A Good Year for San Diego Gardens
A lot of San Diego gardeners have found their plants blooming more profusely than usual. At first it seemed as if the plants were dead or damaged from the frosty winter. It turns out, they were just taking a rest. Most years, the hot weather stifles the bloom period. This year, roses and other favorite plants have many more blooms and are putting on a show much longer.
My bower vines, succulents, hibiscus, lavender, lantana, Mexican bush sage, and other plants are all blooming nicely, this month. It seems they are doing better than most other years. We didn’t have a lot of rain, but the colder than normal weather helped. In 2005, we had above average rainfall. The plants looked wonderful that year. So, if we have a rainy year or a cold year or both, the plants are happier.
I was on the bus, yesterday, and saw some beautiful rose bushes. I’m going to have to buy roses for my garden. I want climbing roses and a few bushes. On two different gardening shows, the landscaper used “knockout roses.” If these are available in San Diego, I’d like to grow them. They must be good plants. My Sunset Garden book lists ten top roses for this area. I should try at least a few. I don’t think roses are as hard to grow as some people think. I hope not.
Here’s one shot of the Marvin garden-taken this spring.
The San Diego Union-Tribune has this article: From big freeze to super spring. I think it is very interesting.
