Lois: What's it like in California?

[LoisRichter]

I'm starting this thread to have a place to share with you images of my home, town, and region.  I'm enjoying hanging out at the "Arty Images" thread (http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8529.0)  and would like to get to know folks from there a little better.  After I post a few things here, I'll put a link to this thread in my signature.  I'm hoping to hear that other folks have threads where they have put up photos of their part of the world also. 
     So here goes...

First here's a recent photo of me.  Well, not so recent ...  This self-portrait in a mirror was taken about 1972, but not printed until re-discovered (in an uncut roll of film!) 30+ years later.  (I have messed with the image a little.)
Next is an ATC (artist trading card) that I  used as my calling card for a while.
Finally, a photo of me in the radio station studio.  (That one looks the most like I do today.)

[LoisRichter]

Next are images of where I often hang out. ...

First the radio station -- KDRT-LP-FM 95.7 in Davis California -- where Don Shor and I do the "Davis Garden Show" weekly on Thursdays at Noon PST.  You can listen to the LIVE show streaming at KDRT.org and even call in!  Each program is re-aired Saturday at 9am, archived at DavisGardenShow.com, and podcast thru iTunes.  Here is Don in our space preparing for the show.  (We each also do separate shows.  Mine is called "That's Life" and is on Thursdays at 1:00 PST.  He does jazz one night.)

The second photo is of the Quaker Meetinghouse in town.  (Of course I messed with the image!)

Finally is my home.  This is from a few years ago when we removed a tree.  I particularly like this picture because it shows off our weird sense of humor.  (This, again, is an ATC.  I made it for a swap several years ago.)

[Maggi Young]

Lois, It's great to learn more about you.
I've been listening to the i-player of your radio show....  so much easier to "know" someone when you have heard their voice!

I hopethis will encourage forumists to make sinmilar threads. So many of the introductory posts were lost when we  lost the First Forum Archive and there are so many new folks that it would be fun to have a new batch of intros/reintroductions.

[LoisRichter]

Yolo County is mainly agricultural.  But where there aren't fields or cities, we also have a lot of wetlands.  Between Davis and Sacramento (15 miles away) there is "bypass" which is a flood plain that is used to divert water from the Sacramento River so that it doesn't inundate the cities as it used to during major winter storms.  Roads crossing it are raised up on "causeways" and no buildings can occur in the actual bypass area.  Most of it is used for growing crops in the summer; but some has been restored to seasonal wetlands similar to what would have existed in California before Europeans settled here to plow and plant.  Some of these wetlands are very near Davis and are one of my favorite places to go birding.  There are both ponds and dry areas in the summer, entirely flooded some winters.
     Here are a few images from there.
The water, the causeway (at dawn in a morning fog), Killdeer and Gold-Crowned Sparrow in the winter, and Redwing Blackbird and Brown-headed Cowbird in the spring/summer.

[LoisRichter]

     Most of Yolo County is in the great Central Valley of California which is absolutely FLAT.  The elevation of Davis is 54 feet -- and it takes an hour to drive to the ocean.  Like I said -- FLAT!!!  The central valley is a sedimented-in former inland sea, so bedrock is hundreds of feet deep in many places and ours is "Class One Agricultural Soil" -- the best there is.  Around here the highest points are the buildings on campus, the freeway overcrossings, and the levees that confine the bypass floodplain.  When storms sweep across the valley, you can see them coming for miles.  (Picture 1 below is of a country road with a storm coming.)
     In the winter we often have "tule fog" in the morning.  Usually it burns off by mid-day. (Picture 2 is a Valley Oak <Quercus lobata> atop a levee seen at dawn in the fog.  The yellow color is natural, and the grey areas are caused by shadows UP onto the fog because the sun is barely risen = no modifications to this one! The causeway photo in an earlier post was taken the same morning.)
     The western end of the county includes some of the Coastal Range (rolling hills into low mountains) which separate the central valley from the ocean.  (Picture 3 is taken from along one of the roads up there.)
     

[LoisRichter]

I find nature endlessly interesting and often inspiring.  Since I like to do art (mostly messing around with photos on my computer), I once tried putting together images of our region (including a train trip over to San Francisco) and came up with several ... things.  Here are three.

[LoisRichter]

     Doing art is one of my pleasures, although I haven't done much recently because I've been busy with my Mom (96) who moved back to California after losing much of her sight to macular degeneration in 2009.  Mostly I did photography.  I have enjoyed participating in our local Yolo County Fair for the past 10 years; and in 2010 was honored to be the "Featured Artist" there -- my 15 minutes of fame!  (Picture 1 shows my display there/then. The background includes a tiny portion of the giant building housing the Fair's photo & art exhibits.)
     Sometimes I also paint or do other kinds of art.  Recently I went to a demonstration of "tissue paper collage" and thoroughly enjoyed it.  (Picture 2 is my first attempt.  I REALLY like this technique!  Maybe I'll do more.)
     And I go birding whenever we travel.  (Picture 3 is me in Hawaii at Kilauea Lighthouse.)

[LoisRichter]

That's all for now.  I'll add more in a few days.  Thanks for visiting! 
PS:  I wonder what's it like where YOU live.  How about starting your own thread on the Member's Board?

[Anthony Darby]

What a lovely garden. Keep posting. This is fascinating.

[Tim Ingram]

I must admit that I have become fascinated by the flowers of California and am slowly learning more about them - but perhaps I should be fascinated by Californian gardeners too! Intriguing images.

[LoisRichter]

If any of you get to California, I'd be happy to show you around.
I think Davis has the very best climate anywhere -- but then I am perhaps just a wee bit prejudiced!
Ours is a Mediterranean climate (hot summers and warm winters) but with the "Delta breeze" coming off the ocean and cooling us down most evenings.  Our ground water is heavy with minerals/salts, so we have some special challenges trying to grow acid-preferring plant.  Therefore Sacramento (<20 miles away, using river water) has lovely camellia gardens while we have to struggle to even keep them alive. 
If you'd like to hear more about our climate and gardening around this area, I suggest you listen to some of the archives of the radio program "Davis Garden Show" which are available either thru iTunes or directly from the radio station at: 
http://kdrt.org/station/archives/124  I co-host that with our local plant expert, Don Shor, who owns the local nursery (http://redwoodbarn.com).

Or you can go to our website -- http://davisgardenshow.com/ -- to see the pictures and a brief description of topics as well as get MP3 files.  Be warned that THAT site takes a LONG time to load because it includes images from all the shows for the past year.  (Yes, we do "show images" on our radio program for those who has computer access.  I also verbally describe things for those not on a computer.)

I think I mentioned that the Central Valley is FLAT, yes?  Here's proof.  The small circles on the horizon are olive trees a mile away; the Blue Ridge behind them is about 8 miles away.  The sky?  Not so flat that day!  (Surprising/Unusual sky for us.)

[LoisRichter]

We rarely get very cold in the winter, and there's always one thing or another flowering.  So defining "Spring" can be challenging.  For me, it's when the Sarcococca scents the air and the first almond blossoms appear -- sometime around February first.  
We make up for a lack of winter cold with an abundance of summer HOT.  Then the temperature difference is usually 30 degrees from day to night (e.g., 95 to 65) and so we just open our houses in the evening and close them in the morning; that way we often can avoid running the air conditioners for most of the summer.  However ...  Most years we will have one stretch of over-100-degree days which lasts about a week.  That's when some high-pressure area settles in over California and we don't get our usual Delta breezes cooling us off each evening.  
Did I mention that its HOT and DRY?  We also don't have any rain for over 6 months.  So whatever our gardens need for water, it's up to us to provide.  Our summer ET rate (for lawns) is about 2 inches per week; perennials and trees use less.  This dryness is a blessing when dealing with many pest problems.  Our 'fungus weather' is a short period of time; and the aphids mostly dry out and blow away in a few weeks.  So roses do really, really well here. 
Pictures:
(1) One of the early blossoms -- taken along a country road.
(2) A spray of water from my sprinkler behind the seedheads from Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella) and some Dietes leaves.  The original print is titled "August Rain" and has the distinction of being my first photo that ever won an award.  (It was at the Solano County's Dixon May Fair in about 1990.)
(3) A rose.  One of many in the various public gardens in the area.

[anita]

Lois,
Thanks for your post. The climate in Davis sounds similar to ours in Adelaide, South Australia (mild winters, hot and dry summers) and we too face  water challenges - although ours is an issue of supply. Driest state on the driest continent so water is expensive and frequently restricted during summer.
I had been wondering if I could grow Sarcocca here - the fragrance from what I read is wonderful but I wasn't sure if they'd take the summer heat. But if you get 100 + heatwaves and they grow sounds like it's worth a shot.
I'll listen in to you programs and see if I can pick up more ideas. Cheers and welcome Anita

[Anthony Darby]

Lovely sky.

[LoisRichter]

... I had been wondering if I could grow Sarcocca here ...

Anita: Sarcococca does very well here.  It doesn't mind our hot dry AIR, but can't take direct sun.  So if you plant it on the shady side of a house, it should be fine.  Mine grows alongside Abutilon, Campanula, Dicentra, and Philadelphus.

Lovely sky.

Anthony: Thanks.  One of my favorite photos ever.