Flowers Shrubs & Trees Archives – Page 4 of 27

Plant Propagation Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

The Long Awaited Rain

By JM PerezOctober 26, 20212 min read1.1K views

Mother Nature blessed us with some much needed rain yesterday. It poured and it poured and it poured, and I am sure, every living thing in the High Desert was grateful. There is nothing good about being in a drought, and it’s been a very long time since we had rain. That rainfall was really good. In some areas of my property, the soil is still wet.

*Elm Tree Leaves Color Change and Shedding …*

The Elm trees as well as the Pomegranate tree leaves have changed color and are now falling off. The Hameln Dwarf Fountain Grass are producing abundant pinkish brown flowers while the foliage are beginning to turn yellow.

The Agave Ovatifolia are fast growing and reproducing rapidly. The parent plant is quite large now and the first offsets which were separated from the parent plant are creating their own pups. The Pine Cone Cactus have produced many branches and are growing nicely.

*Pine Cone Cactus and Agave Ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’.*

The Dragon’s Blood Sedum, Crassula Muscosa and Sedeveria are thriving.

The Salvia Greggii ‘Red’ below is one of the many Salvia Greggii I am growing as trees in the backyard. I am letting those in the front yard grow as bushes.

Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myers’ is such an amazing evergreen perennial; not so much drought tolerant, but frost tolerant. I have a set of three, which I bought four years ago and they are left outdoor all year round.

Working in my garden brings me so much joy. It provides comfort and solace, and I cherish every moment of peace and reflection there. I hope the rain returns soon.

Happy gardening!

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By JM Perez

Nature Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Glimpse Of Beauties

By JM PerezOctober 2, 20212 min read717 views

It’s October, the weather is cooling down and still not a drop of rain in some parts of the High Desert. In the midst of everything, I am still grateful to Mother Nature. The winds are picking up and allergies will soon be on the rise …

I haven’t done much gardening lately; however, strolling through my front and backyard yard, I catch a glimpse of beauties here and there. My Hybrid Tea Tree Rose Rio Samba isn’t doing so well. I have had it for over ten years now, and it was doing well until last year; I suspected curl grubs and other soil pests and took care of it. A couple of weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of buds emerging from the trunk, and last week one of the buds bloomed.

The Crassula capitella I propagated through cuttings a couple of months ago are covered in white flower buds atop the stems. I am looking forward to seeing those buds open up.

I spotted a very small White Moth resting on the leaf of a Gopher Plant; possibly Cataclysta Lemnata, also known as Small China-mark. According to The Bay Magazine Swansea, their larvae develop underwater, after which the caterpillars feed on duckweed and live underneath the tiny plants floating on the surface of ponds and lakes. In order to disguise themselves, Small China Mark caterpillars fashion tube-like silken cases for themselves which they cover in duckweed, rendering them all but invisible.

Sunsets in the High Desert never cease to amaze me. Below is an image of the sun shining through a gap between the clouds while setting. It’s simply beautiful.
According to GeographyReal.com, as air descends, it increases in temperature, a process known as adiabatic warming or heating. That effect of descending air being warmer and drier is what created gaps in cloud coverage.

A couple of week ago, at sunrise, the sun was orange-red due to smoke particles in the sky blown from various wildfires.

Happy new month and happy gardening.

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By JM Perez

Plant Propagation Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Endless Summer

By JM PerezAugust 31, 20212 min read717 views

Is it just me or does it feel like Summer keeps dragging on? We are experiencing severe drought conditions, brush fires, and heat waves. Rather than gardening this Summer, I have been busy protecting and keeping the plants alive from the scorching weather.

Early in the year I received a few cuttings of Sedum Spurium (Tricolor, Coccineum, and Dragon’s Blood). I thought they would look good in a container, so I planted them in a cement Conch Shell Planter.

*Dragon’s Blood Sedum Conch Shell Planter.*

The Madame Galen Trumpet Vines started blooming last week and they are so beautiful.
It is a hybrid trumpet creeper between the American trumpet vine and the Chinese trumpet vine. I am not sure if I picked the right location for the plant, but so far, so good. If you are looking for a fast growing, drought and frost tolerant climber, consider getting this plant. The plant is said to be invasive in some zones.

The Texas Sage ‘Green Cloud’ are blooming for the third time this year.
I found out an interesting fact about Texas Sage not too long ago. It appears that blooms are triggered by a change in humidity, and/or moisture in the soil after the rain (hence the name ‘barometer bush’). It hasn’t rained at all here in the High Desert since Spring, but it sprinkled a little yesterday and today the plant started blooming.

For the first time in many years, extreme and persistent heat is taking a toll on a few of my drought tolerant shrubs; increasing the watering and schedule time has made little to no difference. These scorching heat waves are becoming more and more exhausting, and we are looking forward to Fall and to cooler days ahead.

Happy gardening!

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By JM Perez

Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

July Favorite Plants

By JM PerezJuly 3, 20211 min read645 views

It’s another good year for my Agapanthus, these plants are truly drought and frost tolerant as well as tolerant to extreme heat. Despite another week of temperatures over 100 degree Fahrenheit, these plants sent up multiple stalks, with beautiful flowers atop each floral scapes.

Asparagus Fern is one of my favorite plants. It’s an easy to grow plant, heat, drought and frost tolerant that will thrive nearly anywhere with proper care once established.

Grow them as houseplants or outdoors in raised planters, in garden beds or in hanging baskets; Asparagus Fern is an attractive plant that make a wonderful display.

As we celebrate the Fourth of July weekend, let us be mindful of others, of brush fires, of bodily injury and/or property damage while setting off those fireworks.

Happy 4th!

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By JM Perez

Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Heat-Tolerant Plants

By JM PerezJune 25, 20212 min read736 views

These couple of weeks have been exhausting, with extreme heat and high temperatures reaching 107 Fahrenheit almost daily. All outdoor activities are being postponed or put on hold until early evening when the weather is cooler. In times like these, some rainfall is much needed and would be greatly appreciated.

There have been interesting finds in the garden such as the gorgeous Cherry Pink Calibrachoa below (also known as Million Bells). I’ve had them for over eight years. The first couple of years they were in hanging baskets and then I moved them in containers.

This season as usual the Pomegranate tree has produced hundreds of buds with most flowering, and a few dropping due to high winds.

I enjoyed watching the Amaryllis ‘Minerva’ and White Lilies blooms. I cut a few stems and they lasted for a couple of weeks in a vase. The combination was beautiful.

The Plains Coreopsis below also known as garden tickseed was part of a class experiment project for my daughter. She along with other classmates were given random seeds and were instructed to grow and care for them, reporting once a month. This seed germinated on time, but took a while to grow. I moved the seedling to a larger planter earlier in the month and it thrived. Last week one of the buds developed into a yellow flower with maroon/red center.

I have different varieties of Pine Cone Cactus in my backyard, Tephrocactus Articulatus var. Inermis, Tephrocactus articulatus var. Strobiliformis, and Tephrocactus var. Diadematus. I have had all three species for a year and they have flowered for the first time two weeks ago. The plants produce delicate showy white flowers with a yellow center at the tips of the joints, lasting up to 48 hours and closing at dusk to reopen at dawn.

It is recommended to use gloves while handling the strobiliformis species as they have little glochids at the areoles which irritate and are hard to get out of the skin.