SoCal ‘June Gloom’

Not in my backyard!
Even though California is known for it’s ‘June Gloom’ where we have a thick marine layer that hangs in there all day near the coast and the inland valleys things were bright and cheery in our backyard this weekend without our normal sunshine.We started with a trip to a local nursery in San Juan Capistrano and purchased dozens of flats of color. ‘Color’ is the term used in the trade for seasonal annual flowering plants but you knew that already didn’t you?

Here they are in the truck.
“Welcome Home.”

I could not resist the color combo of these yellow marigolds with blue petunias.

My first of many trips from the truck to the back yard with the color flats. Hard work!

Next it’s time to ‘spot them.’

Let the fun begin….

I decided to take a break and take a look at the garden.
Yikes! The Red Sox’s Big Green Monster is going to have to compete with mine! I tried the San Marzano tomato variety for the first time this season. I didn’t believe the research I did when they said they grow up to 5′ tall so I planted 4 plants in regular tomato plant spacing. Now, I am a believer.

Some plants are more well behaved than others. These are regular tomatoes from another plant. They are much more considerate than their bad boy Italian cousins.
You can hide until July but then you are mine!

The zucchini are looking good.

This is our boys’ log cabin with requisite tribal tiki torches.
Many happy days were spent in there just being kids. We have pictures where the boys would be standing in the doorway and their heads wouldn’t even reach the top. Before we put up the fence in the yard, one afternoon I found a coyote taking a siesta in there. I let him have his respite while my boys were taking their naps safely inside the house. I know it looks like it is condemned and logically should be slated for demolition but somehow Mr. Pink Martini and I don’t have the heart to do it. We mourned when the swing set found a new home years and years ago. We’ll just clean it up for now and deal with letting this go at another time.

Mr. P. Martini had a great idea. I was going to scrub each of the panels of our outdoor umbrellas from last year’s tree muck when he said, ‘Let’s take it off the stand and put it in the wash.’
I didn’t know umbrellas just came off – of course it makes perfect sense so we did it and they came out beautifully. The dirt is completely gone and only a few tiny mildew specs are present that you can’t even see unless you are looking for them. For this Mr. P. Martini earned a BBQ dinner tonight.

Even son2 lent a hand to get the yard ready for prom pictures next weekend.

Have a great week!