Backyard Blooms!

[sluckey]

I forgot to take another pic of the Satsumas on the tree. But here are two big'uns that I just picked. The angle of the pic makes them look huge! But they are really only the size of a softball. Very tasty!

[scstill]

Hike to Mt Wilson Yesterday yielded a great Fern forest
Limited view (in clouds) and the large telescope

[shooter]

really like ferns, we've got a section between the swamp and "high ground" that loads up every year.   they grow to near waist-high, most are "cinnamon" ferns


EDIT
wintering over

[scstill]

That's a great view.
I am from Michigan too many years ago (left to leave snow) but never lived with the ferns
need a cabin in the woods by water

[shooter]

 
the way the economy is crashing, thinking i'll sell the house for scrap, cut down all the red pine I planted 30 years ago and build a cabin


those ferns grow in a very narrow band, maybe 50' deep and 300' long, they are one of the properties "treasures"

[scstill]

This week's hike yields some nice Christmastime blooms.
Big rain coming will green even more
Unusual for Prickly to flower this time of year

[Lectroid]

@scstill,

Great pictures from your hikes, especially the shot of Santiago Peak.  I grew up in the Newport-Costa Mesa area and Saddleback was always just there, dominating the scenery. The plant life pics show off the true desert climate.  People in the east don't often get that--how dry Southern California is.  But to me it just looks like home.  Thanks for sharing.

[shooter]

winter hope, real nice heavy snow last night

[sluckey]

Kumquats are ready! Size ranges from 1" to 1-3/4".

[scstill]

Kumquats are ready! Size ranges from 1" to 1-3/4".

I have a tiny Kumquat tree. Will have maybe two dozen fruits in January (I hope)
I love making marmalade.

I also have a issue with ring worms and citrus leaf curl. Any suggestions? I have sprayed with diluted dish soap.

[sluckey]

I have some leaf curl on my satsumas (larger leaves than kumquat). I've read a lot of stuff about it but the advice I decided to follow was don't worry about it. Sure enough, most of the curly leaves eventually straighten out and look like other healthy leaves. I'm not familiar with ring worms.

[scstill]

The plant life pics show off the true desert climate.  People in the east don't often get that--how dry Southern California is.  But to me it just looks like home.

Here is my Green Hike yesterday in Whiting.
More rain today means more green tomorrow.
Maybe less drought in '23

[shooter]

nice,
I start counting the days to green once the Sun stops running away and starts moving back north 

[PRR]

.... issue with ring worms...

I thought Ringworm was a skin condition, related to jock-itch and athlete's foot. That pets may have to be put-down for ringworm. It turns out it can also hide in soil as spores. And I doubt dish-soap does anything at all for virus spores.

IMHO : you got ringworm on your people or critters, consult the appropriate doctor and do ALL the prescribed treatment. And you also want to treat the soil, but this field is ripe for useless "cures". Usually state agencies have the most un-biased information. Also your agriculture extension office will know the local conditions: season, time and dosage, banned chemicals...

[scstill]

whoops, I mis-spoke, it is leafminers, sorry.

"Citrus leafminer larvae feed by creating shallow tunnels, or mines, in young leaves of citrus trees. The pest is most commonly found on citrus."

There is lots of info on control so I will get a true insecticide for that purpose

[scstill]

I grew up in the Newport-Costa Mesa area and Saddleback was always just there, dominating the scenery. The plant life pics show off the true desert climate.  People in the east don't often get that--how dry Southern California is.  But to me it just looks like home.

Hey Lectroid
The rain came and covered Saddleback. Thought you would like this pic.
Saddleback is only about 5500' so it's rare to get snow.
Should stick for a few days. Hopefully I can get up there.

[PRR]

> leafminers

Ah. Those don't infest people/pets, do they?

My mom's poor little 'orange' tree has had some kinda leaf tunnelers for 30 years, no problem. (The "poor" is that it is over 60 years old, hardly 2 foot high, and hasn't had fruits in decades.) But they don't look like the pics of Citrus leafminer that I see; there may be various bugs that mine leaves.

[Lectroid]

Hey Lectroid
The rain came and covered Saddleback. Thought you would like this pic.
Saddleback is only about 5500' so it's rare to get snow.

Very nice, thanks for posting that.  Over my lifetime I can only remember seeing that twice before. Maybe you'll finally get a good rainy winter this year.

Should stick for a few days. Hopefully I can get up there.

Definitely do that.  I drove up to the top of Santiago one dark bitterly cold clear Christmas morning to watch the sun come up. Nearly froze, but what a view!  And in the other direction, OC spread out to the ocean, out to Catalina and beyond.  It's worth it.  But dress warm. 

[shooter]

since the weather is, um, bizarre, thought I'd look for errant blooms, nope, BUT
had to kill a skeeter that wanted a drink, probably a 1st in my lifetime in MI, Dec 30, 22; Mosquito died suddenly.
the 2nd bizarreness, shortly after the skeeter, a yearling frog jumped into the inlet creek! another 1st, a fully functioning frog on Dec 30, farm country MI
I apologized to the frog for killing its supper

[Lectroid]

Got out to California over the holidays.  Up in Ventura, we went to a viewpoint where I found a couple of hibiscus looking real happy at three days before Christmas.

Also at the viewpoint was a stairway flanked with two massive stone constructions.  They'd sent to Japan for a team of dry-stone masons who built it.  They were from an 800 year old guild of dry-stone masters who used to build medieval Japanese castles back in the day and are still active today.  They demanded the site be cleared of all outsiders while they worked.  No mention of whether they used modern equipment or just the ancient Japanese levitation jewels.

[shooter]

lots of overlooks along the Appalachians are built similar.  makes for great bouldering 'til the tourist crowds thin out

[scstill]

Green trail hike (1/2mile from home) and Cal poppy blooms
With all the rain it could be super bloom this spring.

[sluckey]

scstill, what is the name of those trees? We have lot's of very similar trees around Mobile. We call them Spanish Oaks. I have six big ones in my yard that measure 3 to 4 feet diameter. Many more that average about 12" to 24" diameter.

[scstill]

They are coastal live oaks or just "live oaks"
https://calscape.org/loc-California/Coastal%20Live%20Oak%20(Quercus%20agrifolia%20var.%20oxyadenia)?newsearch=1


Some are very board with branch ends that nearly touch the ground
When you go under you feel like you are in this special enclosed space (great get away for picnics)
Years ago my boys called one of the bigger ones the house tree.

[PRR]

...what is the name of those trees?..

https://rethinkrural.raydientplaces.com/blog/apps-for-tree-identification-and-theyre-all-free

[sluckey]

First peach blossom for 2023. Probably gonna get surprised tonight. Brrr!!!

[shooter]

no blooms today, cheeks blooming

[scstill]

Wow, now that is a winter wonderland

[sluckey]

You guys sure do take some beautiful pictures. I especially like the landscape orientation pics. I use most of them for backgrounds on my 'puter. Keep it up and thanks.

[shooter]

I do the same, MS just has cheesy stuff 
I tried the pond image, but MS blew it up to useless in order to "fit".


when I painted, i liked 1X2 format canvas the best, the problem, NOBODY put those canvas' on sale!

[sluckey]

I do the same, MS just has cheesy stuff 
I tried the pond image, but MS blew it up to useless in order to "fit".

I use screen resolution of 1920x1080. I got a perfect fit with a little PSP manipulation. That way MS doesn't have to blow it up.

[scstill]

Here is a great Coastal Live Oak in Whiting Ranch Wilderness (mile or so from home)

[Lectroid]

Oh, yeah, that one's going up on the Mac!  Thanks again for the shots of home.

[shooter]

:)
I'll see your live Oak and Raise you a Silver Maple

[scstill]

Here are a few of the early backyard blooms from todays SoCal hike in Whiting Wilderness
Spectrum of color. Thing about these blooms is they are small
If riding MTB they get missed

[scstill]

Here a few vista views from todays MTB ride at Top of the World Laguna Beach

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A few more

[Lectroid]

Very nice shots!  I think I can almost see the Casino on Catalina.  Also the snow-covered San Gabriel mountains.  Beautiful day on the coast.  And only two hours or so from playing in the snow. 

For those of you non-SoCal types, these are rare photos. This is the only time of the year you'll see green hills out there.  A month from now, most likely those hills will all be the their normal year-round golden color.  No wonder the Spaniards loved it.

[shooter]

I lived in Vallejo(sp?) north side of Frisco Bay, our apartment was on a hill, overlooked the rolling hills on the way to Pt Rayes
got to see golden, green, and snow dust. while beautiful, the commute to Mare Island sucked the joy outta the view.

[scstill]

Some early SoCal Blooms from yesterday Hike in Whiting wilderness, about 1 mile form home.

[sluckey]

Japanese Magnolia is awake!

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Some nice color textures from today's hike in Bell View Canyon.
More rain coming so it will help the super bloom

[sluckey]

You sure have a lotta pretty things to look at.

[shooter]

reminds me of the high-desert blooms in NM, AZ, although diamond backs are easier to find than a gopher snakes

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Plenty of rattlesnakes here as well, always better to be surprised by a gopher snake.
I walked over this one sunning in the side grasses, then my wife behind me saw it.
I remember a recent surprise when I heard the rattling before I saw the snake. He wanted me to cross on the the other side, which was no problem :-)  Better then to surprise the snake I suppose.

[scstill]

Snow in SoCal and creeks with lots of green
and some look only plants

[PRR]

Saddleback Snow

Saddleback Maine is at 105 inches snow for the season, 2" fresh snow now.
https://twitter.com/SaddlebackMaine?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

I'm watching 6" accumulate on my dooryard.

[Lectroid]

Great shot of Saddleback snow.  You've had snow up there, what?, three times this year?  Unheard of!  Also good pic of Trabuco Creek.  Probably running strong now, with all the rain you've had.  From northern Virginia, in the grip of the Winter That Never Arrived...

[shooter]

couldn't get my black squirrel to cooperate so just the Iris that popped sometime in the last 24hrs
the algae is in bloom also, looks like it's out-gassing well!

[scstill]

good pic of Trabuco Creek.  Probably running strong now, with all the rain you've had.

Its 8ft wide in that pic. 2weeks ago it was 20ft wide. Before this last rain could step over it.
I think when the snow melts it will grow to 20ft again.
Storm tonight brings more snow to 2500' quite unusual for SoCal.

BTW - here is a Yellow Wood Sorrel. I hear it is medicinal. Flower is closed cause its cloudy and cold for us SoCal types at 50F