Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms--Penstemon, Cleveland Sage, Teucrium, Coreopsis

Because of the recent late rains, which discouraged walking around the garden, and a fair amount of work in the past few days I've missed the first blooms of 2011 on quite a number of flowers, but I note here that in the past week the red penstemon under the apple tree, several varieties of coreopsis, coyote mint, Cleveland sage (upper photo; I believe this variety is "Allan Chickering"), and the low-growing Teucrium cossonii have all come into bloom. The prettiest time of the year has been extended this year by cool weather and rain.

Found Art: Floor Sockets, San Francisco MOMA, June 10, 2011

I was at San Francisco MOMA on Tuesday. I enjoyed seeing the current shows and some of the permanent collection. After seeing what there was to see, I walked around the building a little. I came across these covered brass floor sockets (at least, that's what I think they are). Found art.

For more found art, see my blog Serendipitous Art.

Wines I'm Making: A Dilemma

Finally, the weather has cleared. It now seems safe to say that summer is here and that the chance of further rains is negligible. Time to spray the grapes again with sulfur to prevent mold from forming on the plants. With that in mind I went out to inspect the small vineyard out back yesterday and was both happy and dismayed to see that the vines are in full bloom (grape flowers are not much to look at, but without them there would be no grapes and no wine). The problem is, spraying the vines while in bloom runs the risk of seriously reducing fruit set. That's to be avoided, but the vines do need protection. I've decided to wait, however, as the weather remains fairly cool, there is still some sulfur on the vines (not ALL of it was washed away by the rains), and there has been a decent breeze the past few days. I will wait until flowering is finished to spray. I hope that will prove to have been the right decision.

Art I'm Looking At: The Allure of the Decoy

Going to the San Francisco Airport is almost always a pleasure. I can't remember a time I've visited the place when there wasn't an interesting exhibit or two going on in the International Terminal departure area. I was at the airport yesterday and very much enjoyed seeing a show of some very fine duck decoys. They ranged from crude facsimiles made from milk cartons to finely carved wooden sculptures painted beautifully to look like specific duck and goose species--I counted 18 distinct species. The best of what's on view rises to the level of sculptural art. Well worth a visit if you have business at the airport. The show, entitled "The Allure of the Decoy" will continue through November. Highly Recommended. In the photo above are two American Wigeon decoys (background) and two Canvasback decoys.

Rain: Yet More Rain (June 3-6, 2011)

A final (one hopes) storm of 2011 has passed through the area, dropping another 1.10 inches on us in the past couple of days. That brings our 2010-2011 total to an amazing 40.25 inches. The historical average for Santa Rosa is 31.9 inches. This has been the coolest, wettest spring in the 10 years I've lived here.