Happy Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving Day was absolutely beautiful on the patio..80 degrees..mostly sunny..light wind..and I was thankful, mostly cuz I wasn't back in Nebraska, where I grew up. The high temp yesterday in my old "home town" was 30°..the low was 18°..'nuff said.

I worked on both Junipers today; minor pruning on both, what you could call "housekeeping"..the goal being to expose more wood..to show the underlying structure of the tree, without sacrificing too much foliage.

Blue Star

It's been about 30 days since I styled & potted the "Blue Star" & from all appearances, he's doing fine. He seems happy in the training pot & is taking water, which is one indication he is adjusting to his new life.

Juniperis

After some "due diligence", I have to admit that I do not really know the Genus (family) that this Juniper belongs, so until further enlightenment, he will be know as simply "Juniperis"

2 months now since the initial styling/pruning/potting & he continues to show no signs of distress; I am slightly "gun shy" around Junipers, as I lost a plant last year to unknown causes..he just "up & died", rather suddenly with little warning except for some tip browning..it bothers me when I lose a plant, and more so when I don't have a clue as to why?

Here is a close-up of this little tree, after some minor pruning, as with the "Blue Star" to expose his "bones" more advantageously; I want people to see the tree, under the foliage. I feel pretty good about how this tree is looking & his apparent good health..hope we can keep that mode, going forward.

Update: Japanese Maple

Nov. 26
Last night, I was afraid that I'd be writing about how my Japanese Maple was dying, but he looks much better this morning. I continued foliar-feeding w/ liquid seaweed & he is responding..there's no hope for the infected leaves, but I do see some back-budding lower on the main trunk & those buds do not look infected..keeping my fingers crossed!

Update: "the Fremont'

Nov. 26 - Update on Fremont Cottonwood

Good News!.a close look this morning revealed no blackened or wilted-looking leaves..hopefully, we've nipped the infection or fungus that was causing the problem, in the bud..watered/Fed (UB)

What Did You Do Today?

Nov. 25, 2025

 Another clear sunrise..no wind..I don't know if the plants are ready to get back to a regular daily routine, but I sure am. I think the first item on the agenda should probably be to see if anybody needs watering..I haven't watered since last Wed-Thur, but with the soaking they got last week & over the weekend, I have been more concerned with drying them out..wet roots invite fungi, which causes root rot, which is the commonest cause of death of containerized plants.

• First up, the Dragon Tree was dry, which slightly encouraged me, because he came out of the rains very wet & not looking well..the combo of cold & wet over consecutive days doesn't allow for any recovery time, so I have had him in the primo, morning-sun spot for 2 mornings now & my intention was to dry him out. I foliar-fed him yesterday & he is looking better. Watered/Fed (UB)
• Using a hygrometer (see My Magic Water-Wand) I checked each plant, but most of trees were well-hydrated, so no takers. Some of smaller plants, mostly succulents, were dry, due to the 50% gravel composition of their potting mix, I think. (it drains better)
• Pruning: did some minor pruning on the Laurel Sumac..strictly cosmetic;
• Removed a complete branch on the Pittosporum having contemplated doing so for some time..each major branch has 2 sub-branches but the sub-branch we pruned was the 3rd sub, which threw the plant our of balance.
• HoneySuckle II showed no effects of yesterdays pruning, where he lost a major branch.
• Spent some time moving plants around, in order to maximize what sun they got, according to what I think each needs.

After the Storm

 Nov. 23, 2025

Today dawned to a cloudless sky, clear blue & no wind..precious sun shines on the patio, after a week of record-setting rain & cold temps (for southern Cal) , the plants & I are looking forward to drying-out & warming-up.

Fact: average rainfall for November, going back 30 years, is a little less that 1 inch; the 2 storm systems we encountered last week dumped 2-5 inches on the region. Our local rainfall ranged from 2.4 - 4 inches, depending on location.

I reported on the Japanese Maple Issue , which was a pre-existing condition, but probably made worse by the extended cold/wet. Yesterday, while moving plants into what sun we had, I discovered a leaf exhibiting the same black splotches, on my Fremont Cottonwood; a native California tree. Also, my Madagascar Dragon looked like a wet-dog when I moved him into the sun; hopefully he will snap out of the "blah's" as he dries out.

Besides these, I'm also worried about the 2 new trees which were potted just hours before the rain began (see Unpacking 2 New Trees). Thankfully, the rest of the "little trees" seem to have come through in good shape & most are showing visible growth, probably due to the clean, fresh rainwater..after being raised on municipal tap water, the rain was like the difference between instant coffee & a fresh-brewed espresso.