Petrichor is “that Earthly smell released by the first rain after a dry spell”, a term coined in 1960s by two Australian scientists, Isabel Joy Bear and Richard Thomas. They coined the term from the ancient Greek words for “blood of stones.” Have you noticed it?
“First rain” is not something I would have been able to conceive of before I moved from New York City to California in 1988, since it refers to “the first rainfall of a season, at the start of spring in cold climates or the end of summer in hot, dry climates.”
Solano County is a land of many microclimates. Some of us are of the “end of summer in hot, dry climates” persuasion, while some of us have more marine influence. The picture above, taken from Low Court in Fairfield, was my attempt to illustrate the clouds along the coastal hills of the Bay Area that are sometimes blocked from reaching Vacaville and Dixon.
It's been exciting to learn about my “new” climate, which is one of about six described as “Mediterranean”. Further East, gardeners often think of the gardening season beginning in the spring, and fall as a time to put the garden to bed. Here, after a long, hot and dry summer, I am always excited when the garden comes back to life as the weather cools and the rain begins to fall.
I find my self looking forward to what will evolve in the garden over the next few months, and experience it as more gratification than work.
A great example of what makes our climate different are the naturalizing bulbs that we can grow here. These bulbs not only tolerate heat and drought, but require it to go into dormancy. If the long, hot summer is preceded by the cool weather and the soft rain characteristic of our winter and spring, they multiply and come back better each spring. What could be better than that?
As it happens, this year I missed being here for “the first rain” by about 48 hours. I got home after dark, and after 2+ weeks away from the garden. I crept outside with a flashlight to see how things had fared. To my dismay, the ground seemed wet, and some containers had collected quite a bit of water on their plastic “shower caps”! I was freaking out! “Oh no!” I thought. “I have an irrigation leak! I've wasted water!” Turns out it was WATER FROM THE SKY, a.k.a rain.