A few drops of rain courtesy of Hilary

Tropical storm Hillary broke all kinds of records in Southern California and Nevada this past weekend, but it bypassed us by hundreds of miles. Still, we felt some of the effects. Humidity has been much higher than usual for the past four or five days. When I got up this morning (Monday, August 21), it was 79%. Typically, it would be around 30%.

As I was making coffee, I heard the unmistakable pitter-patter of rain drops through the open kitchen window. Could it be? Indeed, it could. While the wet stuff falling from the sky never amounted to what I would call “rain,” every drop of precipitation in mid-summer is welcome. When all was said and done, the street was wet and a bit of water had begun to puddle in the gutter.

Here are some random photos from the garden, taken on Sunday afternoon (overcast, but still fairly hot and muggy) and on Monday morning (warm and humid).

The flagstone walkway hasn’t seen rain since May

Oops, I shouldn’t have left a paper sack out in the open (pumice)

Spiky beauties, looking good in sunshine and rain

Raised planter that replaced Agave vilmoriniana ‘Stained Glass’. This area is still a work in progress. The Corten steel needs more rain to get a rich patina of rust.

Aloe lukeana (front) and Encephalartos (munchii × chimanimaniensis) × eugene-maraisii behind it

Dioon argenteum, a beautiful cycad from northern Oaxaca, Mexico with six new leaves

One of my favorite foliage pairings in the garden: Acacia aphylla and Grevillea ‘Scarlet Sprite’

My largest ×Mangave ‘Praying Hands’ doing its thing

It really is one of the most unique succulents I known

×Mangave ‘Queen for the Day’

Agave ‘Blue Glow’ is large enough to flower. Just a matter of time now...

Agave applanata ‘Cream Spike’

Agave nussavorium, far too rarely seen in cultivation

Agave utahensis var. nevadensis has produced a couple of offsets. Its siblings in the Mojave Desert received tons of rain this weekend.

Aeonium arboreum closed up tight for the summer (like all aeoniums, it’s not fond of temperatures in the high 90s and above)

Ferocactus gracilis subsp. coloratus

Ferocactus rectispinus now occupying the flagstone throne along the sidewalk. It replaced the Agave ‘Blue Glow’ × mitis hybrid I got from Solana Succulents last summer; it simply didn’t like this hot and dry spot. It’s now in a pot in a shady corner. Hopefully it will recover over time.

I bought this small yucca with twisty blue leaves at Annie’s Annuals a few years ago. It was labeled Yucca harrimaniae (syn. Yucca nana), which it definitely isn’t. It may be a hybrid involving Yucca rupicola (twisty green leaves) and Yucca pallida (straight blue leaves). The cactus is Echinocereus × neomexicanus.

And finally a couple of bromeliad photos from the backyard:

The tillandsia that lives in a tree. That’s what I call it. I don’t know what it is exactly, but it’s a fairly big plant with a good three feet of desiccated “tail.” It’s not attached to the branch, it’s simply dangling from it.

One of several Alcantarea imperialis. I never expected them to survive for as long as they have, but I’ve found them to be tough plants, handling both dry conditions and a blast of afternoon sun.

Chances are we won’t see overcast skies and (gasp) rain again until October....

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