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| THE COLONY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2025 | 9 In February, the landscape changes its color palette once again. Of note are the blooming coral aloes (Aloe striata), the smaller red yuccas (Hesperaloe parviora), the century plants (Agave Americana) shooting up those tall blossom spikes, the red Sticks on Fire (Euphorbia tirucalli) by the Jackson gate, and who can pass up viewing the white pear tree blossoms by the Nutmeg gate? I am writing this the rst week of January. I am hoping we can squeak by this winter without a killing frost since we appear to be in a warm, drought-year scenario. e ocial last day of a killing frost in this area is April 10, and I recall we have had those frosts through the end of March. e eect of the frosts is dead-looking branches on the bougainvillea, cape honeysuckles, tecomas, Mexican bush sages, and lantanas in some places. Pruning damaged areas will occur in the spring, so please be patient with your requests for plant replacements. It may take three to four months for some plants to show new growth (some of these are our best "bloomers," too). Yes, some plants may be killed all the way to the ground and will need to be replaced. We'll watch for this on our Area walks next month. Another note about our winter palette concerns the patchy look to some of our front lawns. It looks like some of the grasses have died. ese are the summer grasses (Bermuda and kikuyu) which go DORMANT in the cold weather. Dormant is "sleeping," not "dead." Some front lawns here are mostly fescue and remain green during the winter. But some areas of e Colony have mixed- grass lawns. e mowers go from lawn to lawn, spreading grass seeds as they mow. us, our lawns can become mixtures of cold weather and warm weather grasses. It's not cost eective to rip up all the lawns and start over with uniform grass seeds, so we just have to realize the lawns look patchy in the winter. Presently, we are working on renovating G5, planting kurapia where there used to be turf, in order to qualify for the turf reduction rebate. Looking forward, the LAC and our Landscape Department will continue to monitor water district rebate oers and work with the HOA Board to continue with turf renovation to reduce water usage. If we continue to experience a drought-type year, our landscape will denitely be aected. We wish to thank all the residents who continue to "ll out the forms" and who treat all who deal with the landscape with respect. is makes a smooth-functioning team all around! LANDSCAPE ADVISORY By Jan Foster, Chair, 951-698-0170

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