Peaches on a Rainy July Morning

“It’s very nice here you know, and it’s very lovely now, all pale brown……..The peach tree is covered with peaches.” V. Bell

In our dry, southern California Mediterranean like climate, it rarely rains in July. This morning we were blessed, waking up to the sound of a soft, summer rain. The intoxicating scents of white and black sage, artemisia californica, and laural sumac fill the air as raindrops dance on three almost ripe peaches.

I will gather the peaches in a basket this afternoon...and make a wonderful peach cobbler!

The Garden on New Years Day

"Notwithstanding our disasters born of unseasnable frost and wet, sunless skies,I console myself with the reflection that on the whole we have made good progress. The garden is in better order than it was....last year" H. Rider Haggard A Gardener's Year

My Silverado Garden survived the winter storm of late December 2010. The creek rose.....10 feet perhaps.....bolders roared......past the house and garden. New Year's day brought 30 degree weather and frost. All in all, only some damage to tips of salvia waverlies, and this wonderful view of a sycamore leaf incased in ice in the frozen birdbath.