With warming temperatures, many of us begin to think about changing out our cool-season annual flowers for plants that can take the heat of summer. Last week, I gave a potting demonstration for attendees of a local home tour. Potting demonstration The pots were then to be raffled off. I planned on creating two […]
Spring for a horticulturist, is much the same as tax season for tax professional. With the warming temperatures, I am very busy with landscape consults. While I enjoy meeting and helping clients with their landscape needs, it does create the problem of less time to be able to do other things that need to get […]
Have you ever embarked upon an unexpected adventure? I recently did. It all started with an email from the folks at Troy-Bilt who asked me to partner with them and review their outdoor power products in return for my honest opinion. I had heard of Troy-Bilt company before and knew that they made high-quality gardening equipment. But, […]
Signs of Trouble: Overwatered Saguaro Cactus Last week, I was finishing up a landscape consult with a client. I see that the saguaro cactus growing in his neighbor’s yard is a fat overwatered cactus. At first glance, you may have trouble seeing what is wrong. You might think that it is a little on the […]
Isn’t this a pretty flowering shamrock? Okay, it’s not really a shamrock. It does belong to a family of plants known as ‘false shamrocks’. Since I can’t grow real shamrocks in my desert garden, I just like to pretend that my pink- flowering one is the real deal. This plant that masquerades as a shamrock […]
There are few types of vegetables that don’t always survive winter in my zone 9a garden without protection when temperatures dip below freezing. In the past, I have protected my San Marzano tomato plants with success by covering them completely with frost cloth. This year, I decided to protect my bell pepper plants. The […]
One of my favorite plants is described as having ‘chartreuse-colored’ flowers. Just saying the word, ‘chartreuse’ sounds fancy, doesn’t it? So what color is chartreuse anyway? Well, I looked up the definition and found this definition from Wikepedia: – “a color halfway between green and yellow that resembles a French liqueur called Chartreuse.” The only […]
Wouldn’t it be great to have a regional guide for things to do, places to stay and great places to eat? The EastValleyGuide is a great resource for those who live in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe. I was asked to write an article for them about the challenges of desert gardening and some simple […]
I’d love to share with you the latest addition to my desert garden… My Desert Garden I am now the proud owner of two new apple trees. It’s hard to believe that you can grow apples in the desert, but you can! Okay, I must confess that the photo above, is NOT from my new […]
My inbox has been filled lately with pruning questions. Specifically, how to prune back overgrown flowering shrubs. Chihuahuan Sage (Leucophyllum laevigatum) You may be wondering why you need to severely prune back overgrown shrubs? Well, as you can see from the photo, above – as a shrub’s branches age, they produce fewer leaves and flowers. […]
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