Posted on 09/02/2023 5:31:46 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
I didn’t recognize the flower - sorry for the late response, was traveling all month, visiting family - then got sick upon return (not COVID, Thank God, tested negative).
I recognized the Allen’s hummingbird b/c they are in the yard and visit my feeders and flowers - didn’t know they are only found in a narrow section of Southern California. Anna’s hummingbird is far more common but I do see Allen’s.
I put the flower in my Plant Snap and came up with this:
Dendrobium Secundum Flower or “toothbrush orchid.”
As you know, California is a very diverse state ecologically - we have desert, mountains, coastal areas and valleys - that plus micro-climates which makes growing things challenging - I can’t grow plants that are grown 10 miles from where I live (I’m in the foothills).
I’d read about a native iris that only grows in California - I’d never in my life seen one before - went up to visit family in Northern California and this native iris was all over the hillsides - very beautiful.
Ping to Post #121.
Thank you. That looks like the flower, but the one in the hummingbird picture looks more like some sort of evergreen with needle-like ‘foliage’. I think it’s more like the type of heather that Pete from Shawnee Mission showed us in post 110.
Severe T-storms to the southeast last evening - missed us & we just got a brief sprinkle. This was just after dark. Imagine our surprise when around 11 pm, with no storming going on, the power went out, no warning. With all the outages in the storm track (some schools closed today), our power was not restored until just after 9 am.
We have company coming for a short visit at 2 pm so once that is over, the rest of the day will be mine! The turkey fryer stand will work with my canning pot, so I will get a propane tank & fill it today. I weighed my green tomatoes & I have enough for 6 pints of no-sugar tomato relish & 6 pints of green tomato chutney .... that is the project for tomorrow.
Before the power went out (thank goodness), my brother went to go to bed & there was a Rat Snake in the bedroom doorway! It went under a bookcase - eventually, it crawled into a nice, dark grocery bag & was removed. I had an 18” baby Hognose in our house a couple of years ago & there was a large Rat Snake behind the microwave at our Lake Cabin. Not a snake fan - only poisonous ones in our area are Copperheads so dealing with Eastern Rat & Hognose snakes is ‘icky’, but not dangerous.
SNAKES!
We have Bull Snakes that look like Rattlers without the rattle. And they are BIG and they can MOVE! *SHUDDER* Not poisonous, but I jump a mile whenever I come across one - which is THANKFULLY rare!
Got 2 batches (14 pints) of Tomato Soup canned, and next up is canning the Apple Butter. Moving on to Tomato Jam and then something more with apples....probably juicing them, for starters.
The Dining Room table is about 1/2 full of canned goods, so I’m getting there! :)
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