Best of a Bad Lot

Gymnocalycium schickendantzii

Giant Chin

This Giant Chin bloomed today--must like the hot and humid weather of monsoon.  This summer has been pretty nonproductive in my garden, a few blooms here and there, but none nice enough to post. I must need to fertilize more. These flowers are the nicest of the season so far.

May Miscellaneous

Last fall I transplanted a Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia Milii) from a pot into my yard. It seems to be doing well, but the intense heat has not yet started and it is recommended that in the Phoenix area they get light shade. This plant will get some afternoon shade, but it may not be enough. We'll see.

 This Agave angustifolia provided an interesting view from my dining room windows, but soon my view will change. Once the stalk matures, the Agave will begin to die. Not a quick process--I'd say it will be ready to be discarded by mid-July. I don't envy the landscapers who will be attacking this chore.

This Desert Willow tree (Chilopsis linearis) isn't mine--it belongs to a neighbor who planted it very close to my back block wall. Although it provides a nice show of flowers this time of year and again in the fall, it might as well be my tree because of all the debris it drops in my back yard.

Several of my Prickly Pear cacti are now in bloom. I have seven varieties, and this is the only one that I can't name. I got a pad of it at a Cactus and Succulent Society meeting years ago, and it is quite large now. I've never been able to identify it as there are dozens of species and varieties. 

It was a good spring for my roses--large blooms but little fragrance. This was taken late April. Although they are still producing buds, the heat is just too much and they dry and fry quickly. It was pretty while it lasted. 

Resting Place

Pachycereus marginatus 

We had a gorgeous day Sunday, low 70s, breezy, with clear blue skies. It was quite a treat after a long period of hazy, cloudy days. I snapped this photo from inside the house as I knew that dove would take off if I opened the door! However, the reason for the photo was not to show the dove but to show the first time buds on my Mexican Fencepost cactus. When they finally bloom, the flowers will be bright red. This cactus now has five stems, and this one, the tallest, has grown to over nine feet! It grows about two feet a year, and can get up to about 20 feet tall. The cactus is frost sensitive, so the tips have to be protected to prevent damage. Luckily we had no frost this past winter. I guess I'll have to get out the ladder if frost is expected next winter--but if this cactus grows taller than my ladder, it's going to be on its own with no help from me!

Summer's Almost Gone

When the Queen's Wreath blooms, it's fall. I was hoping this was the year this vine would thrive, but it was not to be. The summer was particularly brutal this year, and so many plants struggled for months just to stay alive. It's not a lack of water (even though we've had only 3 inches so far this year) it was the sun's intensity. 

I lost many, probably about 15, perennials this summer, but I think most of them died a natural death rather than succumb to the heat. They were all six to seven years old and had lived their cycle. As my landscape has matured I've replaced fewer and fewer plants, but these latest deaths left bare spots that need filled in. So, I'll be spending some time in a couple of nurseries in the next couple of weeks, trying to make up my mind what the replacements will be. I don't think I'll go beyond the tried and true, I seem to have lost the urge for adventure in the garden.

An early September trimming is all it takes to revitalize the Lantana plants and get them blooming again. By late August, they are quite large and sprawling, with no flowers--dusty and dry looking. For a few weeks after the trimming, they look worse than ever, but look at how symmetrical and full they are just a while later. They will now bloom for months, just like this.

September is Ferocactus cylindraceus flower time, and it looks like I'll have flowers well into October. We had a light rain about three weeks ago--the first in many months, and that prompted this last push. I've collected seed from the fruit for years, and have occasionally started some ferocactus seedlings, but I've never been interested in this aspect of gardening, so I tossed out about a quarter pound of seed recently. I still feel kind of guilty about it for some reason.

April Flowers

 My favorite cactus bloom--Echinopsis 'Flying Saucer'. The flowers last just about 12 hours, so this time of year I have to keep a close eye out in order not to miss them.

Here is a second round of the 'Flying Saucer. Last year, I was not so lucky. There was only one round of blooms.

 Past its prime but still beautiful--Rosa Queen Elizabeth. My roses were extra large this year, but not very fragrant. I changed fertilizers, and I think that must have made a difference.

 'Hello Dolly'

Of my roses, this is the most fragrant this year. There is a controversy as to whether this is truly a 'Hello Dolly', a hybrid by Jack E. Christensen which is described as a yellow hybrid tea. Whatever it is, it's a beautiful rose. If I could find 'Brandy' or 'Brass Band' by Christensen, I'd try them, even though they are not really suited to our zone and would have to be planted in the coolest part of my garden.

'Gold Glow' has been a good rose for me, despite warnings that it is more susceptible to a variety of diseases and pests than other hybrid teas. It has a light fragrance and the flowers last longer than some of my other teas.

I can usually predict when 'Flying Saucer' is getting ready to produce blooms by watching this Argentine Giant, which is visible from my breakfast area windows. Sure enough, both bloomed on the same day and I was ready with my camera!

Happy New Year 2011

A hard freeze is predicted again for New Year's Eve, so all my columnar cacti are dressed for the occasion. The Styrofoam cups protect the growing tips. I've covered many of my potted cacti and a potted Meyer Lemon, but all the rest of my plants are on their own. I'm sure the Bougainvillea will be the first to go, followed by the Queen's Wreath, but come February, they should start coming back.

Ring out the old, ring in the new! This Agave desmettiana is on its way out now that it has produced a stalk. Unfortunately there are no pups to replace it. It hasn't produced any for the past two years. I'm not sure what the freeze will do to the stalk and its budding inflorescence.

This is the only rose currently in bloom in my garden. It's a Red Intrepid, and it lives up to its name. This one rose bush produces an abundance of roses nearly year-round. However, it has very little fragrance. This past year has been a disappointment in the rose department. I haven't had any roses on the other bushes since October, and what few there were weren't much to look at. In a couple of weeks I'll be pruning and remulching, and then in February start with the fertilizer.

We've finished the year with 12.69 inches of rain, compared with last year's 4.28. The average is around 7.5 to 8 inches. The weed crop should be fantastic this spring!

Endless Summer



Libellula saturata (Orange Skimmer Dragonfly)



Gymnocalycium schickendantzii



Ferocactus cylindraceus



Thelocactus 'bicolor'



Caesalpinia pulcherrima

We set some more temperature records this past week--a couple of days at 111 degrees--so it's not yet fall in the desert. Many plants had started putting out new growth, thinking that fall had arrived because of the shorter days. The late September weather surprise left tender new shoots roasted. The same thing happened this past spring. Even with these setbacks, most of the trees, shrubs, cacti and succulents really had a growth surge this year because of the very good rainfall (10.4 inches to date at my house, compared with 4.28 inches for 2009.) The downside of this growth spurt with the cacti is that they produced very few blooms, and among the ones that did flower, most were small.

Birds and butterflies have been scarce around here most of the year, but now that the summer cover crop of pearl millet growing in nearby fields is ripening, hundreds of crow-like birds are hanging around my back yard. They'll be here until the crop is harvested.

My garden environment should attract more birds and butterflies--I have the magnet plants, water, trees, and all the other environmental attractors necessary, but still no butterflies, and other than the occasional Anna's hummingbird, not many birds--except for those transient crows and the ever-present mourning doves.  I've also tried attracting Mason Bees, and even contemplated buying a bundle of bees when none came around to my nesting tube, but with the luck I've had with birds and butterflies, I figured it would be a waste of money, just like the nesting tube.

Agave deserti

Taking a photo of this Agave deserti after another brutal summer is not really fair to this small Agave species. It will eventually reach up to two feet in diameter, and is far better looking in milder weather, as do most all plants around here. However, it does love the intense heat and full sun of summers in the desert. It is native to Arizona, California, and a part of northern Mexico. It's also very drought tolerant, and can take temperatures into the low 20s. This plant has been in the ground for four years, and has now started to produce offsets. They are a good distance from the mother plant, which will make them much easier to remove and plant in other areas.


I think I have now covered every species of Agave (16 of them!) in my garden. Of course, with all the replanted offsets from the various Agave species, I have upwards of 50 Agaves scattered throughout my front and back yards. Needless to say, between all the cacti and succulents, my landscape is not kid friendly. When the time comes to sell this place, new owners will probably come in and plow it all under, plant a lawn and get a pool. Me, I'll be in a tiny house with a postage stamp sized back yard, tending to two or three potted cactus plants and maybe my dwarf Agave 'Kissho Kan'. Some days, I think that day can't come soon enough!

Under The Shade Cloth

When I originally took this Mammillaria geminispina from its pot and put in the the ground, I was a bit concerned about sun damage because this species likes full sun almost everywhere except here, where full exposure can cause serious sun damage. My original plan was to place it where it would receive light afternoon shade from a nearby tree, but soon it was obvious that dappled shade would not be enough to protect it from the intense summer sun. So, eight months of the year it thrives in full sun, and then, starting in mid-May, I cover it with 50 percent shade cloth until mid-September or so. I don't re-acclimate it to full sun in early fall--I just take off the cloth. It has never had any sun damage, probably because although it may still be hot in September, the sun's angle is lower and the rays less intense. It has tripled in size over the past two years and is clumping nicely. It has never produced flowers, but when it does, they will be sparse, small and pink. Since I don't like to go out in the sun in the summer, this cactus' ugly shade cloth cover doesn't bother me at all. I do peek under the cloth a few times each summer to make sure all is well.

Captured Color

Because of my inattention to my garden over my husband's cardiac surgery and recuperation, I missed many of this year's cactus flowers, but I did manage to catch a few of them in between other chores. This Argentine Giant flower is the last of the blooms on this cactus, at least until fall.

Echinocereus dasycanthus (Texas Hedgehog)

Opuntia paraguayensis

Opuntia santa rita

Although my roses were infested with both powdery mildew and aphids in early spring, I was afraid that I would not get any nice flowers this season, but once I got control of the stuff, the new buds that came produced larger than average blooms. Rosa 'Hello Dolly' was especially prolific this year, and because our weather has been mild, it continues to have beautiful roses.

I'm Back!

I seldom show photos of my front yard, but the Palo Verde trees are in full bloom right now and I just couldn't resist showing them off. I have two more in the back, which I've shown a number of times in previous posts. They leave a mess with all the spent blooms, but that's about the only downside to these trees, other than constant worry about breakage or uprooting during windstorms and the need for regular thinning. Come to think about it, that's a lot of downside!

After my six week absence from blogging, I am trying to get back into the swing of things by posting again. In early April, my husband had cardiac surgery, and after 16 days, he came home after spending that time in the hospital and then a rehabilitation facility. After he came home, he needed constant care, including trips to doctors, physical therapy, lab tests and other things associated with such surgery. He was cleared today by his surgeon, and will now be under the care of his regular cardiologist. In three weeks he'll be able to drive again and I can then get back into my regular routine.

My favorite Echinopsis hybrid, 'Flying Saucer', bloomed last week. Last year, it only produced one flower, so this is an improvement. I hope the flowers double each year!

Another favorite is Echinopsis 'Shere Kahn'. I'm partial to salmon, coral and orange hued cactus flowers, and 'Shere Kahn' along with 'Flying Saucer', fit the bill.

Most of my prickly pear cacti have bloomed and the fruits are ripening. Shown here are two types of  Opuntia; in the foreground is Opuntia Santa Rita, and in the back, Opuntia paraguayensis. I have three other types in addition to these.

Finally, Some Color

Desert Marigold and Desert Bluebell

My back is sore from spending hours each day picking weeds--something I've been doing since our record rains in January, February and early March. But, all the rain did bring some nice spring color to my garden. Seems like things are blooming later than usual, at least by a couple of weeks.

Mammillaria Microhelia

Several species of Mammillaria are now blooming. By now I usually have many cacti in bloom, but so far, flowers have been sparse.

 

Eschscholzia californica

I have a nice stand of California Poppies in my front yard, and very few in back. Another mystery!



 

Mammillaria Mutadae

This cactus outgrew its pot, so I just decided to plant it in the ground last fall. So far, it's been doing well, and it's one cactus that bloomed right when expected.

A Sunny Christmas

Old Man of the Andes (Oreocereus celsianus)

Every year at Christmas time

There's not a sign of snow.

Instead we spend our yuletide days

In the sun's warm cheery glow.
We have the best of Christmas things,

The lights, the gifts, the bells,

(And "snowbirds" who arrive en masse

To fill our resort hotels.)
The glorious weather fits right in

With our happy Christmas mood,

And we can also walk and run

Without having to be snowshoed.
So don't feel bad for your desert friends

Who have no snow or ice.

We think our sunny Christmas here

Is a holiday paradise!

By Joanna Fuchs

Happy Holidays!

Blog Sabbatical Ends--I Think...

Rosa 'Queen Elizabeth'

Now that fall is definitely here, I've perked up a bit. The high temps just kept on and on, to the point I just needed a semi-long break from worrying and stressing about my garden and all the shrubs, cacti and and much of the ground cover that succumbed to the overly long, intensely hot summer that we had. The loss of my largest tree to monsoon winds put the finishing touch on the whole depressing period, so I decided to focus on other things for awhile--even giving up on blogging in the interim. Luckily, my hubby took up the slack and did routine garden chores for me. He has never minded the heat at all and can work outside for hours, even in mid-day.

They say that the value of a sabbatical is to revitalize enthusiasm for work, hobby or other pursuit, and though I'm not completely back into my former garden fervor, I think I'm getting there, just by "doing". Perhaps writing a blog post will speed the process. That's my plan, anyway.


When I saw the first fall bud on 'Queen Elizabeth', I was motivated to do the light fall pruning and fertilizing due for all my roses. I have the new mulch ready to spread after cleaning up all last year's stuff. Already I see new growth starting on all the bushes.

Huernia primulina

A surprise flower appeared on this Huernia, and the color is far better than it was when it bloomed in late June. Even though more colorful, it's not the most striking flower. When a plant has flowers that have a carrion smell (used to attract flies) they should at least have a knockout flower to make up for it!

This little baby had a birthday this month, and it is now four years old. I purchased a group of them at our Cactus and Succulent Society meeting silent auction. The seedlings were two years old when I got them and they were about the size of marbles, all in one container. The person that started them from seed always writes the date they sprout on the container, and that's how I know the exact birthday. It is now about the size of a miniature cupcake. I have about eight of these, all the same age. Six are still in pots, and they are actually larger than the two I planted in my garden, probably because the potted ones get supplemental water now and then. Even with my limited watering, the landscape baby barrels had to make do with rainfall, which has been really scarce this year.

The Last Hurrah

Thelocactus 'bicolor'

Sometimes, I think I 'will' a cactus to bloom just in time for Bloomin' Tuesday. Nothing at all looks promising and just when I think I'll have to skip another BT post for lack of blooms, then pow. An unexpected cactus bloom--or two, in this case.

More Losses

If it wasn't for my volunteer Vinca plants, I'd have no flowers right now, other than the barrels shown below. The tiny amount of rain we received in the last ten days seemed to jolt the barrels into flower production. This year produced just a slim crop of various cactus flowers compared to last year. Even the cacti are exhausted from the excessive heat!








We lost our largest tree to a strong monsoon wind this past week. Over the past four years, I've lost a total of ten Mesquite trees, four Ficus trees and two Acacia trees to either strong winds or in the case of the Ficus, a hard freeze. I still have fourteen trees, so my property isn't bare yet, but at the rate I seem to lose trees, I'm concerned I'll end up with a bare property!


At last count, I've also lost about twelve potted cacti so far this summer, and another seven that were in the ground. After much thought--and for the first time--I've decided not to obsess over the bare spots and I won't replant or replace any of the trees or cacti. Enough is enough.

Irony

I flew to Denver to escape the heat, and for three of the four days I was there, it was hotter in Denver than in Phoenix--by five degrees. I just can't win! The photo was taken coming home today, about 60 miles east of Phoenix.




At least I came home to a nice Echinopsis hybrid flower, red enough to knock your socks off! The week ahead will bring more temperatures in the 105 degree range. I will soon be going to the Eugene, Oregon area for a few days, and I'm going to freak out if we have a cool streak here in Phoenix and Oregon gets record highs!