Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
I live in the San Francisco East Bay, and my garden is terraced with many containers. The ground is very hard solid rock, and is difficult to have many types of plants. The back yard receives some Eastern sun in the morning and full sun from the West. The mornings tend to be cool due to fog, and the temps will warm up in the afternoon. Then cool down at dusk. Our temps are usually very moderate. The summers aren't that hot and are usually around the low to mid 70s and the winters are low to mid 50s. Which allows for a good variety of plants and a fairly long growing season. I love colorful flowers of all kinds, and want to share some old photos of my garden.
The photos from the Summer shows the various containers and the terraced yard. The Cymbidium Orchids are dormant. When my dad passed away; I moved back home. I'm now the caregiver of my mother and the garden. Our previous retaining walls failed; we have a key-lock retaining wall for the hillside. We lost quite a few fruit trees, and my dad's vegetable garden. The replacement plants are relatively young. Sorry no veggies planted. I'm hoping to have a planter this spring for vegetables.
Because of our moderate temps; my orchids aren't in a Greenhouse. We seldom have winter frost. If I have to cover the orchids and other plants; it's only for two or three days.
The garden had Roses, Black-eyed Susans, Black Salvia, Herbs, Dahlias, Marigolds, Geraniums, Coleus, Hydrangeas, Fuchsias, Million Bells, and various other plants in containers. The hillside has Spanish Lavender, Coleonema pulchellum (Yellow) Breath of Heaven Shrub, Loropetalum Chinense (Red Chinese Fringe Flower) Bush, White Carpet Roses, Apple Tree, Lemon Tree, Olive Tree, Pear Tree, and Jade plants.
The Cymbidiums bloom/spike in the early Spring, March or early April. They become dormant in May. I have four half wine barrels from Wente Brothers Winery for the Cymbidium Orchids.The orchids are close to 30 years old. My brother gave my dad a few plants. Dad was an excellent gardener, and he split and repotted the orchids.
A short video on the care of Cymbidium Orchids.
Here are some Cymbidium Orchids photos showing various stages of bloom/spiking.
Sadly because of the horrible drought the garden currently isn't as lush. I still maintain the Cymbidium Orchids and a select few other plants. I hope that the drought ends soon, and that I can bring back the garden as my photos.
The kids aka known as my brother's dogs Zoe & Nino visit on occasion.