new plants like Alyogyne ‘Ruth Bancroft’ settling in for a good soak. Trunk on the left is sprawling Yucca ‘Magenta Magic’
Because so rare, rain is a big deal in Southern California and stirs up intense feelings. Will it be too much? Not enough? Will the roads flood? Will there be mudslides? Will it be more than we can handle or a disappointing nonevent? Whether it fills you with dread, annoyance or excitement, rain has come to town again this week, the debut of the Lunar New Year, and settled in as a slick backdrop to daily life. And daily life has become vibrantly colorized by neighborhood festivities celebrating the Year of the Horse.
Yucca ‘Magenta Magic’
A full day of rain on Monday was spent in the garden office, door open, me on a divan with a laptop to scroll news (will SCOTUS weigh in on tariffs finally?) but mostly staring through the doorway at the changing patterns of rain and wind and marveling at the novelty of precipitation in the garden. There was some excited whooping when the downpour became so intense on the galvanized pergola roof as to drown out conscious thought. Billie chose a lookout spot half in the office, half in the garden, paws on the doorsill, nose in the rain-fresh air. (After an early morning encounter about a week ago, she still smells slightly of skunk when her fur is wet but not much worse than tulbaghia/society garlic at this point.) Marty sits at his computer desk checking news, tackling the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzles, getting ready for taxes.
Aeoniums love the winter rain. What I’ve considered Aeonium balsamiferum is probably something else. This slow-growing aeonium has always remained a prostrate ground cover, whereas the Balsam Houseleek is supposedly shrublike. I’ve had this aeonium for aeons, growing with (and smothering) ledebouria
Begonia ‘Spirit of Pemba’ still in a nursery gallon, responding to the rain
Tuesday was dry, so we headed out for walks and to check out the local Vietnamese temple in full regalia for the Year of the Horse, following the scent of astonishing amounts of free food being prepped and cooked in covered but open air kitchens. Perfect weather for pho. On the walk Billie enthusiastically drinks from the abundant puddles, as if it’s her only source of water. Must be an evolutionary hangover for her.
at the temple which draws devotees from miles away. Parking in the neighborhood is severely impacted during week-long festivities. Long Beach saw a significant influx of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees in the ’80s and ’90s in a diaspora known in shorthand as the “boat people” — LB has the largest Cambodian population outside Southeast Asia.
temple-goers walking down our street this week
a small glimpse of the extensive outdoor kitchen on the temple grounds
Attributed to the imperial court painter Han Gan of the Tang dynasty, Night-Shining White is widely regarded as one of the most important horse paintings in Chinese art history, and one of the few surviving examples from the Tang era. From Artnet’s “It’s the Year of the Horse! Here Are 6 Iconic Horse Works From Throughout Art History”).
Overnight rain Tuesday/Wednesday leaves some remnant small puddles in the morning. A possum on the fence caught out after sunrise was a noteworthy occurrence for Billie. Wednesday was all turbulent wind, no rain.
new growth of purple tradescantia color-bombs Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’
with flowers about an inch and a half across, this very non-florist-like gerbera showed promise for more naturalistic plantings. Planted early 2025, It appeared either dead or dormant last fall after a dry summer but has rebounded with the rain — didn’t record the name, something silly and forgettable no doubt
looking mid garden to the east fence — there’s no more moves to make! Newly planted shrubs this visit are Leucadendron ‘Ebony’ (again), Phyllica pubescens (again), and Alyogyne ‘Ruth Bancroft’ (again). It took a lot of pondering to find full sun for all three, avoiding the winter shade band. ‘Ebony’ is dark smudge lower left, near the pewter bush Strobilanthes gossypina. All the agaves pictured are variants of attenuata except distant Agave ellemeetiana, which is similar to attenuata except it does not trunk. Some of the easiest, most neglectable plants in the garden.
Leucadendron ‘Ebony’ in particular is tricky to site. Backlighting helps offset a potential black hole effect from such dark leaves
At Natural History Museum studying bugs in habitat — just kidding, what draws kids in more than spiders having a tea party?
Thursday was a good solid day of rain that we mostly spent at the Natural History Museum with lunch at the Michelin-starred food court Holbox.
Friday and Saturday were dry. Taxes are done. SCOTUS ruled on tariffs fwiw. And I finally had a fish taco to love since my go-to source closed. Dry for now but maybe more rain next week. Lunar New Year festivities end with the Lantern Festival on March 3. More soon, AGO.
