While moving pots around on the old bench at the side of our lawn, I discovered a cute creature I'd not seen here before: a California slender salamander. When I first saw it, I thought, "Does that earthworm have a tiny snake face or have I had too much rum?" Then I saw the miniature legs and feet, and was fascinated. I posted a picture on Twitter, and @VisitOceanside commented, “What a cutie and so good for your garden. Let's hope he has a big appetite. #naturalpestcontrol”.

We're coming out of the heavy rain season, and currently in the middle of a predicted 10 days without any showers. Yesterday evening I watered the lawn for the first time in months. I also gave everything from large hedges and trees to tiny seedling pots a good soaking. Smaller containers have been drying out quickly; I stopped checking on them daily during the wet winter, but need to resume that habit now.

As temperatures rise (in the 70s on sunny afternoons this April) I'm happy to see rapid growth for many new plants: a blueberry bush I bought in March has started blooming, tomato and radish seeds have sprouted, getting taller every day, and the current round of snap peas is producing nice long vines.

Recently-purchased basil plants are having mixed results, however. The sweet basil is growing new leaves, but the Thai basil is wilting despite being planted in the same good soil and receiving the same water, fertilizer and sunshine. There was a purple basil plant in the pot as well, but it shriveled up within days of planting, and is now gone entirely. Should I try again with that variety or just stick with what I have for now? Hmm.

The team at GrowIt! app sent an email asking if I wanted to participate in another new plant trial. I haven't been using the app much, since it doesn't work on my old iPhone 4s, and that's what I take garden photos with these days. But I love free plants, so have now received two purple and two pink petunias. They were blooming well upon arrival, although one of the pink ones already got nibbled by a slug on the first night I had the plants. I banished some slugs and snails to the greenwaste bin, then repotted the petunias into slightly larger containers, placing two in full sun and two in part shade. I'll take photos with my tablet computer (runs on the Google Android OS) and hopefully will be able to log in to the GrowIt! app soon.