming here. Below is a closer look at the plants around the tabby cat. 

Cat  in Xeriscaped Yard, © B. Radisavljevic

The  homeowner next door also made good use of yard art. I thought his cactus sculpture was clever. The tortoises, ant and bunny also caught my attention. 

Yard Art in Xeriscaped Yard, © B. Radisavljevic

Here's a closer look at the ant and the tortoises. 

Close look at Ant and Tortoise Sculptures in Xeriscaped Yard, © B. Radisavljevic

The sculptures above matched the coloring of the rocks pretty well and blended nicely with the plants. They didn't try to steal the show. The art below grabs a bit more attention. 

Colorful Snail Yard Art in Xeriscaped Yard, © B. Radisavljevic

The snail is brightly colored. It appears to be a planter. I will show you a closer look at it tomorrow. That Siamese cat you see on the walkway in the background will star in tomorrow's post.  Stay tuned. 

This last photo shows the edge of the property near the sidewalk. You can see how the branches of a tree which I'm assuming the homeowner removed or trimmed features prominently as a border. 

Did you get any xeriscaping ideas from these photos?

Get more ideas from my gardening blog, Barb's Garden Observations.  

• Yarrow is Ideal for Xeriscaping
• Xeriscaping is Essential in Dry Areas

A Rude Awakening!

Worse Than an Alarm Clock!

I got to bed later than usual last night because I encountered some technical problems I wanted to solve while they were fresh in my mind. That meant I got to sleep around 3:30 am. After all, the noisy roofers were gone and the neighbors' gardeners don't usually use their leaf blowers and mowers here until around noon.

As I was attempting to sleep, I heard a very loud and horrible sound that seemed to be right outside my bedroom window. It was actually in the backyard next door. By the time I jumped out of bed with my camera, the crew was working in the front yard, but it was just as loud. Imagine a dentist drill with the volume multiplied a hundred times.

Tree Stump Removal Crew, © B. Radisavljevic

They look a lot happier than I was. They had started at 7:30 am. At first my box fan and my white noise machine let me sleep another 90 minutes. I was going to try to listen to the radio on top of that to drown out the sounds and try to go back to sleep, but nothing doing. Their power equipment seemed to be causing interference with my radio transmission.

The Noise

Normally my fan or white noise machine can block out the common outside and inside noises like shutting the microwave door in the kitchen, neighbors slamming car doors outside, normal gardening equipment in other yards, and voices. They didn't have much effect on these sounds of loud tree grinding equipment.

I found out when I took my photos that the crew was removing stumps of shrubs and trees from my neighbor's yard to expedite his xeriscaping project. For your listening "pleasure" I have including a quick video with three small episodes of the noise I endured this morning. They are actually quieter than when they woke me when working in the backyard, which was closer to my bedroom.

Rain at Last!

As I was talking to my neighbor while I was taking the last batch of photos, it began to rain a few drops -- just enough to send me inside to protect my camera. What fell dried up while I was processing the video and editing these photos. Here's  proof that some rain did fall.

Raindrops on my Front Sidewalk, © B. Radisavljevic

The Aftermath of the Stump Removal

When the workmen finished, I had to admit they'd done a good job and left a pretty piece of bare ground where the old shrubs used to be. I just wish it could have been done more quietly so I could get my full night's sleep.

How well do you tolerate the noise of power equipment outside your window?

*****

Where the Green Lawns Used to be

Brown is the New Green for Lawns

Paso Robles, like many other cities in California, is still in the midst of its longest drought in recent history. Because of that, homeowners are encouraged to replace their lawns with drought-resistant landscaping, called xeriscaping.

Brown Lawn in Paso Robles, © B. Radisavljevic

Even the city itself is no longer irrigating median strips and some parks. Only the baseball diamond gets irrigated at Larry Moore Park. Homeowners deal with this as best they can. Some who can't afford to replace lawns just stop watering them.

Drought-Friendly Xeriscaping in Paso Robles, © B. Radisavljevic

Many have taken out their lawns and have replaced all or parts of them with drought-friendly substitutes. Here are what some of my neighbors have done.

Drought-Friendly Landscaping in Paso Robles, © B. Radisavljevic

Do you still have a lawn? If so, is it brown or green? What do you think of xeriscaping?