Winter showers bring the flowers

We are currently experiencing a severe winter storm, a result of the atmospheric stream with its long moisture plume.

While this weather wreaks havoc with flooding, high winds, and steady heavy rain, which sometimes pours down as if the sky is a giant bucket of water, we badly need the water.

Of course it would be nice if we just had steady rain, not too heavy, for several weeks.

But I just am so relieved that we are getting all of this rain.

Last weekend I took the photo above of our Verbena De La Mina shrub, a California native.

Not only is the shrub getting fuller, wider and taller, but it is starting to produce new blossoms.

This is a very low maintenance shrub, not finicky.

I prune dried stems in the late fall, and don't cut into the hard wood (lower thick stalks).

This photo of one of our California poppy plants was also taken last weekend, when we enjoyed some sunshine for part of the day.

The poppies are reseeding all over one area of the native garden, it's going to be great when they all start to bloom. Along with the Tricolor gilia, which are also sprouting like crazy, it looks like we will have a lovely mini-meadow again, which will be great for the bees, butterflies and birds.