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10 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | JUNE 2023 Submitted by Linda Weiss, Resident Here are more fun quotes from I Could Chew on is and Other Poems by Dogs by Francisco Marciuliano. I hope they are as humorous to you as they were to me. Hoarding Going Somewhere? Ooo! A remote! I'll take it! I know this routine Ooo! A sponge! I'll take it! e gathered clothes Ooo! A shirt! I'll take it! e miniature toiletries Ooo! A plastic bottle! I'll take it! e bag with wheels, handle, and zipper Ooo! A USB drive! I'll take it! I know what happens next Ooo! Carpet padding! I'll take some! e short trip Ooo! Underpants! ey're in my mouth now! e long trip Ooo! A … thing! at's going under the bed! e time away from me You may think this hoarding is a problem I know there's nothing le but You may think that I need some help e farewell licking But I prefer to see it as e final whining A very gradual robbery e last minute burying of all your ID So hand over your le slipper Like I said, I know this routine And this time Delta's leaving without you Fun Things to Read and Learn by Tim Jahns, Resident The SDV community has dozens of homes with exceptional landscapes in their front yards. Every spring there's a chance to see so-called super blooms on the hills around us. This year, a mini version of the super bloom was visible in Mary McKernan's yard. Her goal was to create a garden devoted to southern California native plants. Considerable effort and planning have paid off with a distinctive mix that yields vivid colors and a whiff of fragrance, especially as it played out this spring. Mary's son, a landscape designer specializing in native plants, crafted a floral gallery of drought-tolerant plants and boulders where once there was grass and miscellaneous shrubs. Though she had help at every stage, Mary was often found ripping out grass, spreading mulch, and helping to place more than 100 plants in the new landscape. Purple sage, yarrow, Desert Bluebells, monkey flowers, a coyote bush, and Manzanita and Palos Verde trees were planted. Sprinkled in at random were wildflower seeds including poppies that eventually bloomed in vibrant orange, mixing with bright yellow, blue, and purple flowers in the spring. Mary wanted more than just a native plant garden. She wanted to reduce her environmental footprint with less water use, easy maintenance, and lower utility bills. The "smart watering system" puts out moisture to the plants about every 14 days. The bursts of color are seasonal or perennial, often unpredictable as to what will flower and how long it might last. Weeds are infrequent, requiring little effort to remove. Not everything she planted went on to flourish. The extreme heat may have been too much for the Manzanita trees, but overall, the garden has been a success. An extended rainy season may have spurred the poppies and other flowers to bloom in abundance and longer. And, in tune with nature's way, Mary accepts the uncertainty along with the joyful surprises that sprout from her native garden. Local Garden Goes Native