tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-295045352024-03-18T21:04:55.715-07:00Breathing TreatmentGardening, California Native Plants, & The Great Outdoors
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Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.comBlogger1226125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-69092382051014203182023-01-04T11:11:00.005-08:002023-01-04T11:11:51.921-08:002.26" Rain on 3 Jan; 8.45" total so far this season<style type="text/css">td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}</style><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;"><colgroup><col width="100"></col><col width="100"></col><col width="100"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"2022-2023 rainfall"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">2022-2023 rainfall</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"2023 water year"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">2023 water year</td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"><br /></td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Date Recorded"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Date Recorded</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Amount (in.)"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Amount (in.)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cumulative"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Cumulative</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44814}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">9/10/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.49}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.49</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.49}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.49</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44846}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10/12/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.17}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.17</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.66}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.66</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44849}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10/15/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.1}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.10</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.76}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.76</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44867}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11/2/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.02}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.02</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.78}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.78</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44874}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11/9/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.05}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.05</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.83}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.83</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44875}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11/10/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.02}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.02</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.85}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.85</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44898}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12/3/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.36}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.36</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.21}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.21</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44900}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12/5/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.03}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.03</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.2399999999999998}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.24</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44902}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12/7/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.06}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.06</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.3}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.30</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44906}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12/11/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.98}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.98</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3.28}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3.28</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44907}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12/12/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.7}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.70</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3.9799999999999995}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3.98</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44923}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12/28/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.7}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.70</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4.68}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4.68</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44925}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12/30/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.11}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.11</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4.79}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4.79</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44926}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12/31/2022</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.3}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.30</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5.09}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">5.09</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44927}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1/1/2023</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.1}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.10</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6.1899999999999995}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">6.19</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44929}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1/3/2023</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.26}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.26</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":2,"2":"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8.45}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8.45</td></tr></tbody></table>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-89662335376636103492022-11-10T11:42:00.001-08:002022-11-10T11:42:23.902-08:00Storm drops more than 1" of Rain!<p>On the 9th of November, I measured 1.05" of rainfall from the prior hours of storm. Another 0.02" fell that day. Now it really feels like we have hit the start of not only the rainy seasons, but the PLANTING SEASON! Californians in touch with their environment all breath a sign of relief when we get a storm like that. </p><p> Here's the rain I've recorded to date this water year:</p><p> </p><p>
</p><pre>Date Recorded Amount (in.) Cumulative(in.)
9/10/2022 0.49 <span> </span><span> </span>0.49
10/12/2022 0.17 <span> </span><span> </span>0.66
10/15/2022 0.1 <span> </span><span> </span>0.76
11/2/2022 0.02 <span> </span><span> </span>0.78
11/9/2022 1.05 <span> </span><span> </span>1.83
11/10/2022 0.02 <span> </span><span> </span>1.85
</pre>
As a reminder, the local water year is usually October 1 through September 30 of the following year. The water year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends, so we are in the 2023 water year. <p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-50527405933642408582022-11-10T11:01:00.002-08:002022-11-10T11:01:52.327-08:00At last, the elusive Canyon Sunflower Every time I've looked for the past years, Canyon Sunflower (Venegasia carpesiodies) has been unavailable. It's been frustrating, but I guess it's a popular plant. I got the last two remaining at the Payne Foundation yesterday (actually one forlorn and broken stump of a plant remained and I debated taking it if they would give it at a discount).
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJVkEoxwzYyJTxxwuPA9IGPhzUmYMy3Wd1yWYbkUstj5e9gQSZRRxbv4LWYMCPXsagom10xe-_LKvZvB-mQgCTtnHwKqqstZY6zjjKbpJ6oFPcUF_JSOR77zXU7SXFxuONdevvkYMTlWvy-7gxC0TE6I2hTraYmJQoTy3i44LClm7huq8P_Qo/s1024/2022_11_10_potting_bench_1024x739.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJVkEoxwzYyJTxxwuPA9IGPhzUmYMy3Wd1yWYbkUstj5e9gQSZRRxbv4LWYMCPXsagom10xe-_LKvZvB-mQgCTtnHwKqqstZY6zjjKbpJ6oFPcUF_JSOR77zXU7SXFxuONdevvkYMTlWvy-7gxC0TE6I2hTraYmJQoTy3i44LClm7huq8P_Qo/s400/2022_11_10_potting_bench_1024x739.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p>Purchased at the Payne Foundation in the last couple weeks: </p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Eriogonum crocatum (Conejo Buckwheat or Saffron Buckwheat) 1G 1 $12.60
</li><li>Constancea (Eriophyllum) nevinii (Catalina silverlace or Nevin's woolly sunflower) 1G 2 $18.00
</li><li>Polystichum munitum (Western sword fern) 4" 5 $36.00
</li><li>Bouteloua gracilis (Blue Grama grass) 1G 3 $27.00
</li><li>Euphorbia misera (Cliff Spurge) 1G 1 $10.80
</li><li>Chlorogalum pomeridianum (Soap Plant) (Seed) Packet 1 $9.00
</li><li>Venegasia carpesioides (Canyon Sunflower) 1G 2 $23.80
</li><li>Bouteloua gracilis (Blue Grama grass) 1G 1 $8.50
</li><li>Bulbs (Calochortus Californica) - $10 1 $8.50
</li><li>Bulbs (Allium unifolium) - $12 1 $10.20
</li><li>Bulbs (?) - $8 1 $6.80
</li><li>Phacelia campanularia - Desert Canterbury Bells (Seed) Packet 1 $5.10
</li></ul><p> </p>
<p>I visited before the sale for the selection and during the sale to check back for some missing items. While my strategy was good, my tactics lacked sufficiency for the task since I didn't have detailed plant lists. However, I do maintain lists of plants that I'm interested in and I used those plus my desire to incorporate more silver/gray foliage plants to make my selections.</p>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-89523462163358189132022-09-14T15:32:00.003-07:002022-09-14T15:32:52.396-07:00Rain 0.49" 9-10-2022A tropical storm brought us nearly half an inch of rain the other day. It was appreciated, though a bit odd to have rain at this time of year.
0.49" 9-10-2022
Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-61401291193925648362022-04-22T12:29:00.005-07:002022-04-22T12:30:14.704-07:00Rain 0.1"; ranfall total 10.39"<pre>
Date Amount (in.) Cumulative
10/5/2021 0.08 0.08
10/26/2021 0.45 0.53
12/7/2021 0.02 0.55
12/8/2021 0.05 0.6
12/14/2021 1.15 1.75
12/16/2021 0.48 2.23
12/17/2021 0.04 2.27
12/24/2021 2.40 4.67
12/26/2021 0.45 5.12
12/27/2021 0.20 5.32
12/30/2021 3.75 9.07
2/15/2022 0.09 9.16
12/23/2022 0.02 9.18
3/20/2022 0.20 9.38
3/28/2022 0.81 10.19
3/29/2022 0.10 10.29
4/21/2022 0.10 10.39
</pre>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-38022031423523897402022-03-30T13:50:00.000-07:002022-03-30T13:50:33.663-07:000.1” rain; 10.29" rainfal total for the seasonThis was the tail end of the storm that I recorded on the previous day. We had just over 5" in my backyard the previous year, so this is a relative upgrade. Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-28502976643851974592022-03-29T14:36:00.001-07:002022-03-29T14:36:11.089-07:00Rain 0.81” 3-29-2022; rainfall total 10.19"Nothing much to say except the title.Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-27469897986657859772022-03-21T13:46:00.004-07:002022-03-21T17:12:32.855-07:00Rainfall total 9.38" as of 21 Mar 2022December was great for the garden and then...virtually nothing until last Saturday when we got a surprise and welcome 0.2".
<pre>
2020-2021 rainfall
Date Recorded Amount (in.) Cumulative
10/5/2021 0.08 0.08
10/26/2021 0.45 0.53
12/7/2021 0.02 0.55
12/8/2021 0.05 0.6
12/14/2021 1.15 1.75
12/16/2021 0.48 2.23
12/17/2021 0.04 2.27
12/24/2021 2.4 4.67
12/26/2021 0.45 5.12
12/27/2021 0.2 5.32
12/30/2021 3.75 9.07
2/15/2022 0.09 9.16
12/23/2022 0.02 9.18
3/20/2022 0.2 9.38
</pre>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-87420048117220715802021-12-21T11:11:00.004-08:002021-12-21T11:11:35.172-08:00Rain to dateThere's a series of storms coming in which make me hopeful that this year we will finish the wet season with somewhat normal rainfall. Our completely dry November was anomalous but the 1+ inches of rain that I noted on 12/14 seemed to get the garden back on track. Irises divided early in November are doing well and the rest of the garden has perked up.
For native plants, I find that now (or better yet right before or after a light rainfall) is a really good time to water: The extra water coupled with the timing just makes the plant "think" that it just had a better soaking than Mother Nature actually delivered.
Rainfall totals below are in inches as recorded in my backyard.
<pre>
Date Amount Cumulative
10/5/2021 0.08 0.08
10/26/2021 0.45 0.53
12/7/2021 0.02 0.55
12/8/2021 0.05 0.6
12/14/2021 1.15 1.75
12/16/2021 0.48 2.23
12/17/2021 0.04 2.27
</pre>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-42818536649579878492021-04-05T14:28:00.003-07:002021-04-05T14:28:38.578-07:00Rainfall total 5.05"We had a low rain year, with only 5.05" accounted for in my back yard. I've been less diligent this year about tracking each storm, but I think I'm mostly on target.
Regional news is saying that we are back in drought mode but that Southern California is in better shape to get through drought than Northern California due to stored water. The last three years of rainfall backs that story up: S. California accumulated in the prior two years and we'll use that accumulated water this year. Northern California had far less than normal rainfall this year - so much so that you have to look back to the 1970s drought to find the equal. Sierra snowpack is also not overwhelming. Daniel Swain covers this in detail in his <a href="https://weatherwest.com/">weatherwest</a> blog. This bit of drought news, slightly reassuring though it is for me, still makes me want to get a gray water system going.
This year's lower amount follows about 16" in 2019-20 and about 25" in 2018-2019, measured in the same location in my back yard. That's the way of California weather - variable; and even more so due to climate change.
<pre>
2020-2021 rainfall
Date Amount (in.) Cumulative
11/7/2020 0.24 0.24
12/28/2020 1.7 1.94
1/25/2021 0.24 2.18
1/29/2021 1.37 3.55
3/3/2021 0.13 3.68
3/10/2021 0.78 4.46
3/11/2021 0.37 4.83
3/12/2021 0.02 4.85
3/15/2021 0.2 5.05
</pre>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-24691839312418760662021-02-02T09:39:00.005-08:002021-02-02T09:39:37.460-08:00Calliandra replaces Encelia<p> I replaced a perfectly good Encelia farinosa (Brittlebush, Incienso) that had never flowered as prolifically as I wanted with Calliandra eriophylla (Pink fairyduster, Mesquitillo).</p><p></p><p>The Encelia was at times an inspired choice - it had a ~2.5' rounded growth habit with perennial gray - almost white- leaves that looked great in a summer evening garden. It glowed in the moonlight. </p><p>However, it grew a bit wide for the spot I had in mind and crowded the top and sides of the small sandy berm on which it was planted. It never flowered as prolifically as I wanted (I've seen specimens absolutely covered with yellow flowers) and then it recently seemed to be a bit in decline. Pruning could have addressed this, but ultimately I wanted a bit more architectural interest, visibility through the its replacement, attractive flowers, and the ability to use more of the berm on which it was placed. </p><p> I think that its replacement, Calliandra eriophylla meets those requirements. I've previously planted its larger relative, Calliandra californica, and it flourished in my garden against a south-facing concrete wall. C. eriophylla should be a bit more dainty and with appropriate pruning it ought to be a bit more open, sculptural, and accommodating to adjacent plantings.<br /></p>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-62161275110117854502021-02-02T09:27:00.002-08:002021-02-02T09:27:54.642-08:00Purchases at Theodore Payne<p> On 11/12/2020 I purchased the following native plants at Theodore Payne</p><p><br /></p><p>Aquilegia formosa 4" - three @ $12.75 that are now share space in the front rose garden, since they will do well with more water than they are likely to get elsewhere.</p><p>Quersuc durata 1G - 1 @ 11.90 - A whim purchase. Can I grow this on my hillside and keep it low? This is a shrub oak tree and mine looks like it's two in a 1 gal pot, so root competition may keep it smaller. Not local to PV, but rather the surrounding LA mountains. PV is often left off of the "what grows here" charts since it is widely separated from documented occurrences by the moat of greater Los Angeles. Calflora has a settable parameter with a default of 10 miles of "moat". With 10 miles or more of separation between a place of documented growth and your area of interest the answer is "doesn't grow there", even if it quite likely used to or will. </p><p></p><p>Arctostaphylos 'Howard McMinn' 1G - 1 @ 10.20 - Tony Baker suggested that I try this in the large pot near my front door. It gets full direct and reflected sun in summer and hardly any light at all in winter. Her suggested I pair it with strawberries, which I have did a few weeks ago. Looking good so far.</p><p>Calliandra eriphylla 1G - 1 @11.90 - The smaller and pink version of Baja Fairyduster (Calliandra californica) that may be more garden suitable for me. Need to make a place for this. This is an eastern desert plant, so my sunny and sandy soil berm will be suitable.</p><p>Oenothera elata ssp hookeri 4" - 3 @ 12.75. Hooker's Evening Primrose. Hooker is a last name. This probably wants more water than I planned to give it, so I'm in a bit of a replan about where to put it. These ended up low on the east side of the native garden berm, near a fountain. <br /></p><p>Lepechinia fragrans 1G - 1 @ 11.90 - I thought my parents might like this, since it is low water and full sun to part shade. It might work well off the patio of their house. I have one that's moved around my garden and is now on the lower side of my hill. It doesn't seem to be doing incredibly well, but a winter in teh ground may help it along.</p><p>Dudleya traskiae 1 G - 1 @ 11.90 </p><p>Sisrinchium bellum 1 G - 1 @ 8.50 - Planted at my parent's house. Not even sure why I bought this since I have a ton that could have dug up.</p><p>Festuca rubra 'Molate' seed 0.25 lb 17.00 - seems to work well in my yard.</p><p>Allium bulbs 2 @ 8.00</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0Los Angeles, CA, USA34.0522342 -118.24368495.7420003638211554 -153.3999349 62.362468036178846 -83.0874349tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-44225407805980441252021-02-02T09:26:00.004-08:002021-02-02T09:26:43.882-08:001.37” rain<p>1/29/2021 1.37"
<br />
</p><p></p><p><style type="text/css">td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}</style></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;"><colgroup><col width="100"></col><col width="100"></col><col width="100"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Date Recorded"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Date Recorded</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Amount (in.)"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Amount (in.)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cumulative"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Cumulative</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"M/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44142}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11/7/2020</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.24}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.24</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.24}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.24</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44193}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12/28/2020</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.7}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.7</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.94}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.94</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44221}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1/25/2021</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.24}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.24</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.1799999999999997}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.18</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5,"2":"m/d/yyyy","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44225}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1/29/2021</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.37}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.37</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]+R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3.55}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3.55</td></tr></tbody></table><p>We are headed for a low rain year at current rates. I'm adding supplemental water in the garden when it looks cloudy and I think the plants will be appreciative come summer if the rainfall totals stay low.<br /></p><p></p><p><br />Brent - via iPhone</p>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-57102579122385325022020-04-14T18:49:00.000-07:002020-04-14T18:49:00.186-07:00Almost 16" of rain this year!An incredible week of rain gave us nearly 2-1/2 inches in one day bringing the rainfall total to 15.93". That's a substantial amount for most places in coastal Los Angeles and on the fat side of a "normal" annual rainfall.<br />
<br />
Something I particularly appreciated was being at home during the rain. My work is normally quite insulated from weather, so it was nice to hear and see the rain falling. <br />
<br />
I doubt there's much rain left in the season, but it didn't disappoint. <br />
<pre> </pre>
<pre>Date Amount (in.) Cumulative
11/20/2019 0.53 0.53
11/21/2019 0.03 0.56
11/29/2019 1.88 2.44
12/1/2019 0.35 2.79
12/4/2019 1.02 3.81
12/7/2019 0.15 3.96
12/23/2019 3.29 7.25
12/24/2019 0.04 7.29
12/26/2019 1.69 8.98
1/17/2020 0.28 9.26
2/9/2020 0.13 9.39
2/10/2020 0.03 9.42
3/8/2020 0.05 9.47
3/10/2020 0.19 9.66
3/11/2020 0.02 9.68
3/12/2020 1.05 10.73
3/15/2020 0.35 11.08
3/17/2020 0.08 11.16
3/20/2020 0.16 11.32
3/23/2020 0.99 12.31
3/24/2020 0.01 12.32
4/6/2020 0.4 12.72
4/8/2020 0.4 13.12
4/9/2020 2.49 15.61
4/10/2020 0.32 15.93
</pre>
Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-11438210123565247102020-04-09T10:03:00.001-07:002020-04-09T10:03:06.124-07:000.40" of rain on 8 Apr. More on the wayOur rainfall total is up to 13.12" as of Wednesday the 8th. That's quite a nice amount for us. Rain continues this week - it's a cold storm, unusual for April, and the heater is on, mostly, while the rain falls though sometimes during interludes of sun the sliding door is wide open to the fantastic flower display in the back yard.<br />
<br />
<br />Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-81858135837819692342020-04-02T14:16:00.001-07:002020-04-03T09:29:10.932-07:00Engagement and being a citizenAs I write this, (April 2, 2020) we are in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, which seems like to disrupt the normal course of our lives for the next year or more. After you've taken care of yourself, your family, and your friends, I urge you to turn your thoughts to the institutions that you support. <br />
<br />
<i>Aside (skip this paragraph if you want): The title of this article taps into a feeling I have that societal engagement is part of a citizen's job and I credit the novel Corona virus
for giving me the space to articulate this thought on virtual
paper. I'll leave it at that, lest this paragraph become more weighty than the others. </i> <br />
<br />
I suspect that government and corporate grants will enter a down phase in the next year or two, so if you believe in a cause then you might want to consider investing in it. This doesn't have to be money, though that is sometimes the easiest investment. It could be a gift of your time to create a bit of content. It could be engagement by showing up at (virtual, for now) events or commenting on a blog post or news article. All of these activities are things I would consider investments but the sponsoring institution also sees as engagement, which is one metric that they will use assess success or failure, to solicit grants, or to sell advertising. It's one thing to count web traffic, but it's quite a bit more powerful to count people that are willing to pay to support you.<br />
<br />
Since this is a native plant blog, the examples below pull where they can from native plant and ecology-oriented examples.<br />
<br />
Change your CNPS membership into a <a href="https://www.cnps.org/give/recurring">sustaining monthly donation</a>. Why do a basic annual membership ($50) when you can donate starting at $5/mo as a Perennial Monthly Sustainer ($60 annually). As CNPS puts it, "[Monthly Sustainers] provide much-needed, predictable income for our programs. Your gift will be automatically repeated every month." Sometimes constancy trumps total value, as it allows year-round planning with a steady budget. Don't forget to patronize our local nurseries and other native plant institutions such as <a href="https://www.calbg.org/support/membership">Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden</a> (reciprocal membership policy gets you in free at other particiapating botanic gardens, including the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden) and <a href="https://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/donation.cgi">Cal Flora</a>.<br />
<br />
Donate to a local organization. Go big with an endowment in your will or go small by picking a favorite charity through smile.amazon.com. The <a href="https://pvplc.org/">Palos Verdes Land Conservancy</a> was my pick at <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/">smile.amazon.com</a>, which donates a portion of each purchase to the charity of your choice - smile requires that you use the web version of Amazon to pay, so if I'm on my phone I will fill my cart from the app, then log in through the browser to pay. At the opposite end of the spectrum is an end-of-life bequest. The SCCNPS was fortunate to receive such a bequest from the Conze estate, and has used it to good effect to promote native plant gardening.<br />
<br />
Engage directly with news media by visiting their web sites, commenting on articles, and most of all subscribing to a news service such as a newspaper or monthly journal. Journalism and research aren't cost free and a subscription supports this directly with the added benefit that it may get you past a pay wall to view more content. I subscribe to the LA Times since I support hometown journalism as well as High Country News, a western states monthly news magazine. Neither subscription is ghastly expensive and occasionally I give a bit more to HCN. But remember, even viewing the news and commenting could be valuable. Imagine in the newsroom: "Look boss, our article on California native plants got 1,500 more views and 20 more comments than expected! Let's feature more of that." If you are already a print subscriber to the LA Times, then I believe you can access the online version with no added cost. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/">LA Times</a> is running a limited time special right now - <a href="https://checkout2.latimes.com/MTRDWPMA20DI?pid=6746#int_source=on_site&int_medium=march_acquisition_toaster&int_campaign=8_weeks_for_one_dollar">8 weeks online subscription for $1</a>. <a href="https://www.hcn.org/">High Country News</a> has made their COVID-19 content free and offers a year of <a href="https://www.hcn.org/subscribe">magazine+online delivery for $37</a>.<br />
<br />
There are many other worthy organizations that I am sure I overlooked. Please comment with your own suggestions.Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-15616672069263956122020-03-24T09:29:00.000-07:002020-03-24T09:29:05.846-07:00Storm drops about 1" of rain; season total now 12.31"There's been a lot of news on my feed about continued drought in California, including the area that I live in (Coastal Los Angeles). However, my backyard tally shows that, at least locally, we are within normal amounts of rain. I'm well aware of the Sierra snowpack issues, but for those of you gardening with established, locally-native plants your watering needs for the year have been met.
Of course gardens don't necessarily need to look like they have dried up completely during the summer, so many native gardeners will add supplemental water to maintain some green. But consider that in a time of water scarcity, that this year we received enough as a gift from Nature.
Date Recorded Amount (in.)
11/20/2019 0.53
11/21/2019 0.03
11/29/2019 1.88
12/1/2019 0.35
12/4/2019 1.02
12/7/2019 0.15
12/23/2019 3.29
12/24/2019 0.04
12/26/2019 1.69
1/17/2020 0.28
2/9/2020 0.13
2/10/2020 0.03
3/8/2020 0.05
3/10/2020 0.19
3/11/2020 0.02
3/12/2020 1.05
3/15/2020 0.35
3/17/2020 0.08
3/20/2020 0.16
3/23/2020 0.99Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-16330261509245406132020-03-18T14:38:00.001-07:002020-03-18T14:40:27.298-07:00Rainfall total 11.16"I hope you are well <br />
<br />
Just the basics, today as with so many previous days. I'm maintaining the <a href="https://www.sccnps.org/">South Coast CNPS web site</a> these days too, and I find that I have little spare time. If you are here because I often post about native plants, take a look over there from time to time too. Content is being added and the site is evolving.<br />
<br />
<br />
<pre>Date Amount (in.) Cumulative
11/20/2019 0.53 0.53
11/21/2019 0.03 0.56
11/29/2019 1.88 2.44
12/1/2019 0.35 2.79
12/4/2019 1.02 3.81
12/7/2019 0.15 3.96
12/23/2019 3.29 7.25
12/24/2019 0.04 7.29
12/26/2019 1.69 8.98
1/17/2020 0.28 9.26
2/9/2020 0.13 9.39
2/10/2020 0.03 9.42
3/8/2020 0.05 9.47
3/10/2020 0.19 9.66
3/11/2020 0.02 9.68
3/12/2020 1.05 10.73
3/15/2020 0.35 11.08
3/17/2020 0.08 11.16 </pre>
<br />
<br />
More rain is on the way and the garden is already looking quite nice from the recent water.Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-61879096123210990542020-02-21T18:02:00.000-08:002020-02-21T18:02:07.388-08:00Spa!Earlier this year we took delivery of a pre-owned spa. I built a pad of crushed rock (roadbed) for it to sit on at one end of the garden. I spent a lot of time using a compactor (both a rented "hopper" from the local big box and a hand-driven plate compactor.
<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlhxCHgT_zsEFa64i8ZVcqYKp7c1o5Y6CGoKTKGiuUdg3gwrznoAj2x90wUIsAbdOfta3fYYObCQ839PA7170SLtbtzRFaUzR8SolT5xkCrhxA3_0FORY8E4WOpabba5aB4txONA/s1600/IMG_6298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlhxCHgT_zsEFa64i8ZVcqYKp7c1o5Y6CGoKTKGiuUdg3gwrznoAj2x90wUIsAbdOfta3fYYObCQ839PA7170SLtbtzRFaUzR8SolT5xkCrhxA3_0FORY8E4WOpabba5aB4txONA/s320/IMG_6298.JPG" width="240"></a></div>
<br>
This hard-working crew brought it into the yard. The guy with his back to us was the lead and he had three helpers. It came in on a plastic sled in order to clear the edge of the eave.<br>
<br>
<a href="https://bammorgan.blogspot.com/2020/02/spa.html#more">Read more »</a>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-26582323013891060952020-02-10T09:35:00.003-08:002020-02-10T09:35:39.718-08:000.16" rain; 9.42" rain for the seaon, so farSunday brought 0.16" rain split between the AM and Sunday night / Monday morning.<br />
<br />
<pre>Date Amount(in.) Cumulative
11/20/2019 0.53 0.53
11/21/2019 0.03 0.56
11/29/2019 1.88 2.44
12/1/2019 0.35 2.79
12/4/2019 1.02 3.81
12/7/2019 0.15 3.96
12/23/2019 3.29 7.25
12/24/2019 0.04 7.29
12/26/2019 1.69 8.98
1/17/2020 0.28 9.26
2/9/2020 0.13 9.39
2/10/2020 0.03 9.42
</pre>
<br />Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-44840986479558219532020-02-08T18:48:00.000-08:002020-02-08T18:48:17.542-08:00Garden engineering: Trellis and gateI label garden projects and thoughts about garden projects as "garden design".<br>
<br>
Sometimes, it's enough to take a picture to visualize how experienced gardeners implement projects.
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxZfPpmHXjo9WnnWty8knQCAOfaLo_V_iumgTAmwQr1Vxl4uZELEqgngPdJFseCQg55XZOXDG3HvLqjtid2vIwGS8nwgnvqTsbVqFPvT6YqlZ_CHBFdqR9Qik0x77CKuF-DgSxw/s1600/IMG_6004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxZfPpmHXjo9WnnWty8knQCAOfaLo_V_iumgTAmwQr1Vxl4uZELEqgngPdJFseCQg55XZOXDG3HvLqjtid2vIwGS8nwgnvqTsbVqFPvT6YqlZ_CHBFdqR9Qik0x77CKuF-DgSxw/s400/IMG_6004.JPG" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are Tayberry bushes (growth habit looks like a blackberry) in England. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
Of note is the wire (appears to be a medium gauge of galvanized), staple securing the wire and their method of keeping the uprights from bending inward. The garden timbers appear to be larger and longer than the commonly available 8' lengths in the US.<br>
<a href="https://bammorgan.blogspot.com/2020/02/garden-engineering-trellis-and-gate.html#more">Read more »</a>Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-13352937910054381092020-02-03T19:51:00.000-08:002020-02-03T19:51:02.871-08:00wild Gladiolus? No.When we asked we were told this beautiful plant was a "wild Gladiolus". Perhaps they have naturalized in Sissinghurst, which is where this photo was taken.
Web searches on "wild Gladiolus" don't immediately come back with an unambiguous identity, so I emailed Sissinghurst, who, everhelpful, corrected us.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07niF-_bllN8WxriDcLfrn9M0iOdooWev5ngXzOGh1y5PeS_rzKc5nK-bO3eqm7ZxmhU2PkjKX3JiY9pK7JehkWldtaV5dCiVQwQFwcJSVKTt8Tfa4utGDVQb6hJeR31WyTCUAg/s1600/IMG_6020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07niF-_bllN8WxriDcLfrn9M0iOdooWev5ngXzOGh1y5PeS_rzKc5nK-bO3eqm7ZxmhU2PkjKX3JiY9pK7JehkWldtaV5dCiVQwQFwcJSVKTt8Tfa4utGDVQb6hJeR31WyTCUAg/s400/IMG_6020.JPG" title="Dierama pulcherrimum at Sissinghurst" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Hi Brent,</i></div>
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<i>The plant you saw was Dierama pulcherrimum,
Hopefully, when you google it now, you will be able to see it. It’s a
lovely plant and easy to grow too.
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<i>Kind regards,</i></div>
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<i>Helen Champion</i><br />
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What a rewarding email to read. Indeed, Helen has it exactly right. It's also known as a Fairy Wand or Wand Plant according to Native Sons Nursery who seem to <a href="https://www.nativeson.com/product-search?search=dierama" target="_blank">occasionally stock it</a>.<br />
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See also <a href="https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Dierama" target="_blank">Pacific Bulb Society</a>.<br />
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It turns out to be a hard plant to find in my area. I have ordered one bare root plant and 20 seeds from out of state. We'll see how it goes. </div>
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Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-64115331038764105372020-01-24T16:49:00.000-08:002020-01-24T16:49:50.325-08:00Rain 0.28"1/17/2020 0.28"<br />
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We're now at 9.26" for the season, which is not a cause for panic or for joy.<br />
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As of today, the 10 day forecast has a few days with 10% chance of rain, so I'm not expecting much change in rain totals for the near future. <br />
<br />Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-67552691339123838632020-01-22T07:03:00.000-08:002020-01-22T07:03:07.262-08:00Malva propagation I waited for the easy time of year to make cuttings, soak, coat in Root Tone (use your preferred brand of rooting hormone) and place in small pots. Several days of rain shortly after kept them hydrated.<br />
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I place two or more cuttings per pot to allow for attrition.<br />
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<br />Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29504535.post-38210295262694105882020-01-19T19:23:00.000-08:002020-01-19T19:23:04.108-08:00Environmental timelineEnvironmental timeline<br />
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1600-1870 The number of buffaloes was almost always uncertain: observers used language like immense numbers, countless numbers, countless thousands, dense masses, one great mass, herds that blackened the plains, bulls roaring like distant thunder or like a river's rapids, bison in such numbers that they drink a river dry or the ground trembles with vibration when they move. The images were striking. The annual migration across the prairies awed all who experienced it. Estimates of numbers range widely. Some thought (clearly in error) that there were hundreds of millions of even billions; others estimated (far more reasonably) numbers at from 30 to 1000 million in A.D. 1500. Ernest Thompson Seton, the naturalist, was the first to estimate population on the basis of what was called "range allowance" (or carrying capacity) and settled on at least 60 million. Since his day the tendency has been to lower the estimates because bison were unevenly distributed over their range and because drought periodically struck the Plains. According to Dan Flores, an historian, no more than 30 million bison roamed the Plains prior to the arrival of the horse.<br />
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1641 -- The Massachusetts Bay Colony adopted as their Liberty 92 (of 100 "liberties" which were in fact the laws of the colony) the statement that "No man shall exercise any Tirrany or Crueltie towards any bruite Creature which are usuallie kept for man's use." This is the first humane law adopted by any western nation. (M. Clifton, 2007) (Also cited in US v Stevens, 2010).<br />
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1685 -- Jared Eliot. Born Nov. 7 (Died 22 Apr 1763)A physician, clergyman, physician, and agronomist, Eliot wrote Essays upon Field Husbandry about reducing inefficiency and waste in colonial American farming methods. He had first become concerned about soil when he noticed that water running from a bare hillside was muddy, unlike water running from grassy and forested areas. He conducted experiments such as plowing green crops back into the soil to enrich it, and planting grasses and legumes to make better pastures for livestock.<br />
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1690 --Colonial Governor William Penn requires Pennsylvania settlers to preserve one acre of trees for every five acres cleared<br />
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1706 -- Benjamin Franklin born January 17 in Boston, Mass. Franklin's concern for sanitation and pure drinking water was a part of his lifelong concern for the improvement of Philadelphia in "small matters." But Franklin also saw a larger question -- one of "public rights" as opposed to private rights -- in many of these controversies.<br />
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1723 -- Lead in alcohol stills causes serious stomach pains, a commission of inquiry learns. The commission, based in Boston, investigates complaints about New England rum from consumers in North Carolina. "It poisoned their people, giving them the Dry Bellyache," Benjamin Franklin said while describing the incident in a 1767 letter to a friend who was investigating a similar problem in Devonshire, England.<br />
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1739 -- Benjamin Franklin and neighbors petition Pennsylvania Assembly to stop waste dumping and remove tanneries from Philadelphia's commercial district. Foul smell, lower property values, disease and interference with fire fighting are cited. The industries complain that their rights are being violated, but Franklin argues for "public rights." Franklin and the environmentalists win a symbolic battle but the dumping goes on.<br />
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1762 --1769 -- Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution.<br />
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1773 -- William Bartram (1739-1823) American naturalist sets out on a five year journey through the US Southeast to describe wildlife and wilderness from Florida to the Mississippi. His book, Travels, is published in 1791 and becomes one of the early literary classics of the new United States of America. See the Travels of William Bartram web site.<br />
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1783 -- US diplomats make fishing rights in waters off Newfoundland a high priority in negotiations over independence from Britain.<br />
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1784 -- Benjamin Franklin notes that the switch from wood to coal had saved what remained of England's forests and he urged France and Germany to do the same.<br />
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1785 -- April 26 -- John James Audubon born in Les Cayes Haiti. He moved to Philadelphia in 1803 and failed at business during the depression of 1819. In 1826 the first edition of Birds of America, an ongoing collection of color engravings, was published in Scotland. He returned to America in 1839 to continue collecting and painting. He died in 1851. The Audubon Society, was founded in 1905 in his honor by George Bird Grinell. Also see Audubon Society biography.<br />
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1785 -- Thomas Jefferson publishes Notes on the State of Virginia which, in part, argues against the European superstition that the new continent had degenerate animals and plants. He writes about quadrupeds "not to produce a conclusion in favour of the American species, but to justify a suspension of opinion until we are better informed, and a suspicion in the mean time that there is no uniform difference in favour of either; which is all pretend."<br />
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1786 -- Charles Willson Peale opens a museum in Philadelphia displaying the first reconstructed skeleton of the "American mastodon" and other native animals, along with portraits he had painted of Washington, Jefferson and other revolutionary leaders.<br />
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1789 -- Benjamin Franklin leaves money in a widely publicized codicil to his will to build fresh water pipeline to Philadelphia due to the link between bad water and disease. Within a few years, one quarter of the population of the town dies in a yellow fever epidemic.<br />
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1790 -- Emergence in Vermont of the Dorrilites, a short-lived vegan sect which allegedly practiced "free love," and may have inspired both the Millerites, who became the Seventh Day Adventists, and Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. (M. Clifton, 2007)<br />
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1791-- The New York state assembly closes the hunting season on the heath hen. The species is extinct by the early 1900s.<br />
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1794-1851 -- Life of Sylvester Graham, U.S. Presbyterian minister and temperance crusader, who invented the Graham cracker as an alleged cure for lust. Sylvester Graham became a vegetarian circa 1826 under the influence of the Rev. William Metcalfe, founder of the first vegetarian church in Philadelphia. Metcalfe had been a member of the first vegetarian church in England, the Bible Christian Church founded by William Cowherd near Manchester in 1809. Graham's followers included William Alcott, M.D., the first prominent vegetarian in the Alcott family, cousin of Bronson Alcott.; pioneering newspaper publisher Horace Greeley; and Seventh Day Adventist Church builders Ellen and James White. Two others, John Harvey Kellogg, M.D., 1854-1941, and his brother W.K. Kellogg, 1860-1951, went on to invent and popularize peanut butter, corn flakes, granola, and soy milk. (M. Clifton, 2007)<br />
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1803 -- Louisiana Purchase finalized April 30. France sold 828,000 square miles stretching from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Idaho.<br />
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1803 -- May 3, Ralph Waldo Emerson born. Emerson writes Nature in 1836 and is a leader of the Transcendentalist movement that includes Coleridge, Byron, Shelly, Keats, Thoreau, Ruskin, Whitman and others. He died in 1882.<br />
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1804 -- John Pintard, first Health Inspector in U.S. appointed in New York in response to epidemics of yellow fever. From 1810 -- 1838, health inspectors are a branch of the police department with duties including environmental sanitation, vital statistics and law enforcement.<br />
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1804 -- Smoke in Pittsburgh -- Pittsburgh official Presley Neville wrote "the general dissatisfaction which prevails and the frequent complaints which are exhibited, in consequence of the Coal Smoke from many buildings in the Borough, particularly from smithies and blacksmith shops..." The smoke affected the "comfort, health and... peace and harmony" of the new city. As in most other cities, the remedy of the age was to build higher chimneys.<br />
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1804 -- May 14 -- Lewis and Clark expedition begins the journey up the Missouri River to explore the geography, flora and fauna of the interior of North America.<br />
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1805-1844 -- Life of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, better known as the Mormons. Smith wrote in his History of the Church that he "exhorted the brethren not to kill a serpent, bird, or an animal of any kind unless it became necessary in order to preserve ourselves from hunger." A later Mormon church president, Joseph F. Smith, wrote in Gospel Doctrine that, "I do not believe any man should kill animals or birds unless he needs them for food. I think it is wicked for men to thirst in their souls to kill almost everything which possesses animal life."<br />
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Industrial Revolution: 1810 - 1890<br />
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General:<br />
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Living conditions in urban areas horrify reform minded commissions in London in the 1840s and America in the 1850s and 60s. Progress is slow but the common interest in pure drinking water and sanitation is spurred by epidemics of typhoid and cholera.<br />
Water pollution carried disease, but no one knew exactly why until the 1880s. Some concerned reformers didn't wait for exact knowledge: John Snow, a London physician, traced a part of the cholera epidemic to a contaminated water pump in 1855.<br />
Smog episodes begin killing residents of large cities like London.<br />
Demands for conservation of wilderness areas accelerate with the felling of an enormous redwood, called the "Mother of the Forest" in 1851. The outrage over the act leads to calls for a national park system. <br />
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1817 -- U.S. Secretary of Navy authorized to reserve timber lands producing hardwoods for naval stores.<br />
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1818 -- Massachusetts bans the hunting of robins and horned larks, both popular foods, as a conservation measure.<br />
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1820s - Hudson River school of painting puts nature at the center of emerging American culture.<br />
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1823 -- James Fenimore Cooper writes The Pioneers, which contains the idea that humans should "govern the resources of nature by certain principles in order to conserve them."<br />
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1824 -- Farmer's Guide, published in Providence Rhode Island by Solomon and William Downs, discusses causes and remedies for erosion.<br />
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1827 -- John James Audubon begins work on his illustrated book, Birds of America.<br />
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1827-1915 -- Life of Ellen Gould (Harmon) White. An early convert of Seventh Day Adventist Church founder William Miller (1782-1849), she along with the other "Millerites" prepared for the "Second Coming of Jesus" in 1844. When the Second Coming did not come, Ellen White and her husband James White built the remnants of the sect into a substantial vegetarian religion. The Adventists have de-emphasized vegetarianism since her death, and the deaths of those who knew her, to the point that the majority of Adventists today are not vegetarian. (M. Clifton, 2007)<br />
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1828 -- New York passed the first U.S. state anti-cruelty law, followed by Massachusetts in 1835 and Connecticut and Wisconsin in 1838. Every state had an anti-cruelty law by 1913, including Alaska, whose first anti-cruelty law actually preceded statehood by 46 years. Obtaining meaningful enforcement in any state really only began in 1990, when a Massachusetts man became the first American known to have actually been jailed for abusing an individual animal. (M. Clifton, 2007)<br />
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1832 -- Arkansas Hot Springs established as a national reservation, setting a precedent for Yellowstone and eventually, a national park system.<br />
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1832 -- George Catlin, a U.S. artist and author, first proposes the idea of national parks encompassing major areas in which Indians and wild country could both be preserved. In the same decade ornithologist John James Audubon is arousing an interest in wildlife conservation. Catlin is two years into his artistic crusade to paint and document the lives of Native Americans. <br />
1833 – Buffalo extinct east of the Mississippi<br />
1835 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson writes the essay Nature, beginning an American tradition of Transcendentalism continued by Thoreau, Fuller, Walt Whitman and others.<br />
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The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit...<br />
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1838 -- April 21, John Muir born in Dunbar, Scotland.<br />
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1842 -- New York city physician John H. Griscom,, appointed inspector for the Board of Health, begins writing 'The Sanitary Condition of the Laboring Population of New York City." The report is among the first to outline the connection between poverty and disease. It especially condemned landlords who turned basements into "living graves for human beings." Filth from overused facilities was another cause of disease. Like his predecessors in New York, he argued for the elimination of common nuisances and the worst slums. But he also wanted reform -- universal sewer and water systems, regulations on housing cleanliness and density, and replacing politically appointed health wardens with medical experts empowered to make inspections and close down buildings. Griscom's reforms were politically unacceptable, and he was not reappointed. His report was reissued in 1845. Burrows and Wallace's book Gotham notes:<br />
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"Among Griscom's many striking departures from conventional bourgeois wisdom was his refusal to blame the poor for their wretched housing. He knew that lack of fresh water and adequate sanitation made it impossible for residents to keep clean and pious homes... On the other hand, he didn't blame the rich, as the reformers did. rather he appealed to them to provide decent housing, not just as "a measure of humanity, of justice to the poor,' but as a matter of self interest. Bad housing meant sick workers, and sick workers meant lower profits, higher relief outlays, and higher taxes... Griscom was convinced that such rational appeals would have weight because the problem seemed to stem from lack of understanding: 'One half of the world does not know how the other half lives.'"-- Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898, (Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 785.<br />
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1844 -- Formation of the New York State Association for the Preservation of Fish & Game, a distant ancestor of the National Wildlife Federation. In 1881 it hosted the massacre of 20,000 passenger pigeons--the last great flock netted in the wild--at a Coney Island fundraiser.<br />
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1845 -- Massachusetts Sanitary Commission formed; survey of Boston slums shows alarmingly high infant and maternal mortality rates as well as many communicable diseases. A second report by Lemuel Shattuck in 1850 confirms findings. In 1869 a the first state board of health is established.<br />
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1845 -- Mar. 18 -- Johnny Appleseed (John Chaptman) dies at age 70 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.. The legendary but real man planted apple trees across Ohio and Indiana for nearly 50 years.<br />
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1847 -- US Rep. George Perkins Marsh of Vermont notes destructive impact of people on the land in a set of speeches around the country. In 1864 he will publish Man and Nature: The Earth as Modified by Human Action.<br />
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1848 -- The year 1848 holds the same type of symbolic significance in world history as, for example, 1968 or 1989, in that great revolutions in human thought and organization took place. Since this occurred mostly in Europe, it went more or less unnoticed in US history. However, several web sites are devoted to the Spirit of 1848.<br />
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1848 -- American Medical Association formed with two main initial goals: license physicians and survey sanitary conditions across the U.S.<br />
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1848 -- Gold discovered at Sutter's Mill on California's American River.<br />
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1850 -- U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service founded; among the first attempts to regulate technology on behalf of public safety.<br />
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1852 -- "Mother of the Forest' -- a giant sequoia tree 300 feet high, 92 feet in circumference and about 2,500 years old -- is cut down for display in carnival sideshows. The tree was in Calaveras Grove, part of what will become Yosemite National Park. Public opinion is aroused by the act. Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, called it "vandalism" and "villainous speculation." Gleason's Pictorial, a popular Boston magazine, said, "To our mind, it seems a cruel idea, a perfect desecration, to cut down such a splendid tree... what in the world could have possessed any mortal to embark in such a speculation with this mountain of wood?"<br />
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1854 -- Walden by Henry David Thoreau is published. [ See The Thoreau Project at Northern Illinois University ]<br />
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1854 -- Tetraethyl lead (TEL) discovered by German chemist as a curiosity. It is first added to gasoline as an octane booster in 1921. Banned in the U.S. in 1986 and Europe in 2000, it takes until 2012 to have lead removed from gasoline in the developing world.<br />
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1855 -- First comprehensive city sewer plan in U.S. in Chicago. By 1905, all U.S. towns with population over 4,000 have city sewers. The Baltimore city sewer system, begun in 1915, is the last to be built.<br />
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1857 -- State of Vermont commissions study on depleted fish populations in Connecticut River. George Perkins Marsh gets the job.<br />
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1857 -- Frederick Law Olmstead appointed to develop New York's Central Park with space catering to all classes of people. Class mixing, he thought, could elevate the character of the poorer classes, especially if it occurred in properly designed environments like English style landscaped parks. Yet initially the park's rules banned all martial displays, civic processions and public oratory. And class mixing could hardly occur when the middle class moved through the park with horse and carriage while the poorer class walked. "Once again a cultural enterprise designed to mitigate the divisiveness of metropolitan life had served only to exacerbate it." (Burrows & Wallace, Gotham, p. 795).<br />
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1859, Aug. 25 -- Edwin L. Drake strikes oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania but kerosene sales start slowly since the market is already dominated by an alcohol-turpentine blend called camphene. (Whale oil by this time has become far too expensive and scarce to be widely used).<br />
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1860 -- San Francisco based journalist Thomas Starr King writes an eight article series on Yosemite for the Boston Evening Transcript. King was a champion of conservation and, after his death in 1864, a giant sequoia was named in his honor.<br />
1860s – Civil War: Throughout the South and onto its northern and western fringes where war raged, farms were mere clearings, small ones, usually, in a vast forested landscape that also sustained enormous damage. Soldiers were forester-engineers nearly everywhere—felling trees, stripping limbs, chaining trunks to horses and mules for snaking to campsites and fortifications, where winter quarters and breastworks were almost always made of logs. Artillery fire, especially during sieges and set battles between large forces, also destroyed trees. Forests. Edmund Ruffin and other eastern farmers lamented the disappearance of "good" trees long before the war. They meant deciduous hardwoods appropriate to building, especially fences. The typical southern farmer's shifting system of fieldmaking involved setting fire to the woods, cultivating the new field for a few years, abandoning it to a succession that in most places yielded loblolly pines, then returning to the original plot and firing it again. Deciduous trees had little or no time to mature and shade out the pines. So, if we share Ruffin's valuation of deciduous above coniferous trees, much of the South had been undergoing profound forest degradation for at least a thousand years, since Native Americans practiced fire/shifting culture before the Europeans and Africans arrived. The Civil War took (one can only guess) hundreds of thousands of trees of many species, pines especially<br />
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1862 -- US Dept. of Agriculture established. President Abraham Lincoln calls it "the people's department" since 90 percent of Americans at this time are farmers.<br />
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1863-64 Frederick Law Olmsted, already renowned as co-designer of Central Park in Manhattan, spent parts of 1863 and '64 in California, studying the Yosemite Valley and recommending a preservation plan to the state government.<br />
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1865 -- August -- A group of interested journalists and members of Congress, including Speaker of the House Schuyler Colrfax tour the new Yosemite Valley protected area. Springfield Republication editor Samuel Bowles said, upon seeing the region for the first time: "All that was mortal shrank back, and all that was immortal swept to the front and bent down in awe."<br />
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1866 -- The term Ecology is coined (in German as škologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (1834-1919) in his Generelle Morphologie der Organismen. Haeckel was an anatomist, zoologist, and field naturalist appointed professor of zoology at the Zoological Institute, Jena, in 1865. Haeckel was philosophically an enthusiastic Darwinian. Ecology is from the Greek oikos, meaning house or dwelling and logos, meaning discourse or study of a thing.<br />
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1867 -- March 23 -- Officials in Chicago open new waterworks valves to fanfare and celebration. The new system takes water from a point two miles out into Lake Michigan. Previously, drinking water had been taken from the Chicago River. "The sewers of the city discharged themselves into the river, and consequently the refuse of the city found its way to the water-works, and was re- distributed through the pipes, causing much inconvenience and ill-health. This became such an intolerable evil that it was resolved to secure pure water by other means..." Harpers Weekly April 20.<br />
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1869 -- John Muir begins his "Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf" -- The book, published in 1870, describes his "botanical excursion." By that time, Muir had moved to California, and most of his subsequent writings involved preservation of the western US.<br />
<br />Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com0