Report from San Diego County

On my last trip to my dad's house in San Diego county while we still are part-owners of the house, I took a few last photos of that wonderful banana tree that Dad loved so much and transplanted when he was 96 or 97. It has fruit set again, and he won't get to enjoy it this time, since he passed away in November of last year. But it makes me happy to see that happy tree growing in the sunlight.

I know it's hard to see the bananas in the shot, since they are in shadow, so I cropped it in on them.

In addition to the bananas, there were the last of the ripe avocados, navel oranges, and Meyer lemons on the tree that I pruned, fertilized, and watered back to health. The Valencia orange has young fruit, and is covered with blossoms so sweet-smelling that they take your breath away when you walk out the back door. (We put a sprig in the car to carry the fragrance with us up the Valley on the drive home.) And the loquat tree was laden with fruit that was just ripening. There was even fruit setting on the little guava tree that he planted in the last decade of his life, and rescued from scale, with my help and advice, using a plastic dish scrubber and a horticultural oil spray. Well, he missed that fruit, but again, the garden is thriving and makes me happy to see.