It is a way of life in much of California. Many of us grew up with it, or at least believing in it. Many of us never heard the end of it. That is how it lost its meaning.
Drought is a weather condition. It might last one year or a few. Drought can even continue for several years. For us, it entails less than normal rainfall through winter, only because winter is when rain is supposed to fall here.
As a weather condition, drought is not permanent. There have been a many during the past few centuries of recorded history here, and a few of those have been in just the last half century that I can remember. They happen frequently enough that I can not remember the exact years that were drought years, although I can remember a significant drought in the middle of the 1970s. No drought lasts forever.
If drought lasts forever, or at least as long as anyone can remember, then it is not a weather condition, so is therefore not really a drought. It is ‘climate’.
The climate of much of California is naturally arid. San Jose and the entire Santa Clara Valley have a ‘chaparral’ climate, which is classified as ‘semi-arid’. Some areas near the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains get only about a foot of rainfall annually. Los Angles and the region around it in Southern California have a ‘desert’ climate, which is ‘arid’. Parts of the Mojave Desert get less annual rainfall than other climates get from a single storm.
Although droughts happen here, the limited availability of water is due to the natural climate, not weather. Those who came to California a long time ago knew how to use what was available. The problem now is that there are simply too many people wanting too much of a naturally limited supply of water. Way too many expect way too much.
Krispy Kritter
This really is the best climate here. Winters are just cool enough for many plants that require a bit of a chill, but not unpleasantly cold. Summers are just warm enough for most plants that need warmth, but the weather does not stay too unpleasantly hot for too long. Warm weather here typically lasts no more than a week, and is accompanied by light evening breezes and cooler nights. Minimal humidity typically makes the worst of the heat a bit more tolerable.
While much of North America and parts of Europe were experiencing abnormally and uncomfortably warm weather earlier in summer, our weather somehow stayed relatively mild. For a while, it was significantly warmer in Portland than here. It certainly was nothing to complain about. Vegetable plants that crave warmth were not too inhibited by the mild weather. Flowers that typically deteriorate in warm and arid summer weather lasted a bit longer than expected.
Then the weather changed. It did not get too unseasonable warm. In fact, the weather merely did what is typical for this time of year. The problem was that it happened so suddenly. The weather went from pleasantly mild and somewhat humid, to more seasonably warm and arid overnight. Flowers faded and warm season annuals wanted for more water.
The worst of it was that exposed foliage of some plants got roasted. English laurel and rhododendron were particularly susceptible Because we had no way of anticipating the sudden change of weather, we had just shorn a large hedge of English laurel, just in time for the warm weather to cook the freshly exposed inner foliage.
At about the same time, new plants were being installed into a small newly landscaped area. The transition from the cool and comfortable nursery on the coast to the warm and arid landscape where they were surrounded by black groundcloth (prior to the installation of chips) was too much of a shock for some of them. We could not water them enough to prevent some of the foliage from desiccating.
This crispy barberry is fortunately not as dead as it seems to be. Only the outer foliage is roasted. The stems and buds do not seem to be damaged. It will probably foliate again before defoliating in autumn. Even if it induces premature dormancy, it should recover as next winter ends.
Nonetheless, such damage on new plants is disconcerting.
Things Heat Up In Summer
This does not seem like such a mild climate when it is difficult to distinguish between the time and the temperature on a local bank clock tower. You know; when punctuation is the only difference between four minutes past one, and one hundred four degrees. Fortunately, like mild frost in winter, hot weather does not happen too often, which is why this climate really is milder than most.
Most of us know what to do for the garden when the weather gets warmer. Obviously, many plants want more water. What we do not often consider is that there a few things that we should ‘not’ do. Unlike us, the plants in the garden can not find shade when the weather gets warm. Those that are exposed find creative ways to provide their own shade. We really do not want to mess with that.
By this time of year, outer foliage of exposed plants is mature enough to tolerate heat. Only foliage of plants that prefer to be partly shaded is likely to be damaged. However, inner foliage of even the toughest plants is not as resilient as outer foliage is. Simply shearing a hedge exposes inner foliage that can be scorched by overexposure. Sunlight enhances the effects of heat and aridity.
If possible, it is best to delay such pruning and shearing until after unusually hot weather. No one wants to be out working in the garden on a hot day anyway. More typical seasonable weather may not seem to be much cooler, but a few degrees can be a big difference to plants. Once exposed, inner foliage should adapt, and hopefully be resilient to heat before the weather gets hot again.
While young and thin, formerly shaded bark that suddenly becomes exposed can be damaged by sun scald. (Deciduous trees do not get scalded while defoliated in winter because the intensity of sunlight is diminished at that time of year.) Sun scald of bark is much more serious than foliar scorch because it kills bark, leaving open wounds on main limbs and trunks. Decay within these wounds compromises structural integrity, and can ruin otherwise healthy trees.
Although rare, spontaneous limb failure can occur in some trees during warm weather, particularly if humidity increases and breezes remain minimal. It sounds silly, but warmth accelerates vascular activity, possibly until foliage becomes too heavy for the limbs that support it. If limbs break, they can cause major disfigurement, and detrimentally expose bark of inner limbs and trunks.
Na2CO3•NaHCO3•2H2O
Trona
That is what this seemingly disorganized jumble of letters and numbers represents; the chemical formula for the mineral known as trona. It is what a certain small town in the very northwestern corner of San Bernardino County is named for. Trona is one of a few minerals mined and refined there. Apparently, not much else happens there.
Trona the town is about as out of the way as one can get in the contiguous United States of American. Death Valley to the northeast at least gets tourists. Not much flora survives in the hellish summer heat and caustically saline soil. The athletic field at Trona High School is famous for being grassless dirt. Even the now defunct golf course was dirt. Roofs are more important for providing shade than for keeping the four inches of annual rainfall out. A leaky house is more likely to petrify before it rots. The inertly arid air, roasting heat and acrid drifting minerals seems to sterilize and embalm even abandoned houses. The Google Satellite image shows how boringly uniform the factory tract houses are. Many are now abandoned. Some are missing.
Why am I mentioning Trona here? Because horticulture is so limited in Trona. There might not be many better places in America for a horticulturist who lives amongst dense forests of the tallest trees in the world to go on vacation! There are so few distractions! The vast desert extends for miles in every direction, with only a few plants surviving in home gardens in town. The satellite image shows how empty the gardens are. A single lawn can not be found. Even artificial turf is notably absent, perhaps because no one wants to go outside in such horrid weather.
I suppose that I will never know until I go there.
Frost Is History For Now
There is no doubt that frost will return next autumn. It does that every year. Right now, we are more concerned that is should not return prior to that. It is now safe to plant plants that are sensitive to frost. Even if the weather were to somehow get cold enough to necessitate protection of frost sensitive plants, it will not be severely cold, and it will not last long. It is best to start now than to delay.
It is also safe to prune away foliage and stems that were damaged by frost through winter. It was best to leave it in place through winter, both to provide a bit of insulation for undamaged stems below, and to not promote new growth. Pruning it away allows warming sunlight to the undamaged stems, and stimulates generation of new growth. A bit of new growth might already be apparent.
Many leafy perennials can be cut to the ground, or at least just above their rhizomes. The tall vertical canes of cannas can be cut back to the low horizontal rhizomes that creep along the ground. The canes are not really stems anyway, but are merely upright foliar shoots. Any shorter new shoots that are beginning to develop can remain, even if a few outer leaves happen to be damaged.
Zonal geraniums can likewise be pruned almost to the ground, leaving only stubs of lower stems, even if only upper and outer foliage was damaged by frost. Although they do not need to be cut back so severely, they respond to such pruning splendidly, with vigorous new stems and foliage. The fungal foliar disease known as ‘rust’ overwinters in old leaves that get removed in the process.
Lemons, limes and any other citrus that were damaged by frost only need to have their damaged stems removed as far back as viable growth, where new buds might already be visible. However, if more pruning is necessary, this would be a good time to do it. Major pruning should not be done later in summer because the sensitive bark of inner stems can be scalded by sudden exposure to too much sunlight. Small trees that are sensitive to frost become more resilient as the grow larger.
RAIN!?
This is not sequel to ‘SNOW!?’ from yesterday.
Nor is it a sequel to any of the other brief article about rain in the past.
I just recycled the picture because I still find it to be amusing.
If you are a native of California like I am, and are wondering what ‘rain’ is; I have already explained it sufficiently in previous articles. Basically, it is those unfamiliar droplets of water that fall mysteriously from the sky and get everything wet. Look it up if you must.
The article that I posted earlier this morning was recycled from this time last year, long before I started posting articles here. Our rain has actually been very deficient. It has rained only a few times this season.
We tend to talk about rain often here because it is so important to us. So much of California gets such a limited supply. Although our annual rainfall is technically sufficient, and has been sufficient longer than anyone can remember, there are millions of people living here who need the water that it provides. Fluctuations of weather are normal, but are somewhat distressful for those of us who are aware of how weather affects the water supplies that rely on rainfall. Much of the population of California gets water from surprisingly remote sources that are much more reliable than local sources. However, some regions rely on local aquifers that are sustained by local rainfall.
The ‘mostly’ good news for now is that is it raining presently. Seriously! It is raining; and is expected to continue raining through Saturday.
I say that this is ‘mostly’ good news because so much rain within a short time is likely to be disastrous to areas burned by wildfires just a few months ago. Floods and mudslides could, and are actually expected to cause significant damage near Montecito and in other areas of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Highway 101 could be closed again.
We just can’t seem to get it right. If we get enough rain, vegetation in wildlands becomes more combustible. If the combustible vegetation burns, the burned area is more susceptible to mudslides and flooding if we get enough rain again in the subsequent season. So, major wildfires, as well as mudslides and floods, are less likely if we do not get enough rain. If we get enough rain, we are more likely to get a messy situation.
Rain Makes Watering Seem Obsolete
Watering has not been much of a concern lately. All the rain has kept our gardens too wet to work in. Some of us have been more concerned with erosion caused by runoff. Automated irrigation systems are probably disabled until the rain stops. Soil can drain somewhat between rain, but will not really dry out until the weather gets warm again. Dormant plants do not draw much moisture.
However, as strange as it may seem, there are a few plants that might want to be watered. Potted plants on roofed porches are sheltered from rain, just like houseplants. They will not dry out nearly as quickly as they would during warm summer weather, but they do eventually get dry if not occasionally watered. Hanging pots and small pots containing big plants typically dry out faster.
Plants that were moved onto porches for shelter from frost can be moved out into the rain if that would be easier than watering them. It is very unlikely that they will be damaged by frost this late. Besides, as long as it is raining, the weather can not get cold enough for frost. (In fact, any frost damage that was left through winter can be pruned away now that fresh new growth is developing.)
Small plants in the ground under big eaves might need to be watered as well, if they have not been in the ground long enough to disperse their roots beyond the eaves. Annuals do not last that long. Mature plants might have dispersed their roots well enough to get enough moisture from outside. They might not notice if the soil inside is too dry, as long as the weather is cool and humid.
Houseplants are of course in a league of their own, and as long as they are inside the home, get no water from rain. They might need less watering in winter if the home stays cooler; or they might need slightly more watering if the home heating system reduces humidity. Regardless, some might enjoy going outside to a spot sheltered from the wind, for a brief rinse from a mild rain shower.
Eventually, the weather will get warmer and drier, and automated irrigation systems will need to be reactivated. When that happens, the emitters and sprinklers should be checked for efficient function. While inactive over winter, they can get grungy or clogged with mineral deposits. Plants will not need much water early in the season. Irrigation increases as spring and summer progress.
SNOW!?
If you do not know what it is, ‘snow’ is like frozen rain.
If you do not know what rain is, I wrote about it earlier for those of us who are native to the drier parts of California. If you notice strange drops of water falling from the sky tonight, that would be rain. There is no need to be alarmed. It is expected to happen here tonight, and a few times for the next few days. Contrary to former experience, it is normal for this time of year.
Anyway, getting back to snow. Unlike rain, which sometimes happens here, snow does not happen here.
Well, perhaps that is not entirely true. It might have happened as recently as 11,700 years ago, as the Ice Age ended, and again in more recent history, in February of 1976, when an epically humongous snowstorm deposited as much as half an inch of snow over the Santa Clara Valley!
It is difficult to imagine such a huge volume of snow! It must have been disastrous! It would be even more disastrous now, with more than a million people just in San Jose, and many of them driving cars!
In 1976, we third graders did not consider it to be disastrous. We were not old enough to drive. We were perplexed and mystified at first, but rather quickly discovered that snow had serious potential for being fun. Our parents wadded it up into something known as ‘snowballs’ and then threw these snowballs at each other and the neighbors. Yes, I know it sounds crazy. Nonetheless, it looked like fun, so we tried it. It really was fun. We also discovered that we could just as easily throw snowballs at cars driving by, but we were instructed to not do that. We could see that the Santa Cruz Mountains were discolored by snow. They were an almost white hue of very pale blue, speckled with the more typical darker blue.
On very rare occasion, when the ‘smog’* and smoke blew away on clear and cold wintry days, we could see snow on the tops of the highest peaks of the Diablo Range east of the Santa Clara Valley, particularly on Mount Hamilton where Lick Observatory is located. We did not know what it was. Before snow happened in our own neighborhood, we wondered what discolored the peaks like that.
Now that smog rarely obscures the view of the Diablo Range, snow is visible on the group of peaks around Mount Hamilton almost annually. If it gets cold enough, a slight blush of snow might be seen on the lower East Hills in front of the Diablo Range. It is quite scary to think of how close to home snow can be. There happens to be snow up there right now!
I am sorry that I do not have a picture of the snow on Mount Hamilton. I will just recycle this picture of Bill trying to escape snow south of Oklahoma City.
* Historical notation – The East Hills and Diablo Range to the east of the Santa Clara Valley were rarely visible in the olden days because of ‘smog’. If you do not know what smog is, you are fortunate. I have not written about smog yet because it is a part of our history that we would prefer to forget. To be brief, smog was a common form of air pollution. Although there was less smog in winter, there was more smoke from ‘fireplaces’ and burning ‘orchard’ stubble. A fireplace was a primitive heating device that warmed the interiors of homes and other buildings with the combustion of wood. An orchard was a grove of trees that were installed and maintained for the production of fruits, nuts and a few other horticultural commodities. Orchards once occupied vast areas of the Santa Clara Valley. Orchards that were removed to relinquish space for other development provided some of the wood for fireplaces. Perhaps I should write more about these later. I understand that the ancient history of the Santa Clara Valley can be rather baffling at times.
The Weather Outside Is Frightful
It is certainly not as cold as it is in other regions at or north of this latitude. Nor is it unusually cold for this time of year. It is not stormy. We got only a few heavy but brief rain showers with a bit of small hail. A slight bit of snow fell only on the Summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains
The problem is that the weather had been so mild earlier, and at times, downright warm. Many plants were coerced into premature bloom. Some started to generate new spring growth. When the weather suddenly became more seasonably cool, many of the flowers and new growth got frosted and ruined.
Fortunately, most of the deciduous fruiting trees seemed to know what they were being set up for, and abstained from bloom. So far, even the early blooming apricots, cherries, almonds prunes and plums are safe. The wild American plums bloomed, but not many of us use their fruit anyway. (I want some – both amber and red – for jelly, but there will be plenty of other fruit.)
Saucer magnolias were just beginning to bloom when the cool weather moved in. Now, some of the big pink flowers are spotting and melting before they open completely. Many of the camellias are succumbing to blight, and falling to the ground shortly after they open.
Weather is always risky, even in mild climates. Actually, our mild climate allows us to grow more of the plants that are sensitive to anomalies of the weather. Perhaps such anomalies would be less of a problem in harsher climates where the weather is naturally more variable. If so, it is probably a fair compromise. The problems with such a mild climate are still less significantly less than the advantages.
The Coast Is Clear
Between here and Hawaii, there is a whole lot of water. Between Hawaii and Australia, there is a whole lot more. Everywhere to the west and southwest of California, there is a lot of water. Unfortunately, none of this huge volume of water is useful for gardening. It is saline. It would kill plants.
Of course this is not just any water. It is the Pacific Ocean. Although the water within it is useless directly, it is what feeds the weather that provides the precipitation that becomes the water that makes gardening and everything else possible. Rain fills local aquifers. Snow in the Sierra Nevada fills reservoirs as it melts.
The weather that the Pacific Ocean feeds gets shared over a very large area. Weather that does not make rain here might make rain or snow in Nevada, or Oklahoma, or really anywhere the weather wants to go to. In fact all the oceans all over the world cooperate to make climate and weather what it is.
What is so special about the Pacific Ocean being right here off the coast is that it moderates our climate and weather. Places like Nevada and Oklahoma that are not on the coast get water from the Pacific Ocean because weather is mobilized. The moderating effect of all that saline water is not. It stays right here in coastal regions.
Water has a high specific heat. That means that it takes a lot of energy to change the temperature of water. Saline water has an even higher specific heat. The temperature of the Pacific Ocean therefore changes very slowly and very minimally.
This inhibits extremes of temperature in the air above all that saline water. Small batches of extremely cold weather tends to collect a bit of heat energy as they pass over the Pacific Ocean. Weather coming in over so much saline water can not get extremely hot without the water absorbing at least some of all that heat energy. Therefore, coastal weather is rarely extremely cold or extremely hot. Temperatures can be more pronounced a few miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, especially when the weather comes from inland. Farther inland cold and heat can get significantly more extreme.
A lack of cold weather in winter limits what can be grown here. Plants that require a good chill are not satisfied with our pathetic winters. That is why some bulbs that do well as perennials farther inland bloom only once here, and why some varieties of apple that perform well in central Washington are not grown here.
However, a lack of hard frost allows us to grow many plants that can not be grown where winters are more severe. Even if bougainvillea gets frosted every few years or so, it typically recovers. Avocados and lemons are likewise quite happy here. The weather may seem to be boring, but it certainly has its advantages.
Tony Tomeo 