Succulents and More™

Winter is my least favorite season, and I probably complain about the weather more at this time of year than at any other. Bearing that in mind, this past week has been noteworthy: fog, rain, sun, rain, sun, and wind, too. Sometimes in one day. April weather in January, you might say. As a result, this post is a bit all over the place. ☼ Sun... The sun finally came out after a solid three weeks of high fog in December. We even had a couple of days last week when the sun was out most of the day. With the soil saturated and plants sopping wet, we really needed the sun. Sidewalk bed, looking east Front walk UC Davis campus 🌧 Rain... But of course the sun didn’t last. As I’m writing this on January 5, we’re back to rain. With the ground so waterlogged, there are puddles everywhere. View from Stella’s doggie door Piles of leaves creating lakes in the gutters ☼ Sun after 🌧 rain... That was two days ago. Rain, sun, rain. Plus puddles. Flooding on the greenbelt across the street from us ❊ ...

The neverending fog seems to be behind us, replaced with two atmospheric rivers forecast to bring copious rainfall this Christmas week. The Sacramento area is expected to get only a moderate amount of rain, 2–4". Other parts of Northern California will likely see record rainfalls resulting in significant flooding. No matter what, the weather always seems to be one extreme or another. Raindrops on spiky plants are lovely, especially up close, so yesterday, in between breaks in the rain, I hauled out my big camera to take some photos. Looking for beauty on a small scale is a wonderful exercise — and a great way to distract yourself from the messiness of the bigger world out there. I hope these photos will bring a smile to your face. Aloe petrophila Lachenalia punctata Kniphofia ‘Christmas Cheer’ Aloe lukeana Aloe elegans Aloe speciosa × barberae Aloe maculata hybrid Aloe alooides Aloe distans Agave ocahui Agave titanota × ×Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ × Mangave ‘Inky Fingers’ × Manga...