My father turned 70 this weekend, so my son and I visited Santa Barbara for the grand event. Dinner was a beef rib roast, Yorkshire pudding, salad, and asparagus. Cherries jubilee was dessert. Good stuff, and well appreciated by all.
Presents were minimal, as we were told the birthday boy was touchy about actually recognizing the day. We brought a nice card, ourselves, and some native plant materials for the upper 40 - a Lavatera (Tree mallow) in 5 gal pot and a new Quercus agrifolia (Coast live oak) sprout in a 1 gallon pot. I put in a couple hours planting 6 or 8 new oak sprouts (my father had his own, started from acorns), a couple new black sage plants (from cuttings off a nearby hiking trail), and the Lavatera. It's not exactly clear how well the natives (other than oaks) are received, but I think they've proven their mettle over the past year and something needs to be done to plant that hill. The neighbor thinks that he's adding value by watering the ivy.
When I was growing up, it was just my brothers and I who did the heavy yard work. Now my parents pay a gardener to do the parts of the yard that they see on a regular basis. The areas farther away don't get all the attention they need.
Back on the present theme, I didn't manage to come through in time with the hand made wooden sign indicating "Private Drive", though I now have the router tooling to make it and plan to do so presently. For birthday 71, I could make "Keep off the grass", and for birthday 72 I could consider the merits of a simple, "Keep Out!". After that, I'm sure it will devolve into the usual "Trespassers Will Be Shot" followed by "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter" and maybe a sign giving actual misdirections farther down the road. Curmudgeonly behavior runs in the family, so I should start now on my own signs - they're sounding like they could be useful.
2008-02-18
2008-02-14
Rain ~0.01"; season total = 11.48"
Light rain fell this AM. It was enough to wet the ground and make a few puddles, but not enough to register on my rain gauge, so I'll assign it a hundredth of an inch.
Sometimes weather is science, but other times it's plain old weather.
Sometimes weather is science, but other times it's plain old weather.
2008-02-13
Local high schools
2000 Census map (use to map schools within districts and demographic info)
Torrance (district maps)
West High
South High
Palos Verdes (District office) (PV residents attend either high school)
PV High
Peninsula High
El Segundo High
Redondo Beach (district map)
Redondo Union High (very large)
San Pedro High (by reputation, not personally known. In LAUSD)
Lomita
Narbonne High (Magnet programs)
Torrance (district maps)
West High
South High
Palos Verdes (District office) (PV residents attend either high school)
PV High
Peninsula High
El Segundo High
Redondo Beach (district map)
Redondo Union High (very large)
San Pedro High (by reputation, not personally known. In LAUSD)
Lomita
Narbonne High (Magnet programs)
2008-02-11
Jury duty
I put in my jury service today. Los Angeles has a one-day-one-trial system, so you call in for a week and show up only if told to via phone. I wasn't chosen for any trials, so I'm done for the next 364 days. The one jury for which I could have been selected had Christopher Darden as defense attorney. When introduced to the potential jurors, he stood up and said hello with friendly smile and a sort of bow.
I noticed that most of my fellow jurors were white, with the rest black and asian. Most jurors looked over 35. I saw few hispanics, though of course that observation conflates ethnicity with race. Nonetheless, it didn't seem too representative of Los Angeles.
We were categorized in three groups - those who's employer would pay for unlimited days of service, those who had employers that would pay for a limited number of days (between 1 and 300), and those who had employers couldn't or wouldn't pay them for jury service (including self employed and unemployed).
Surprisingly, the unlimited service pool was the largest by far, the limited service pool smallest, and uncompensated split the difference. I was in the limited pool (my employer has a stated policy of 10 days paid service, though I've heard they will go higher at a judge's request).
I noticed that most of my fellow jurors were white, with the rest black and asian. Most jurors looked over 35. I saw few hispanics, though of course that observation conflates ethnicity with race. Nonetheless, it didn't seem too representative of Los Angeles.
We were categorized in three groups - those who's employer would pay for unlimited days of service, those who had employers that would pay for a limited number of days (between 1 and 300), and those who had employers couldn't or wouldn't pay them for jury service (including self employed and unemployed).
Surprisingly, the unlimited service pool was the largest by far, the limited service pool smallest, and uncompensated split the difference. I was in the limited pool (my employer has a stated policy of 10 days paid service, though I've heard they will go higher at a judge's request).
2008-02-10
$10k kitchen remodel
Kathy at Pardon Our Dust points out the blog for a $10k kitchen remodel. Perhaps I can glean some tips.
Seeds
Seeds from Theodore Payne arrived on Friday: Dodecatheon clevelandii (sometimes Shooting Star or Padre's Shooting Star), Linum lewisii (blue flax), Clatonia perfoliata (Miners' lettuce). I'm late to plant these this year, but I figure I'll give them a try anyway. One more good series of rain storms will get them off to a sound start.
2008-02-09
Visit to Tree of Life Nursery; Sailing
Juli and I visited Tree of Life Nursery on the way to go sailing with Warren, Doris, Ken, and Mylena. I purchased Salvia apiana, another white-leaved Salvia apiana x leucophylla "Desperado" and a few others. I bought the Salvia apiana with the purpose of putting it in front of the front porch in place of the Morea. I actually wanted two, but allowed myself to be talked in the "Desperado" so that I could make the comparison and pick a winner. I figure that I can propagate the one I prefer more from cuttings.
The other purchases are mostly low growing natives that I'll try out as ground covers in the back yard. I looked into the sedges (praegracillus has recently been , but the water requirements all seemed a bit high for me, so acting upon some advice from Nursery Staff, I'll try a low growing Salvia (not "Bees Bliss" - they were out) and two Arctostaphylos. I'm having trouble remembering what I bought. There's no itemized receipt and ToL Nursery has a habit of not putting plant ID in or on the containers. There was a help yourself plant ID stake pile at the register. I guess using those could have addressed this problem.
Sailing was good, though winds were low during this unseasonably warm weather. We saw a small whale about 40' away. He easily outswam us because of the low winds.
The other purchases are mostly low growing natives that I'll try out as ground covers in the back yard. I looked into the sedges (praegracillus has recently been , but the water requirements all seemed a bit high for me, so acting upon some advice from Nursery Staff, I'll try a low growing Salvia (not "Bees Bliss" - they were out) and two Arctostaphylos. I'm having trouble remembering what I bought. There's no itemized receipt and ToL Nursery has a habit of not putting plant ID in or on the containers. There was a help yourself plant ID stake pile at the register. I guess using those could have addressed this problem.
Sailing was good, though winds were low during this unseasonably warm weather. We saw a small whale about 40' away. He easily outswam us because of the low winds.
2008-02-08
Islands of Los Angeles
Some circuitous clicking around the blogosphere led me to Islands of LA, a guerrilla gardening / counter culture public art endeavor.
ISLANDS OF LA is revitalizing public space by turning traffic islands into territories of art that generate cultural interchanges.
The South Bay probably isn't hip enough to get cool art insurrection like this, but it's nice to read about it. Some local traffic islands are landscaped and others are just stamp-crete or worse. As mentioned in the previous post, nearby City of Lawndale actually had Astroturf medians until 1999 or so. My own neighborhood had broken and uplifted asphalt until last year.
ISLANDS OF LA is revitalizing public space by turning traffic islands into territories of art that generate cultural interchanges.
The South Bay probably isn't hip enough to get cool art insurrection like this, but it's nice to read about it. Some local traffic islands are landscaped and others are just stamp-crete or worse. As mentioned in the previous post, nearby City of Lawndale actually had Astroturf medians until 1999 or so. My own neighborhood had broken and uplifted asphalt until last year.
2008-02-07
Henderson lecture at ECHS
I went to a lecture tonight by Brad and Amy Henderson, who restored the land around their family home in Lawndale to riparian, dune, and coastal scrub habitat as well as adding sustainable food production. They spoke at the Environmental Charter School, recently relocated next door to the "Henderson Habitat" at the former Betsy Ross School. I stumbled across the Henderson lecture announcement on the LA Times green blog, Emerald City, which I hadn't bothered to read until today. I'll have to make a point of browsing it occasionally.
About 10 or 12 people were in attendance. They didn't all look like teachers, but they did all have the rapt focus and high energy of the true believer. I thought it was a little odd at first since my other exposures to native plant folks have been to people with a gardening fixation, which doesn't generally come with the same flavor of Kool Aid. The mood tonight definitely mixed a bit of revival meeting (I felt a few suppressed "Amens!" and "You go, brothers"), some hippy idealism, and political activism in a happy way. The mood was contagious and I left (a little early, unfortunately, since I would have loved to stay and talk) topped off with good vibrations and feeling at karmic peace. ;-)
One of Brad and Amy's most uplifting stories about their habitat was the spontaneous re-appearance of nearly extirpated wildlife. Lawndale is poorly named - there's hardly any green space in town, the houses mostly sit cheek by jowl on perhaps 35' wide lots, and what little yard space there is tends to be bright green Marathon Sod and concrete. Until 1999 or so, many of the medians were covered in Astroturf! Imagine the Henderson's surprise to find a pair of Western Toads (?might have remembered the name incorrectly) had quickly found, inhabited, and reproduced in a pond that they installed. (They even had toad porn video!) Where in that concrete jungle could they have been hiding? Also making an appearance was the rare Acmon blue butterfly, now regularly spotted in their yard, as well as various rare birds that normally wouldn't like such an urban environment as Lawndale. This parallels my experience with increasing amounts of remnant wildlife finding its niche in my yard.
Apparently there's a move afoot at next door ECHS to green the campus, and they were ecstatic to be moving in next to a real green revolutionary. But like ships passing in the night, Brad and Amy had already left for greener pastures and a job with the Forest Service elsewhere. Tonight they happened to be in town on business and were able to make the connection with the school. Their home and the land around it is currently occupied by a tenant, who also was at the lecture. He sounded appreciative to have the opportunity to live in the habitat.
It would be a shame for the City of Lawndale to lose this habitat. Perhaps forward-thinking folks of Lawndale might offer to buy the property as a preserve and historic site if it ever comes up for sale.
About 10 or 12 people were in attendance. They didn't all look like teachers, but they did all have the rapt focus and high energy of the true believer. I thought it was a little odd at first since my other exposures to native plant folks have been to people with a gardening fixation, which doesn't generally come with the same flavor of Kool Aid. The mood tonight definitely mixed a bit of revival meeting (I felt a few suppressed "Amens!" and "You go, brothers"), some hippy idealism, and political activism in a happy way. The mood was contagious and I left (a little early, unfortunately, since I would have loved to stay and talk) topped off with good vibrations and feeling at karmic peace. ;-)
One of Brad and Amy's most uplifting stories about their habitat was the spontaneous re-appearance of nearly extirpated wildlife. Lawndale is poorly named - there's hardly any green space in town, the houses mostly sit cheek by jowl on perhaps 35' wide lots, and what little yard space there is tends to be bright green Marathon Sod and concrete. Until 1999 or so, many of the medians were covered in Astroturf! Imagine the Henderson's surprise to find a pair of Western Toads (?might have remembered the name incorrectly) had quickly found, inhabited, and reproduced in a pond that they installed. (They even had toad porn video!) Where in that concrete jungle could they have been hiding? Also making an appearance was the rare Acmon blue butterfly, now regularly spotted in their yard, as well as various rare birds that normally wouldn't like such an urban environment as Lawndale. This parallels my experience with increasing amounts of remnant wildlife finding its niche in my yard.
Apparently there's a move afoot at next door ECHS to green the campus, and they were ecstatic to be moving in next to a real green revolutionary. But like ships passing in the night, Brad and Amy had already left for greener pastures and a job with the Forest Service elsewhere. Tonight they happened to be in town on business and were able to make the connection with the school. Their home and the land around it is currently occupied by a tenant, who also was at the lecture. He sounded appreciative to have the opportunity to live in the habitat.
It would be a shame for the City of Lawndale to lose this habitat. Perhaps forward-thinking folks of Lawndale might offer to buy the property as a preserve and historic site if it ever comes up for sale.
2008-02-05
More on poppies
An article in Sign On San Diego has a few more tidbits on the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica).
...researcher Curtis Clark of Cal Poly Pomona has studied California poppies since the mid 1970s. He explains that there are four basic groups of California poppies, each with its own geographical range. Only the inland varieties bloom all at once in massive displays that from a distance might be mistaken for fire. While coastal varieties have equally beautiful flowers...
...Interestingly, the Russians are responsible for the California poppy's botanical name.
In 1815, the ex-Chancellor of Russia sent an expedition in search of a waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Among the explorers were a French nobleman and naturalist named Adelbert von Chammisso, and a German entomologist and surgeon named Johann Fredrich Eschscholtz.
In October 1816, the ship reached San Francisco where Chammisso found poppies still in bloom. He collected specimens, which he later described in the scientific literature and named for his good friend Eschscholtz.
Chammisso "Latinized" Eschscholtz to create the genus name Eschscholzia. He gave the poppies the species name californica for their native land.
...researcher Curtis Clark of Cal Poly Pomona has studied California poppies since the mid 1970s. He explains that there are four basic groups of California poppies, each with its own geographical range. Only the inland varieties bloom all at once in massive displays that from a distance might be mistaken for fire. While coastal varieties have equally beautiful flowers...
...Interestingly, the Russians are responsible for the California poppy's botanical name.
In 1815, the ex-Chancellor of Russia sent an expedition in search of a waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Among the explorers were a French nobleman and naturalist named Adelbert von Chammisso, and a German entomologist and surgeon named Johann Fredrich Eschscholtz.
In October 1816, the ship reached San Francisco where Chammisso found poppies still in bloom. He collected specimens, which he later described in the scientific literature and named for his good friend Eschscholtz.
Chammisso "Latinized" Eschscholtz to create the genus name Eschscholzia. He gave the poppies the species name californica for their native land.
2008-02-03
All things Scottish at Burns' Night
Juli, my son, and I went to Burns Night celebration hosted by Richard and Maribeth.
The evening featured a dramatic reading of "Ode to a Haggis", Robert Burns' poetic salute to the common Scotsman, a blind scotch tasting, yummy persimmon cake, spotted dick, and other snacks both Scottish and not. I don't think that neeps and tatties were served, though I could be wrong.
The evening featured a dramatic reading of "Ode to a Haggis", Robert Burns' poetic salute to the common Scotsman, a blind scotch tasting, yummy persimmon cake, spotted dick, and other snacks both Scottish and not. I don't think that neeps and tatties were served, though I could be wrong.
Rain 0.8"
0.8" fell in the early morning today. At times the rainfall was heavy. The storm seems to have passed for now, though forecasts call for showers all day. This was very nice storm for us - not so much that we had flooding and mudslides in the burned areas and not so little that the effects will vanish in a couple days.
Native plants class by Connie Vadheim; California poppies;
My son and I attended a 90 minute class taught by Connie Vadheim at the Madrona Marsh. My son brought a book to read but ended up being interested in the class enough to watch the slide show. The class focussed on blue and purple native plants in the garden, particularly some California native annual wildflowers. The focus of the class was on flower color (sometimes in counterpoint to foliage color, but this wasn't the main emphasis). While I don't agree that flower color is of primary importance in the garden - I think foliage and structure have greater importance - it was a good class for me because it started with basic concepts that I don't use routinely (color wheel) and set forth many examples of differing uses of color. After class we toured the adjacent demonstration gardens and Connie pointed out some of the plants she had spoken about during class and answered questions about native plants in general. There were only a few plants in bloom at this time of year. In a month, watch out!
She hadn't planned to speak on California poppies, but since there were quite a few in bloom she seized the opportunity to strongly emphasize that the proper selection for this region is not the completely orange variety, but the maritime / coastal form with an orange center, fading to yellow-orange at the edges. Last year I had both varieties in my yard. This year I have many more plants (but with indeterminate genetic provenance as they are all from last year's self-pollinated seed).
I noted that I had observed that the maritime form (orange to yellow-orange) seemed to hold its petals better in our daily coastal breeze. The orange variety seems to lose them almost as soon as it blooms in my yard. This appeared to be a new observation to her. If so, maybe it's worth doing an experiment - they are probably well suited to do this in her greenhouse at CSUDH.
Different poppy forms might hybridize with each other, so planting the orange form on the coast could do damage to the gene pool of any wild ones that still remain. This issue remains a secondary or tertiary concern for the community of native plant lovers it seems, since the primary issue of public acceptance of a native plant ethos is still a running battle in many communities. Certainly, it's not my primary concern, though I now feel obligated to take a close look at my poppies and root out any that aren't the maritime form before they spread their seeds. Maybe the way to do this is to clip the flowers for indoor display, then at the end of the season rip all the plants out and start over next year.
Judith Larner Lowery of Larner Seeds has written a blog about poppies which has a nice picture of the maritime form. She points out that despite widespread knowledge that all poppies are not the same, that no distinction currently exists between the 70!! different identified subspecies of poppy. The implication is that a distinction previously existed. Interesting.
It has been so interesting to grow our own form on the coast. As a perennial, it behaves quite differently from the annual inland orange form (I am referring to them as "forms" since the subspecies have been eliminated taxonomically, at least for the moment). The tap root can get immense, as long as two feet, and thick as a baseball bat (which we have experimentally used it as).
In dry years, it flourishes, and I used to worry that it was too aggressive, eliminating other wildflowers. Then I observed that in wet years, it was substantially knocked back, because it doesn't like wet feet. Now I just relax, counting on an ebb and flow of the coastal form of the California poppy, so that it is only one element among many in the garden.
A plant that caught my eye in the demonstration garden was a Narrowleaf Willow (likely Salix exigua??). What I liked about it was that the shrubs grew with a bamboo-like structure by underground runners to about 10' maximum height, forming a nice partial screen. The tree is deciduous so leaves were sparse this time of year, but those remaining on its open structure gave it a very spare and Asian feel.
After class there was a very small native plant sale. I spent $10 and bought some tiny seedlings of Nemophila menziesii (Baby Blue Eyes) and Phaecelia tanacetifolia (Tansey-leaf Phacealia) and a 1 gal Epilobium californica, canum(?) (California Fuschia. Formerly / presently? named Zauschneria which is one example among many of how the dog latin names really aren't so exact and invariant after all.).
My son and I put the Nemophila into the ground at the shade margin under the bottle brush tree in the back yard and the Phaecelia (spelled Phacelia elsewhere in this blog) went into the front yard meadow where it joined a few left over ones that sprouted from last year's seed. The Epilobium went next to the fence / composter in the newly-redefined back yard border region. It joins several companions on the far side of the yard in a design effort focussed on repetition. Adding to the repetition theme was four Blue Eyed Grass seedlings that I'd rescued from certain smothering death in the front yard that also got planted out in the new backyard border area. The planting was timely, since it rained last night and there's nothing like a good soaking rain to get your California natives off to a good start.
We also worked on the back yard border. I've run into some of my construction debris at one end, so we started from the other, making good progress. This was a good choice since you can now stand on my patio and see brick border out of the corner of either eye. The border vanishes behind the debris pile (where it remains to be completed), but the visual impact of the perceived continuity of the border (more design awareness - heh, I'm getting better and better at this stuff) makes a huge difference in how one sees the whole of the back yard.
When I'm done with the border I'll have plenty of brick left over for paths or whatever. I've never liked the brick half-facade on the front of my house, but maybe part of the reason that it isn't convincing is because there aren't enough bricks to make the case that it was more than just cheap and minimal window dressing. Of course the brick facade is cheap and minimal, with an annoying height change, but with a critical mass of brick in both the landscape and house I would bet that there will be a sense of continuity between the two. Furthermore, with more brick in play visually, one might begin to believe that whomever put them there had at least a sincere commitment. Or needed to be committed.
I hope this isn't rationalizing a bad design choice, since I have collected and salvaged many bricks which are stacked in my side yard. I really don't have a more economical choice.
She hadn't planned to speak on California poppies, but since there were quite a few in bloom she seized the opportunity to strongly emphasize that the proper selection for this region is not the completely orange variety, but the maritime / coastal form with an orange center, fading to yellow-orange at the edges. Last year I had both varieties in my yard. This year I have many more plants (but with indeterminate genetic provenance as they are all from last year's self-pollinated seed).
I noted that I had observed that the maritime form (orange to yellow-orange) seemed to hold its petals better in our daily coastal breeze. The orange variety seems to lose them almost as soon as it blooms in my yard. This appeared to be a new observation to her. If so, maybe it's worth doing an experiment - they are probably well suited to do this in her greenhouse at CSUDH.
Different poppy forms might hybridize with each other, so planting the orange form on the coast could do damage to the gene pool of any wild ones that still remain. This issue remains a secondary or tertiary concern for the community of native plant lovers it seems, since the primary issue of public acceptance of a native plant ethos is still a running battle in many communities. Certainly, it's not my primary concern, though I now feel obligated to take a close look at my poppies and root out any that aren't the maritime form before they spread their seeds. Maybe the way to do this is to clip the flowers for indoor display, then at the end of the season rip all the plants out and start over next year.
Judith Larner Lowery of Larner Seeds has written a blog about poppies which has a nice picture of the maritime form. She points out that despite widespread knowledge that all poppies are not the same, that no distinction currently exists between the 70!! different identified subspecies of poppy. The implication is that a distinction previously existed. Interesting.
It has been so interesting to grow our own form on the coast. As a perennial, it behaves quite differently from the annual inland orange form (I am referring to them as "forms" since the subspecies have been eliminated taxonomically, at least for the moment). The tap root can get immense, as long as two feet, and thick as a baseball bat (which we have experimentally used it as).
In dry years, it flourishes, and I used to worry that it was too aggressive, eliminating other wildflowers. Then I observed that in wet years, it was substantially knocked back, because it doesn't like wet feet. Now I just relax, counting on an ebb and flow of the coastal form of the California poppy, so that it is only one element among many in the garden.
A plant that caught my eye in the demonstration garden was a Narrowleaf Willow (likely Salix exigua??). What I liked about it was that the shrubs grew with a bamboo-like structure by underground runners to about 10' maximum height, forming a nice partial screen. The tree is deciduous so leaves were sparse this time of year, but those remaining on its open structure gave it a very spare and Asian feel.
After class there was a very small native plant sale. I spent $10 and bought some tiny seedlings of Nemophila menziesii (Baby Blue Eyes) and Phaecelia tanacetifolia (Tansey-leaf Phacealia) and a 1 gal Epilobium californica, canum(?) (California Fuschia. Formerly / presently? named Zauschneria which is one example among many of how the dog latin names really aren't so exact and invariant after all.).
My son and I put the Nemophila into the ground at the shade margin under the bottle brush tree in the back yard and the Phaecelia (spelled Phacelia elsewhere in this blog) went into the front yard meadow where it joined a few left over ones that sprouted from last year's seed. The Epilobium went next to the fence / composter in the newly-redefined back yard border region. It joins several companions on the far side of the yard in a design effort focussed on repetition. Adding to the repetition theme was four Blue Eyed Grass seedlings that I'd rescued from certain smothering death in the front yard that also got planted out in the new backyard border area. The planting was timely, since it rained last night and there's nothing like a good soaking rain to get your California natives off to a good start.
We also worked on the back yard border. I've run into some of my construction debris at one end, so we started from the other, making good progress. This was a good choice since you can now stand on my patio and see brick border out of the corner of either eye. The border vanishes behind the debris pile (where it remains to be completed), but the visual impact of the perceived continuity of the border (more design awareness - heh, I'm getting better and better at this stuff) makes a huge difference in how one sees the whole of the back yard.
When I'm done with the border I'll have plenty of brick left over for paths or whatever. I've never liked the brick half-facade on the front of my house, but maybe part of the reason that it isn't convincing is because there aren't enough bricks to make the case that it was more than just cheap and minimal window dressing. Of course the brick facade is cheap and minimal, with an annoying height change, but with a critical mass of brick in both the landscape and house I would bet that there will be a sense of continuity between the two. Furthermore, with more brick in play visually, one might begin to believe that whomever put them there had at least a sincere commitment. Or needed to be committed.
I hope this isn't rationalizing a bad design choice, since I have collected and salvaged many bricks which are stacked in my side yard. I really don't have a more economical choice.
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