Hi Griff,

I want to come and eat with your Iris Society.  Your dinner sounds wonderful.  Was it a pot-luck or ??  We will have our annual San Fernando Valley Iris Society Holiday potluck the first week in December.  Turkey and everything people make for the evening.  I think that iris people are wonderful cooks! 

I think that you may be able to water in the morning because you have higher humidity than we do.  We are usually below 20-25%.  We also have our hot weather with humidity under 15% (one of the reasons we have such fire danger).  We can get up to 105 for a week at a time any time from May until October, with the low humidity.  If we get rain it is usually between November and March.  This year was very strange as we actually had some rain in April and, unbelievably, in October. Our annual rainfall is usually between 13 and 15 inches.  And we have watering restrictions - before 9 and after 4 - three days a week.  When we water in the evening the soil stays wet for the night and the plants can take in the water.  Watering in the morning means that the soil will be dried out quickly.

We can reach 80 degrees sometime every day during a mild December and most of them are fairly mild.  Our cold weather, low 40s in the daytime, occasionally down to 32 at night  (I might get 2 nights a year) - more likely high 40s to mid 50s in the day time, usually comes in January and February.  But it can be in the 70s and 80s anytime, even in those months. 

Of course our weather means that nothing hibernates here.  I had my car towed to the shop this morning because, for the second time in two weeks!, the ground squirrels had eaten the spark plug and other wires.  ANYONE with methods to stop them from eating the wires - suggestions welcome!

I planted my 'spring' bulbs about 3-4 weeks ago when I planted my last iris.  We were having one of those unusual rainy days - we got 1/2".  Then last week we were in the high 90s for 4 days.  I have a flower on one narcissus today and the buds on about many others will be out any day.  I must have planted late this year as last year they were in bloom for Halloween.  Different kinds will bloom each month from now until about March.  Photos taken a few minutes ago attached. 

Jan in Chatsworth