The Garden in February - After the Rains

Revived Flower Beds

Went out into the front garden this morning to see how the plants are doing.  After last month's rains, the flower beds have been revived and the garden is doing well.

African Daisies

 Lots of flowers and buds on the African Daisies.  I have mostly this white flower, but there are one or two plants with purple flowers, as well.  These are drought tolerant plants that self seed themselves and I have at least two areas where they've naturalized themselves and a third area in the making.

Aloe Plants in the Succulents Area

I have planted one entire bed of succulents along the side wall separating my garden from the neighbor's driveway.  The aloe plants have each sent out a flower stalk after the rains.


 

Aloe Flower

These aloe plants were grown from cuttings my gardener friend M gave me.  He brought me more cuttings, last week, for another bed of succulents for the front garden.  The front garden gets the brunt of the scorching summer sun as it faces south and west.  With our continued water restrictions, the front garden is being transformed.  But drought tolerant gardens can be quite attractive, once established.  And there are flowers to be enjoyed after the rains.
 

Aloe Flower 2

In other areas of my life, my friend's daughter came by this morning to go to the pharmacy for me.  She brought me some food her mother had cooked for me - bulgar wheat and mixed vegetables.  Nice and bland, with no added spices to upset my stomach.

My friend's daughter then went to the pharmacy, but she called me to say that the prescription wasn't covered by insurance, so I told her to leave it, I will talk to the doctor's office about it tomorrow.  Instead, she picked up some other medicines that were also ready and a giant bottle of OTC antacid pills. She had to wait a little for the other medicines to be ready, but she was so sweet about it.  Such a blessing to know such lovely young people.

I had sent in the last batch of completed office work, yesterday, and received another batch of work from the office, today.  So, I'll have plenty of work to keep me busy for the rest of this week, in between medical appointments.

I have an injection scheduled for tomorrow (to boost the immune system and white blood cell count), and I'm scheduled for blood tests on Thursday (and an endoscopy to see if my heartburn is due to an ulcer, but I want to talk to the doctor about it, a bit more, tomorrow, because from what I've read, it's not something I can drive myself home afterwards; so I might have to reschedule it for when daughter can accompany me).  And then, hydration, again, on Friday.

I also spoke with one of my cousins who has been checking on me to see if I've been eating (and what).  I also spoke with another of my cousins who called to let me know that a member of the extended family (her uncle) was in hospital, not expected to recover.  Very sad, but he's in his 80s and has been battling ill health for awhile, now.  

In the meantime, we've been having what are known as Santa Ana winds - they are warm, dry winds that blow over the mountains to the east of us, across the deserts.  They have caused our temperatures to soar to the upper 80s and low 90s, these past few days and into the weekend, according to the forecast.  A welcome warmth in February, and I am not complaining.  But it is another challenge to the garden and the little seedlings that are coming up here and there.  A lot of them are weeds, of course, but some are African daisies in the 3rd area I want them to grow in (along the parkway, between the sidewalk and the curb).   Another shower or two of rain would be welcome, but the Santa Ana winds have pushed any rain away from our forecast for the next week or so.

Today, I received a gift of Valentine's Day chocolates from a company with whom I do business.  :)  This is the 2nd year they've done this and I am so happy to receive them.  I am saving the chocolates to share with daughter (and the reusable coolant pack that came with them and the styrofoam cooler as well - it will join last year's cooler in the trunk of my car for groceries later in the summer). 

Today, I am grateful for:

- The garden looking so well after the rains
- My friend's daughter coming to pick up the medicines for me and being so sweet about it
- My friend sending me some non-spicy bland food
- The gift of chocolates (and coolant pack and cooler)
- Continued work assignments

How was your day?  Have you started plans for your spring garden, yet?