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The Garden is at its fullest and lushest right now – intoxicating! 

If you are reading this, you are invited: please come by and visit tomorrow Saturday, I’ll be around from 1 pm on. I will be making a big glass pot of garden tea with herbs and flowers from Karinaland :) This feast of colors, fragrances and textures won't last long since we are in severe drought, and I am watering only certain spots conservatively. So, don't wait, now is the time to be delighted. 

Everyone is showing off: my new small gingko tree dressing up in light green, Rhododendron exploding in opulent fuscia, purple clematis, patches of Melissa (lemon balm), my meadow of Plantain plants is back (for medicine), the nasturtiums in red, orange, yellow, delayed this year, Wysteria’s sweet fragrance wafting down the hill, the Live Oaks thinner than ever but hanging in, wild roses, forget-me-nots, patches of wild violet with their heart-shaped leaves, wild onions scattered throughout, oregano, rosemary and mints, apple and Asian pear blooming – all this and more wants to be experienced and cherished, come on over :) 

When I get lost in the grasses for hours, weeding selectively to keep the green lushness, trying to keep the pop weed, thistles, and other intrusive plants at bay, gophers are busy too, rustling in the jungle of plants. And here we go, another whole California poppy is pulled slowly into the underworld. They have become bold, peeking at me defiantly from their elaborate tunnels’ holes – no more scared of humans. I sigh... gophers have killed my beloved fig tree and persimmon tree, eating the roots.  All is visibly busy, the squirrels are after my tiny precious wild strawberries, the red tailed hawks sail above, crows attacking loudly, in vain… nearby song birds practicing or chattering sweetly… are we ready to be delighted? 



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