Flowers Shrubs & Trees Archives – Page 14 of 27

Ground Squirrel Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Squirrels Damage on Yucca

By JM PerezMay 14, 20141 min read1.2K views

It’s been a while since I last shared my thoughts on this blog. So much has happened around here. Mother’s day has come and gone and the weather is getting hotter here in the High Desert of California.

Things have been looking up around my gardens until last week when I started finding damaged plants around my property. I read a while back that one of the main reasons why Squirrels and other rodents are damaging the Shrubs and Trees is because they are looking for water. In this case they are targeting the moisture found in the sap of Trees. Most damages occur during drought conditions.

Squirrel damage on Yucca. — *Squirrel damage on Pendula Yucca.*

I am very thankful that the plant wasn’t completely destroyed and I can still save it. I may not find the idea of wrapping every single plant with chicken wire, but for my sanity and my plants health, it just might be the right thing to do until I have a permanent solution. Click here to learn about other Problems associated with Yucca Plants.

We enjoyed spending time outdoors today building garden Planters, conversing, transplanting seedlings, watching the Sunset and the full Moon rise over our beautiful High Desert Mountains.

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By JM Perez

Rabbit Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Repelling Hungry Rabbits

By JM PerezApril 30, 20142 min read542 views

All of last week I noticed a daily reduction in my Spring flowers. At first I thought the ground Squirrels were back and feeding on whatever they could find. On Monday morning to my surprise however, I came face to face with the destroyer: a Young Cottontail Rabbit. Half of my plants are gone. The little Rabbit ate most of the Gladiolus, Allium Drumstick, Heartleaf Ice Plant, some Freesia, Longiflorum-Asiatic Lily Birgi and Sparaxis.

Seeing how much damage the critter has caused in just a few minutes, I immediately wrapped the whole area with chicken wire. About thirty minutes later, I saw the young Rabbit around the plants; except this time, it couldn’t access them. Prior to exiting my property, it nibbled on a Gaura Lindheimeri seedling and attempted to eat the tender leaves of the Pendula Yucca young plants. A hungry Rabbit will eat just about anything, except highly aromatic plants such as Common Lilac, Rose Geranium, Lemon Verbena, Honeysuckle Azalea, Lavender, Marigold, Rosemary, Salvia, Sweet Mock-orange, Thyme, Myrtus, Choisya, Tulbaghia Violacea, Lantana, etc.

Yesterday while looking out my bedroom window, I saw a similar Rabbit by my kids Fairy Garden. This time however, it came into my yard with a much smaller Rabbit. As cute as they both looked, I knew it meant trouble for my plants as well as my sanity. My husband went into the backyard, chased them off our property and closed a gap between our fence and the neighbor, where the Rabbits were entering and exiting the property.

There haven’t been a Rabbit in sight today, just a couple of Squirrels attempting to make their way to the Sweet Almond Tree in the front yard. In summary it has been a beautiful day.

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By JM Perez

Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Garden Happenings

By JM PerezApril 25, 20141 min read666 views

What a lovely week we had. Easter came and went giving way to yet another blessed week.

One of my many Pendula Yucca will soon bloom with ivory showy bell-shaped flowers on its single upright stem lasting from late Spring through Summer. There are about five young shoots growing at the base of the evergreen mother plant. The ones I transplanted last year have all survived; they are healthy and fast growing.

One of the self-sown Gaura Lindheimeri seedlings has flowered within its first 3 weeks. I am still finding more seedlings around the garden area, which I am immediately transplanting.

Young Gaura Lindheimeri. — *(3 weeks old) self-sown Gaura Lindheimeri.*

Remember the ‘Little Pete’ Rose Sucker? Well, I found a new sucker growth last week and another one emerged. I tore it off from the rose bush after carefully removing the soil around the roots of the plant. It came off attached to a thick root, so I decided to plant the sucker somewhere in the backyard after cutting off the top by about half and surprise, surprise ! I noticed new tiny growth sprouting on the stem this morning. I know it’s still too early to celebrate, but it sure brought a smile to my face.

After almost five years, I lost my evergreen Grevillea Noellii shrub. While pulling the dead plant out of the planter and getting poked by the needle-like leaves, I found a tender seedling in the planter.

The Sun is shining bright. Today is a good day.

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By JM Perez

Rabbit Nature Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening

Beautiful Weather

By JM PerezApril 19, 20141 min read581 views

The weather has been really warm lately in the High Desert. We are still in Spring, yet it often feels like Summer. I wake every day feeling grateful for the weather because I know in some States and Countries it is raining and/or still snowing. Yesterday I captured the moon as it was still up in the sky prior to driving my son to school.

A few of my miniature Hybrid Roses are blooming.

A few of my Sunblest Hybrid Tea Rose flowers are starting to produce rose buds within the rose flower. I read somewhere that this phenomenon is called proliferation and is usually caused by pollinating insects and or temperature change. According to the website HuntingtonBotanical.org, proliferation is not a disease but caused when the apical cells are multiplying so fast that they do not stop dividing when a flower is produced, but they keep on dividing and produce a cluster of new buds in the center of the earlier flower.

We’ve caught a glimpse of Squirrels attempting to access the Sweet Almond Tree in the front yard in search for food as well as Cottontail Rabbits in the empty lot behind our Home.

Wishing you all a Joyful and Holy Easter Weekend!

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By JM Perez

Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Lovelies In The Garden

By JM PerezApril 13, 20142 min read1K views

Today is a beautiful day and things are looking up around here. The past couple of days have been really warm and rather than going outside to soak up some sun, I have remained indoors during the heat of the day. Squirrels are getting out in search for food with the Sweet Almond tree being their main target. The unwanted rodents have been digging at the base of the backyard fence to gain entry into the front yard with no success. We are looking into various fruit tree protection methods. Click here for some ideas.

The garden is lively with little surprises and beautiful blooms, amongst them the gorgeous Cytisus San Francisco below, also known as San Francisco Scotch Broom. From Spring to early Summer, the semi-evergreen shrub is covered in abundant sprays of fragrant yellow and ruby-red blooms.

Cytisus Scoparius 'San Francisco' — *Cytisus Scoparius ‘San Francisco’.*

The sight of this Purple Freesia and its pleasant sweet scent brightened up my day.

I have found so many tiny self-sown Gaura Lindheimeri seedlings around the gardens. I transplanted a few into pots and the rest around garden beds. It’s a great and inexpensive way to grow a garden. This drought tolerant flowering perennial will flourish in full sun and various soil types such as sandy, rocky and loamy (partial shade works too). The plant blooms profusely from Spring until frost.

To our amazement we discovered new Oleanders growth poking up through the dirt where we dug up the mother plant last Fall. In addition to being extremely poisonous, this drought, heat-tolerant and fast-growing ornamental shrub is very hard to eradicate. Last month’s three-day rainfall was enough to stimulate root growth. We dug a trench and disposed of the remaining roots. I will continue to monitor the area to ensure no shoots return.

Wishing you graceful moments in your own Garden.

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By JM Perez