Outdoors
Lupines, Whose Spiky, Purple (Sometimes Yellow) Flower Clusters adorn grassy areas and disturbed patches of soil, are beginning to pop up all over San Diego County. If desert rainfall continues, you’ll spot lupines along the sandy …
The Frost-Nipped Legacies of the this winter’s cold spells aren’t hard to spot, especially in the inland areas where overnight lows dipped to below freezing. Look for brown lawns, half-dead-looking avocado trees, and wilted ornamental …
If You’ve Seen Large Swatches of Yellow around town lately, it could be acacia longifolia. The South Eastern Australian native is a fast-growing, bushy, evergreen shrub that can grow to over twenty feet tall and almost …
Hummingbirds are zipping around San Diego County’s backyard gardens, scrub-covered coastal hillsides, and the warming Anza-Borrego Desert. Seasonal hummingbirds are making their way back to Southern California in preparation for breeding season in early Spring. …
Ornamental Pear Trees, one of the earliest-to-bloom trees in San Diego, are about to bear their white flowers. The thousands of blossoms appear in sheets and clusters, looking rather like snow when viewed from a …
Highest Monthly Rainfall totals in San Diego are most likely to occur in January and February (about 1.9 inches each, on average) according to weather-service statistics. If low temperatures accompany the typical Pacific storms of this …
Recent Big Ocean Swells and wild surf conditions left some area beaches partially or wholly denuded of sand. The powerful waves pulled sand off the beach and moved it into deeper waters offshore, leaving behind …
Recent Chilly Days and Nights only confirm that San Diego’s lowest temperatures (according to more than a century of weather records) tend to occur during the month of January. January’s mean temperature at Lindbergh Field …
Gray Whale Migration Off San Diego County’s Coast peaks from now until February. The best view spots from land are high points close to the surf. Aside from the whale watching overlook at Cabrillo National …
Poinsettias, a favorite of backyard gardeners, are now exhibiting their scarlet, petal-like bracts, just in time for the holidays. The onset of 14-hour-long nights triggers their scarlet behavior: In San Diego this condition is met …
Tree Aloes, the familiar succulent plants with red-hot-pokerlike flower clusters, are at their blooming best in January, but are showing off already around town. Large clumps of aloes can be seen at La Jolla Cove, …