Maybe next year we’ll make lemonade.
tiny lemons
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tagetes
I used to think Tagetes lemmonii was so-called because it smells citrusy. But it’s actually named after John Gill Lemmon (1832-1908), who, with his wife Sara Allen Plummer Lemmon (1836-1923), collected plants throughout the American West.
Since first discovering it decades ago at Huntington Gardens, I’ve planted it at every place I’ve lived.
yucca not yuca
The native yucca (short u, yuh-ka) is starting to flower. This beautiful and useful plant is often confused with the similarly-named yuca (long u, yoo-ka). It’s not helped by our local supermarkets mis-labelling the yuca roots in the produce department.
If you’re looking to eat the roots, you’ll want yuca (also known as cassava). If you want to make soap from the roots, you’ll need the completely unrelated yucca.
missing k
K’s been away for a few days, and Bodie is moping.
santa monica view
litter-picker-upper
Yesterday was my birthday. Inspired by Yvea Moore and others in the nature journalling community, I invited some friends to help me celebrate by picking up litter on Venice Beach. It’s a tradition I hope goes viral. (Let’s see … on any given day, about 11,000 people in Los Angeles are celebrating their birthday. Imagine if they all took a couple of friends and picked up litter for an hour on this one day per year. It could really make a difference, right?)
mono lake
I took a good zoom class yesterday with Kristin Meuser, on the topic of Creating Depth in Mini Watercolor Landscapes (or landscapitos, as they are called in the nature journalling community). She’s running another class on Sunday, if you care to attend. I’ll be there!
This was sketched from Kristin’s photo, but I feel like I sat in pretty much this exact spot when we visited Mono Lake last September.
pride of madeira
In amongst the native sagebrush and laurel sumac in the Malibu Bluffs Open Space is a big healthy patch of non-native Pride of Madeira. Even though it doesn’t ‘belong’ there, the bees, hummingbirds, orange-tips and tiny native pollinators are loving it.
rattlesnake
After my hike in Solstice Canyon, I had a little sit down on a rock by the creek. This fella saw me before I saw it, and froze while I took photos and did a rough sketch (completed at home). Then we both went on our merry ways.
the meadow
The scene is sketched from the same spot as yesterday’s, but now facing northwest instead of southeast. The Meadow at Malibu Creek State Park won’t be green for much longer; it was lovely to enjoy its verdure for a whole weekend.
hashiworks 