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 in my vegetable garden is actually Pink Wood Sorrel, (Oxalis crassipes ‘Rosea’).
I received this lovely plant from a fellow blogger, who gardens in Oregon.
I saw this beautiful flowering plant on one of her and she kindly sent me some a few years ago that she had divided from her plant.
Would this plant grow in my desert garden, I wondered?
Well, it not only grew…
It has thrived!
Hardy to zones 5 – 10, it flowers in spring and fall. During the hot summer, it goes dormant but quickly grows back.
Because it has done so well, I have divided it and place it in other partly shady spots in my vegetable gardens.
I planted it in my vegetable garden where it would do well in enriched soil and receive regular water.
I love the tiny flowers that close at night.
Unlike other species of Oxalis, Pink Wood Sorrel is not invasive.
Even when not in flower, I love how pretty this plant is.
I enjoy growing some plant species that might seem out of place in the desert climate. You just have to adjust the growing conditions a bit. A partly shady corner of the vegetable garden works just perfectly for my false ‘shamrock’.
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 reason that I know what color chartreuse is, is because of the flowers produced by this favorite plant of mine…
Colorful Flowers
They are pretty, aren’t they?
What I find quite funny about this plant is that while the color of its flowers have a fancy French name – the common name of this plant is somewhat derogatory.
Beautiful Colorful Flowers of Euphorbia biglandulosa
This succulent plant with the fancy-colored flowers is known as a ‘gopher plant’.
In late winter and early spring, chartreuse-colored flowers appear in zone 9a, providing a welcome splash of color.
As the flowers age, they take on a different appearance that I like as well…
They do great in full sun or light shade. Gopher plants don’t need any special care. Just provide well-drained soil and supplemental water. The only thing to be careful of is not too overwater them – no more then once a week during the warm months.
Once they are done flowering, prune back the old stems. Gopher plants (Euphorbia biglandulosa), grow approximately 2 ft. wide and 1 ft. high.
I like planting them nearby boulders or in groups of three.
I often recommend this plant to clients, but I don’t call it ‘gopher plant’ because let’s face it; would you want to add a plant called that without having seen it first?
Instead, I refer to it as “an attractive succulent with chartreuse-colored” flowers.
Which would you prefer to have in your garden; a gopher plant OR a succulent with chartreuse-colored flowers?
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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. As time passes – these branches die, which leave ugly, bare areas.
Here are a few more examples of overgrown shrubs that need to be severely pruned back…
You may think the formally pruned sage shrubs in the photo above, look okay besides being a bit on the large side.
But, what you don’t see is a large amount of dead branches inside. In reality, these shrubs are covered in a very thin layer of growth.
Here is an example of old Cassia (Senna nemophila) shrubs that have only been pruned formally. You can see that there are more dead areas than live growth.
So, how do you go about severely pruning old, overgrown shrubs back?
First of all – don’t do this during cooler months because it will take your shrubs a very long time to grow back. In addition, it can make frost-tender shrubs more susceptible to frost damage. Wait until spring for pruning back summer-flowering shrubs such as bougainvillea, sage, oleanders, etc.
You need a good pair of loppers and sometimes a pruning saw and you are ready to go. Simply prune your shrub back until there is only about 1 – 2 ft left.
Hedge trimmers can help if you use them to remove the outer part of the shrub and then you can get your loppers inside to prune off larger branches toward the base.
Below, are photos of ‘Rio Bravo’ Sage (Leucophyllum langmaniae ‘Rio Bravo’) shrubs that started out overgrown, were pruned back severely, and grew back.
Overgrown shrubs.
Pruned back to 1 ft.
This is the ugly stage. But you need to go through this ‘awkward’ stage to achieve beautiful, healthy shrubs.
I promise that it doesn’t last long…
New growth appears 3 weeks later
8 weeks after pruning.
12 weeks after severe pruning.
You can see that the severe pruning caused the shrub to grow young, new branches that produce beautiful green growth and flowers.
**Although severe renewal pruning keeps your shrubs healthy and attractive – there are a few cases when an old, overgrown shrub won’t grow back. It is doubtful that the Cassia shrubs, above, will survive for long either with or without severe pruning).
This usually indicates that the shrub has declined too much and would not have survived for long even without pruning. If this happens, you are better off replacing your shrub.**
Hand pruners, pruning saw and loppers
A good guideline for severely pruning your shrubs is to do this every 3 years or so. Of course, you can do this every year if you like to help keep your shrubs from outgrowing their space.
I hope that this helps to answer some of your questions.
If you would like to learn more about how to prune shrubs the right way, I invite you to learn more about my popular online shrub pruning workshop.
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They look like a pile of match sticks, don’t they?
I never cease to be amazed at the humble beginnings that most flowers arise from.
Can you tell what type of seeds these are?
They are marigold seeds.
Marigolds are very easy to grow from seed. Once the flowers die, simply pull out the dried petals and you have seeds with which to plant new ones.
I use marigolds in my vegetable gardens as a companion plant.
They not only look pretty, but also help to repel damaging bugs from attacking my vegetables.
During mild winters, they will grow from fall through spring – but can be killed back from freezing temperatures. They usually die in summer in my desert garden. But, once the cooler weather of fall arrives, they come up again from seed.
They meet my criteria of a fuss-free plant. Marigolds don’t need rich soil or fertilizer. Where you plant them is up to you, but they do best in sunny areas.
Marigolds also make great container plants and also look nice in bouquets.
You can find marigolds at most nurseries where annual flowers are located. Or, you can plant them easily from seed.
When you pair beauty and low-maintenance in a single type of plant – that is one that I highly recommend.
Earlier this week, I was doing a landscape consult with a client who had multiple (Hesperaloe parviflora) plants throughout his garden and I was reminded again, how much I enjoy this succulent plant.
I’d love to share with you just a few of the many reasons to add red yucca(Hesperaloe parviflora) to your landscape…
First of all, its flowers are beautiful and appear May through September and hummingbirds find them irresistible. Red yucca isn’t only drought tolerant but is hardy to -20 degrees, making it suitable for planting in many different planting zones. Although it often referred to by the common name ‘yucca’ – it isn’t a yucca at all.
Even when not in flower, its grass-like succulent foliage add texture to the landscape. I really like how they look when planted in groups of three.
Grab my FREE guide for Fuss-Free Plants that thrive in a hot, dry climate!
**When adding multiple plants of the same kind – focus on adding them in odd numbered groupings such as 3 or 5. The reason is that odd numbered plant groupings are more pleasing to the eye.
In addition to the more traditional red/pink colored flowers, there is also a yellow variety available. They are the same as red yucca with the flower color being the only difference.
Their requirements are few…. full sun, well-drained soil and periodic deep watering.
Red yucca plants are extremely low-maintenance. All you need to do is to prune off dead flower stalks in the fall.
Don’t prune the foliage like the homeowner did in the photo above – why create more maintenance then is needed? Especially when it results in turning an attractive plant ‘ugly’?
**You can read more about my past experience with this type of pruning to red yucca that was done by a member of my crew in a previous blog post:
Red or yellow yucca thrive in areas with reflected sun and heat. They also do well around swimming pools and in pots.
I love how this yellow yucca was placed between garage doors, don’t you? It is almost impossible to find a plant that will do well in this unforgiving location.
Over time, red yucca can become overgrown. The photo above are from my client’s front yard. His red yucca aren’t quite overgrown yet, but will eventually get there in 2 – 3 years.
What I recommend is to simply take them out and replace them when that happens. You don’t even have to buy a new red yucca to replace them with. Simply separate a small section of the overgrown plant that you just removed and re-plant it.
What’s not to love about this fabulous plant? I hope you will decide to try red or yellow yucca in your landscape.
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Red-Yucca-flowers-2.jpg480640arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2013-02-28 17:45:002021-05-22 10:45:59Beautiful, Low-Maintenance Red Yucca
A couple of months ago, the new Burpee seed catalog came in the mail, which is always an exciting event in my world.
You see, I have been reading through their catalog since I was a little girl. I would go through the entire catalog and read the descriptions of flowers and vegetables and circle the ones that I would plant in my imaginary garden.
Now that I am all grown up, I actually buy the seeds I like and plant them in my ‘real’ garden.
One of the seed descriptions caught my attention. Corn that you can grow in a container – yes, you heard me right…in a container.
They came in the mail a few weeks ago and I had wait very patiently (not!) until my local gardening calendar said that it was okay to plant them. The official date to begin planting corn on my zone 9a garden is March 1st. But, I decided that today (Feb. 23rd) was a good time to plant them, even though I was a week early.
Did I mention that I am a patient gardener?
I found the perfect container for my new container corn….a half whiskey barrel that I found at our local Home Depot.
The barrel still smelled like whiskey, which I think makes it just that much cooler. It didn’t have any holes, so I drilled some holes on the bottom.
Then my wonderful husband added the soil for me. I like to think that I am able to pour big bags of soil and I can, but not without a lot of ‘huffing and puffing’ followed by a bit of a backache the next day 😉
Now, it was time to add my precious new corn seeds…
Originally, I was going to place the container of corn plants next to my vegetable garden located in the side yard – but, I am already planning on growing ‘regular’ corn in that garden and you have to keep different types of corn separate from each other or they will cross-pollinate and the resulting corn will be different.
So, we placed the corn next to my smaller vegetable garden just off of the patio where it will get full sun.
The seeds should take 7 – 14 days to germinate and then I can harvest ears of corn in 63 days.
I can’t wait to see how they grow. If they turn out well, I may plant them again in August.
If you want to try this new type of corn – clink the link below:
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/On-Deck-Corn-Hybrid.jpg350233arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2013-02-25 17:00:002021-01-30 09:24:22An Old Whiskey Barrel and Corn Seeds
I went out in my garden today and saw these flowers growing.
While they are pretty, I was NOT happy to see them.
Why?
Maybe this next photo will give you a clue…
Can you tell why I’m not happy about these flowers yet?
Maybe this photo will tell you why…
It is my broccoli that is flowering.
The goal of growing broccoli in my vegetable garden is to eat it before it flowers.
Thankfully, there is plenty of broccoli that isn’t flowering yet.
I don’t claim to have the ‘perfect’ garden and I sometimes don’t get out there much as I’d like, but it really doesn’t bother me that some of my broccoli is flowering.
You know why?
Because I still have a refrigerator filled with fresh broccoli (that hasn’t flowered yet), some still in the garden and a little vase filled with pretty, little, yellow flowers 🙂
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Who knew that you could grow ‘houseplants’ using kitchen scraps?
I was inspired to find gardening projects that could be done indoors, for those gardeners who are stuck inside during cold winters.
The photos below were taken over a 14 day period from planting, to what they look like just 2 weeks later. I must admit that I am quite impressed.
I started with growing a radish…
I am hoping that my radish plant will flower at some point because I have heard that radish flowers are quite pretty.
My garlic cloves grew quickly and I will use the greens as a garnish, much like I would use green onions. Garlic greens have a mild garlic flavor.
My lentils are quite pretty and delicate looking. I am waiting for them to flower, which will make them even prettier.
I realize that many people have grown a vine from a sweet potato – but I hadn’t tried it. After it grows, the vine will be a pretty addition to my kitchen windowsill garden. Now that the roots are growing, I will hopefully see some green sprouting on top.
I did have one plant that didn’t come up. The book that I was inspired by said that you could plant fresh green beans, but mine didn’t grow.
**You can also plant dried beans after soaking them overnight and they should come up.
The goal of this project wasn’t to grow ‘food’, but to enjoy the foliage of the plants themselves and brighten up a dreary winter for those who live in cold climates.
I really had fun with this project. I think it would be a great activity to do with kids, don’t you?
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/IMG_0160.jpg452640arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2013-01-31 05:15:002023-02-20 11:42:25Look At What I Grew From Kitchen Scraps…
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL! I just finished watching the Rose Parade with my mother. It’s a tradition in our family and reminds me of when my grandparents took me when I was a child.
We didn’t have tickets to the parade, so my grandfather carried a ladder from their house (which was close by) and set the ladder up at the edge of the parade route. Each of us kids would take turns climbing to the top of the ladder to watch the parade.
Even though we didn’t see much of the parade, it is still such a special memory.
Well, Christmas is over and the decorations have all been put away. But, we had a wonderful time over the Christmas holiday.
Here are a few highlights…
Baking Christmas cookies with my kids along with my young nephews. Every year, I have all of them come over and we have so much fun making the cookies. Then they get to take some home for ‘Santa’.
Christmas Eve. Every year, my mother-in-law makes her famous lasagna. It is delicious. But, she says that this is the last year that she will be making it. So, I took a picture of it just in case no one else takes up making it in her place.
Each year, on Christmas Eve, all my kids (those that still live at home), ask me to read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’. The dogs enjoy the story too 🙂
Christmas morning at our house.
After Christmas morning at our house, the entire family gathers at Double S Farms. My granddaughter, Lily is excited about opening more gifts. Well, not really. She just likes to tear the tissue paper up into tiny pieces.
Our family just keeps getting bigger.
After we finished opening gifts, it was time for our ‘treasure hunt’. This is a family tradition where my mother writes clues, which eventually lead us to our last Christmas gift. We all work together to solve the clues.
This year’s hunt took us to the chicken coop and to my mother’s vegetable garden…
Doesn’t it look fabulous for December?
Anyway, here is where found one of the clues…
There was a note inside this broccoli plant.
After gifts were all opened, it was time to play outside. The men and boys played football. My twin nephews had fun on the toy tractor being pushed by their mom.
Lily wanted to play ball, but Johnny wasn’t going to share.
So, her aunt and cousins decided to give her a ride in the toy tractor.
Trees were climbed by my nephew, Oliver.
The ‘men’ had fun talking.
And my 2-year old nephew, Danny, finally got to ‘climb’ a tree with a little help from my daughter, Rachele.
My mother got her wish…a photo with all of her grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Although, this was a wonderful Christmas for me, it was also a little bittersweet.
My daughter, Rachele, holding her niece.
You see, my second oldest daughter, Rachele, is entering the Navy in April. While I am so proud of her, I will miss her. She will probably not be with us next Christmas.
And so, every memory from this past Christmas are extra special to me.
*************************
I have lots of plans for the garden this coming year and some road trips. So I will have lots to share with you.
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The other day, my son Kai asked me what mistletoe was. I explained that it was a little plant that grew on trees that people hung over doorways during the holidays. At this point, he looked a little puzzled at why people would want to hang a plant over the door. But as I went on to explain that couples would then kiss each other if they were underneath the mistletoe, Kai’s expression turned into one of disgust……evidently kissing girls is not something any 8-year old boy wants to do 😉
On the other hand, if you mention the word ‘mistletoe’ to an arborist or desert-dweller, you are likely to get similar expressions of unhappiness on our faces. Not because we don’t like kissing our sweethearts underneath the mistletoe – but because visions of a different type of mistletoe comes to mind which has absolutely nothing to do with kissing or the holidays.
Desert Mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum)
You may notice that this type of mistletoe does not resemble the mistletoe that we traditionally see during Christmas. Well, it is a parasitic plant like the traditional holiday mistletoe and they both belong to the same genus Phoradendron which means ‘thief of a tree’.
If you happen to see mistletoe growing in your tree, I doubt that you are experiencing a surge of Christmas cheer, but rather the opposite. You may want to get rid of it if at all possible. Among some people this can be somewhat controversial. The argument for not removing mistletoe arises from the fact that mistletoe is naturally occurring and is part of the natural desert and birds love to eat the berries. On the other side of the argument, mistletoe does not usually kill the tree, but does stress the tree because it does steal nutrients from the tree, leaving the tree more susceptible to disease and other stresses which can eventually kill the tree over time.
Mistletoe on a Mesquite tree growing in the desert.
My first experience with the mistletoe debate occurred about 13 years ago. I was serving an internship with the Water Conservation Office for the City of Mesa and we were working on recommendations for an existing Botanical Walk, which had many beautiful specimens of desert shrubs and trees. Along the Botanical Walk was a huge Mesquite tree that had large clumps of mistletoe hanging from it. The tree was beautiful and was a favorite among the birds who would feast upon the mistletoe berries.
Now the Mesquite tree was representative of the natural desert and displayed the mistletoe that occurs in the desert. For that reason, the mistletoe on the tree was left alone.
Now my personal recommendation of whether to keep or remove mistletoe is this….
Remove mistletoe as soon as you see it growing on your tree in a residential or commercial landscape setting.
Now, it may take years for a mistletoe infestation to seriously stress a tree but my main concern is that mistletoe is easily spread to neighboring trees.
Large amounts of mistletoe growing in a Mesquite tree in the Tonto National Forest.
Even if the idea of having some mistletoe growing in your tree doesn’t bother you….it may bother your neighbors. Mistletoe is easily spread by birds. They love to eat the berries that the mistletoe produce. Well, you may have guessed what happens next – a cute little bird eats a berry….then flies to your neighbor’s tree…..and ‘poops’ out the berry onto a branch along with a nice little pile of fertilizer. Soon the seed within the berry sends roots (haustoria) into the branch that the bird landed on and soon a new mistletoe plant is born.
How do you know if you have mistletoe? It is not always easy to see an early infestation – especially during the warm season when your trees are fully leafed out.
I find many instances of small mistletoe infestations in my client’s trees, especially those people who live in the outskirts of the Phoenix metro area – near the relatively untouched areas of the desert.
I took this photo at a client’s home. He had no idea that his Mesquite tree was infected. Palo Verde, Ironwood and Acacia trees are also types of trees that are also infected.
Mistletoe is much easier to spot during the winter months when trees do not have as many leaves. Each year on the golf courses, we would do an inventory of all the trees to determine which ones had mistletoe so that it could be removed by pruning.
If the infestation is rather small like the one in the photo above, then you can try pruning the branch at least 1 ft. beneath where the mistletoe occurs. This helps to remove the interior haustoria (roots) of the mistletoe.
If you have a large branch infected and do not want to prune the branch, you can dedicate yourself to brush off the mistletoe. It comes off very easily by just rubbing it off with your hands. This method does NOT get rid of the infection inside of the tree branch and the mistletoe will regrow – meaning that you will have to remove the new growth as part of your garden maintenance.
And so, I encourage you to enjoy mistletoe…..as long as it hangs above a doorway AND you can find someone to kiss 😉
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