Edited by Tina Ivany.
Between the statewide COVID-19 "stay home" order giving us more time at home and in the garden, plus all the recent rains, how has your garden benefited or how have you benefited from your garden?
Cathy Tylka (Escondido): Well besides Easter Eggs, the Easter Bunny has left me an orchard of these horrible weeds. But, with the help of the rain, I can mostly pull them out. I'm on my 5th garbage can full, but who’s counting!
Lisa Bellora: I had more time to install native plants before we got 5.5" of rain! Yay!
Pat Venolia (92084): The new creek running down our street sounds lovely, rivers running down through our yard invite me out there, but I sink in the gopher holes that I didn’t know were there. All my water barrels are full, and the yard looks lovely and clean. It will be “hello weeds” very soon. But it’s so wonderful to get outside and breathe the fresh air, even if it’s wet.
Susan Starr (92037): I feel so fortunate to have a garden at this time. Just sitting in the sun and admiring the Spring flowers cheers me up. I try not to think about what the rain has done to my succulents; I’m guessing they are going to rot. But everything else is flourishing. And I have so many birds! Here’s a photo of my Grevillea Long John. The hummers love it.
Susan Starr’s Grevillea 'Long John' Photo by Susan Starr
Sally O'Neil: The back of our yard and the fields were hit by the fires last October and there is hardly any sight of the fire now. My gardens look great and this has saved me a lot of watering. I always love the rains!
Gerald Stewart: The garden has benefited with a winter of good drenching rains. I have benefited because Mother Nature paid the watering bill. Being retired and not being a traveler, the stay-at-home order hasn't changed the focus on plants here at New Leaf.