Nursery Visit and Temptations…

This past weekend, I was on a mission.

My mission was to replace the few plants that had died in my in-laws garden as well as replace their warm-season annuals with cool-season ones.

Unfortunately, I could not indulge my creative side and re-design the landscape that I had originally created 9 years ago because my mother-in-law wanted to keep everything the same as it was before.

My father-in-law was a meticulous gardener and was beautiful, perfectly pruned and very neat and tidy (very much unlike my own messy and untidy garden 😉

As his illness progressed, I started to take over care of his prized landscape.  Now that he has passed away, I still care for it.  Every Sunday night, we go over and have dinner with my mother-in-law.  We always arrive a bit early so that my husband can do miscellaneous tasks around the house and I help in the garden.

And so back to my mission – I had to find the exact same plants that had died over the summer.  Now for those of you who do a lot of planting – you know it can be hard to find everything you need at a single nursery.  

local nursery

Well, I still harbored unrealistic hope that I would miraculously find all that I needed in one place.  I started at our big box store and found the geraniums that I needed (they had to be red).But, unfortunately, they had nothing else that I needed.

So, off to the second nursery, which is a locally owned chain.  I scored a bit “zero” there.  Then I drove on the a third nursery.

local nursery

Local Nursery

I love this particular local nursery.  It is very large, they have a huge selection and the staff is very knowledgeable.

You may be wondering at this point, why I didn’t start at this nursery first if it all that wonderful?

Well, the problem I find myself often being tempted to buy some of the unique and hard to find plants that they offer.

And so, I arrived at the nursery and started searching for the plants my mother-in-law needed – Angelita Daisy, Blackfoot Daisy, Firecracker Penstemon and Golden Barrel.

I did my best as I walked through the nursery to stay focused on my mission – to buy plants only for my mother-in-law and NOT for myself.

local nursery

Local Nursery

I found the Firecracker Penstemon, which is hard to find this time of year.  Now, I realize that it is not all that impressive looking in a small black container.  But, it looks fabulous once you plant it and it blooms in winter and in spring….

local nursery

I also found the other plants that I needed except for the Blackfoot Daisy.

Now, I had all the plants that I needed.  But did I leave the nursery at this point?

No.  I decided that my resolve was strong and that I wouldn’t buy any plants for myself and so it was okay to stroll through the nursery and take some pictures.

local nursery

Local Nursery

They had many cool-season annuals to choose from, but I already had all I needed at home, so I wasn’t the slightest bit tempted.

Until….

local nursery

I spotted this Black Petunia.

local nursery

Aren’t the flowers just gorgeous?

I looked to find a plant tag to see what variety they were, but it was missing.

Well, I really liked these Petunias, but didn’t really have a place to put them, so I pressed onward.

local nursery

I walked by a mini grove of Bamboo.  Many people are surprised to find the Bamboo can grow in the desert.  As long as they receive enough water, they do well in our zone 9 area.

Blue Salvia

Among the cool-season annuals, I spotted a bunch of Blue Salvia.  Normally, they are grown as warm-season annuals and they do very well.  I used to plant them in pots around golf courses, but I haven’t used them in years.  I’m not sure why, but I think I will try planting them late next spring.

local nursery

As I pressed, on I noticed movement among the plants.  This rooster was busy eating the tops of the plants.

You know, I think that roosters and chickens give a nursery a ‘homey’ feel, don’t you?  Kind of like a cat in a bookstore or knitting shop.

succulent collection

Of course, no nursery located in the desert is complete without its succulent collection.

Golden Barrel, Argentine Giant Cactus, Fishhook Barrel, Cereus, Saguaro, Agave and much more was available.

Agave

Here is a helpful hint….

Did you know that often Agave have more then one plant in the container?  That is because many species of Agave reproduce ‘pups’.

So, when you are out to buy an Agave, look for one that has more then one plant in the container.  Then when you are ready to plant them, simply cut the smaller agave from the mother plant and plant them as well.

bare root Ocotillo

The nursery had a large collection of bare root Ocotillo.

I love Ocotillo and was given one by my kids on Mother’s Day a few years ago.

Ocotillo do leaf out off and on throughout the year and produce vermillion colored flowers….

local nursery

As you can see, I was having a great time at the nursery.

There is more I would like to share with you.  I found some different ways to use everyday plants AND I have yet to show you two different plants that I was sorely tempted to buy.

At this point however, I think this post is long enough and I don’t want to bore you, so please come back for “Part Two”.

Further Temptations at the Nursery…

Reigning in the Chaos of My Containers…

A few days ago, you may remember my post about my uncontrolled container plants.

uncontrolled container plants

Well, I pulled out some of my excess Trailing Lantana, which can be used in other areas of my garden.

Then I cut back the remaining Lantana and my Sweet Potato vine.

At this point, things were looking much neater, if a little bare.

I only bought a few new plants since I decided to keep much of my existing perennials.

uncontrolled container plants

I purchased Alyssum because I love their sweet fragrance.

I also bought Johnny-Jump-Ups, which are little Violas that are native to Spain.

I remember growing them in my little garden as a child and I loved how easily they grew for me.

Lastly, I purchased two Lavender.  They make great container plants and I love their flowers.

And so I began….

First, I dug a hole for my Lavender and then as I was removing the container, I discovered that they were extremely root bound.

uncontrolled container plants

Root-bound plants aren’t uncommon and are a result of being in the container too long.  The roots start growing round and round since they can’t grow outward.

If you find yourself with a root-bound plant, it is easy to fix.

Here’s how…

roots

You simply make cuts to the roots.  This forces the roots to stop growing around and around and makes them grow outward into the surrounding soil.

I used my hand pruners to make the cuts, but you can use strong scissors or even a box cutter.

After you make the cuts, you need to ‘work’ the root ball.  What I mean by this is give it a ‘massage’.  This helps to further loosen the root ball and will help your plant to transplant much more easily….

roots

Now my Lavender is ready to plant.

So, you may be wondering what happens if you don’t cut and loosen the roots of a root-bound plant?  Well, the roots will tend not to grow out into the soil, where there is moisture and nutrients and you plant will not do all that well.

After I was finished planting, my containers looked nice a neat – but a bit bare.  It will take a couple of weeks for my plants to grow and cover the bare spots.

Reigning in the Chaos of My Containers...

In my purple container, I planted a mixture of Johnny-Jump-Ups and Alyssum.

In my yellow container.  I planted one of my Lavender and pruned back my Sweet Potato Vine, which will grow back quickly.

My blue container has a Lavender and White Trailing Lantana growing.  I pruned the Lantana back but like the vine, it will grow fast.

**Although both the Sweet Potato Vine and my Trailing Lantana are susceptible to frost damage – they are protected because my containers are located underneath the overhang of my house.

You may be wondering why I don’t fill my pots with colorful cool-season annuals such as Petunias, Pansies, Snapdragons and Stock?

I was thinking about this the other day and I think it is because when I managed landscapes, I was responsible for thousands of colorful annuals being planted twice a year, keeping them alive, fertilizing them often and trying to keep them from being eaten by Javelina and rabbits.

I also know a designer who creates beautiful containers filled with both annuals and perennials every year…

Maggie

Her name is Maggie and someday, I may even try to recreate one of her beautiful container designs in my own containers.

But for now, I am happy with my humble containers.

I will show you some good ideas for cool-season container plantings with lots of color in the next week.  (Just because I didn’t plant that many in my own garden doesn’t mean I don’t know how 😉

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Baby watch update:

Two days overdue.

I have a feeling it might come today, but then, I have been known to be wrong 😉

I’ll let you know!

A ‘Bed’ of Flowers and a ‘Tub’ of Plants

I am always looking for creative ways to display plants in my garden.

On two recent trips, one to North Carolina and the other to Amish country in Indiana, I saw some ‘beds’ of flowers that I thought were not only beautiful, but also very creative.

This first one I saw along the main street in Shipshewana, Indiana, which is a quaint town in Amish country.

beds of flowers

beds of flowers

I love how they painted the bed headboard and footboard of this old bed, don’t you?

Although this next one is not painted, I like the old rusted look of this head and footboard.

beds of flowers

This ‘bed’ of flowers was located in the old section of Asheville, North Carolina.

In the same area, I came upon a ‘tub’ of plants…

'Tub' of Plants

This tub was filled with kale, white violas and pansies.

I would love a ‘tub’ full of plants in my own garden.  Even an old washtub with drainage holes would work well, don’t you think?

Have you seen any creative planting containers like these?

I’d love to hear about them.

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I apologize for being a bit late in posting this week.  Life has been awfully busy.  After giving a presentation on citrus care to a garden club Tuesday morning, I then headed to our local children’s hospital where my 13-month old nephew, Dean, had major surgery and one lobe of his right lung was removed.  He is at our local children’s hospital and is doing well and they are doing their best to manage his pain.

We all went to visit him today and it was nice to see that he recognized us even though he was pretty ‘loopy’ on all of his pain meds.  We are hopeful that he will be able to go home by Monday.

Today, I am going up to one of my favorite places – Rio Verde, where I have 3 consults scheduled.

After this week, I am thankful that I have nothing more scheduled this weekend besides church 🙂

I hope you are all having a great week!    

Adventures in Amish Country and a Farmhouse Visit

Wildflowers in Spring? Time to Get Ready…..

What comes to mind when you think of wildflowers?  Maybe beautiful splashes of colorful flowers throughout the desert?  Well, how about growing them yourself instead of driving somewhere to view wildflowers in the spring?  Wildflowers are easy to grow and you have the added benefit of being able to view their beautiful blooms outside your window throughout the spring.  Butterflies and hummingbirds will be drawn to your wildflower garden as well.

wildflower garden

Wildflower demonstration garden on a golf course

The wildflower garden above was planted by me about 9 years ago on a golf course.  It was one of three demonstration gardens that I designed.  My goal was to inspire people to grow wildflowers at home.  I planted Red Flax and Arroyo Lupine which are blooming in the photo above.  California Bluebells as well as California Poppies were also planted, but had not bloomed yet.  

Brittlebush is blooming in the background.  (I learned from this experience, that wildflowers should be thinned once they germinate, obviously I did not do that – one of many gardening mistakes that I have learned from over the years).

One of my favorite wildflower combinations are California Bluebells (Phacelia campanularia) along with California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica or mexicana) and Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata).  

I also like this combination – Arroyo Lupine (Lupinus succulentus) with California Poppies and Red Flax (Linum grandiflorum ‘Rubrum’).  The possibilities are absolutely endless….

wildflower garden

Scarlet Flax

The ideal time to sow most types of wildflower seed is October through December, so it is time to plan your wildflower garden now.  The Desert Botanical Garden has excellent information on how to grow wildflowers which can be found at Desert Botanical Garden Growing Wildflowers.

*The source that I have used for wildflower seed is a small company called Wild Seed.  They can be reached at 602-276-3536.  They will mail you a catalog of the wildflower seed that they have available.       

Unexpected Encounters….

Working as a horticulturist on golf courses may not sound like the most exciting job.  But, I loved spending time outdoors, managing the landscape areas with their trees and plants.

It was wonderful being right on the edge of the desert and witnessing its beauty up close.

golf course

Of course, there were some thorny encounters with prickly cactus, (which does hurt by the way).  I also faced some encounters with wildlife.

I used to be scared of bugs as a child.  In fact, I would get my younger brother to come into my room to kill any little spiders that I would sometimes see.

Fast forward 20 years later, I was working as a horticulturist, which  almost guaranteed that I would have to deal with bugs.

I got used to most types of bugs….even scorpions.  However, there was and is one bug that is still quite scary to me….

Encounters with wildlife

Encounters with wildlife

This is a Palo Verde beetle.  And believe me, they are huge….about 7 – 8 inches long.

Their larvae feed upon the roots of trees, especially Palo Verdes.

As much as I like to think that I am now brave when it comes to bugs, I still can’t quite surpress a shiver when I see a Palo Verde beetle.  Thankfully, the last one I saw was over 12 years ago.

However, as the only female working in a department with 38 men, I was the victim of some of the crew trying to tease from time to time with bugs and snakes.

One incident involved my landscape crew.  I was driving along the golf course, to see how they were progressing in removing an old, rotten tree.  As I drove nearer, one of the guys said,

“Noellia, come here.”

(That was what they called me)

Well, he had a grin on his face as did the men standing behind him.  So, I was immediately on my guard.  As I walked toward him, he held out his hand to show me a huge Palo Verde grub (larvae).  It was white, fat and at least 4 inches long.

Well, I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of letting him know that I was “scared” of it as he expected, so I tried to “fake” bravery.  I smiled and asked him to put it in my gloved hand.

Then I told him what it was and explained what they did to tree roots.  Of course, this was all part of my trying not to let them know that I was scared of this huge, white, grub that was wriggling in the middle of my gloved palm.

I could tell that my crew were disappointed that I did not react differently, but I like to think that maybe I earned some additional respect.

Of course, as I drove away, I did kind of shiver a bit afterward in reaction.

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A frequent encounter that often occurred was with snakes.

Now, I do NOT like snakes and it’s my brother’s fault.

You see, he had a California King snake when he was a young boy.  Well, this snake would often escape his enclosure and get lost around our house.

So, I would walk around scared that the snake was lurking around the next corner.  Of course, we always found him, but eventually we had to get rid of him since my brother could not keep him in his cage.

Well, living in the desert means that you will see snakes.  And on a golf course, many types of animals are attracted to the water and snakes are attracted to many of those animals.  So, I would see many snakes, usually in the grass.

As long as I saw them first, I was okay.

Occasionally though, some snakes would make their way into the maintenance area where we worked.  The crew liked to play with the non-venomous snakes, such as the Sonoran Gopher Snake…

Encounters with wildlife

Encounters with wildlife. Photo Courtesy of Dawson

Of course, if they had a snake and saw me nearby, I would hear them call out….

“Noellia, come here…..”

And so, I would suck up my courage, try acting brave, smile and touch the snake before backing off.

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My last encounter occurred without any other people around and no crew members trying to tease me with ‘scary’ animals.

I was working along a large landscaped area along a roadway and I was manually turning some irrigation valves.

I was always careful opening up a valve box because you never knew what could be lurking inside.  Normally, crickets, a roach or two, lizard and sometimes scorpions.

As a result, I used a screwdriver to pull off the valve box lid and I always had gloves on.

Well, this particular day, I needed to turn on the water for some very thirsty plants, so I knelt down beside the valve box, pulled up the lid and saw my valve

AND….

Encounters with wildlife

Encounters with wildlife, Courtesy Wikipedia

There he was, Mr. Tarantula, just sitting a few inches away from my valve.  I am certain he was enjoying the dark, quiet space.

So, I faced a dilemma.  Do I let the thirsty plants suffer without water all weekend long?

Do I ask one of my crew to come out and turn the valve on for me?

Well, I decided to handle the situation myself by “talking” to the tarantula.

I said, “I’m going to put my hand in very carefully and turn on this valve.  I’m not going to hurt you, so please don’t jump at me.”

Well guess what?  He must have understood what I was saying because I put my gloved hand in, turned on the valve and the tarantula never moved.

I must admit that I was so proud of myself for doing that, but there was no one around to witness my bravery 😉  

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Well, those are my favorite stories of unexpected encounters with wildlife.

How about you?

Have you ever had an unexpected encounter with bugs, snakes, etc?

How did you handle it?  

Horticulturists Don’t Wear Nailpolish….Do They??

“Cupcakes” In The Garden

Do you like cupcakes?  

Do you prefer a plain cupcake with no frosting?

plain cupcake

 Or maybe you like just a little bit of frosting….

plain cupcake

Of course, many people like cupcakes with a thin layer of frosting on the top….

plain cupcake

I don’t know about you, but I prefer an entire piece of cake (which is much bigger then a cupcake) with lots of frosting all over it….

plain cupcake

How about you?

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After I walked out into my back garden this weekend and seeing my Sage shrubs in full bloom, I just couldn’t resist another post about the unfortunate practice of formerly pruning flowering shrubs into ‘cupcake’ shapes.


Of course you can read more if you like:

Flowering Shrubs Aren’t Meant To Be Cupcakes


September Monthly Garden Bouquet

I hope you are all having a great week so far. 

Mine is busy finishing up a landscape consult write-up, doctor’s appointment and on Friday, we will be having my father-in-law’s memorial service.  


Although memorial services are sad events, the one thing that I do enjoy are the beautiful, floral arrangements.  It never ceases to amaze me how flowers can brighten anyone’s day.

I was so happy to see the following September Bouquet in my inbox that just made my week brighter.

Garden Bouquet

This beautiful bouquet is from my blogger-friend, Pam, who is the creator of the blog, Pam’s English Garden.

She grew up in England and now gardens on a farm in Pennsylvania.

I love the flower combinations that she used – Buddleia, Marigold, Zinnias and Roses.

Pam also made a very creative bouquet, using herbs from her garden.

Garden Bouquet

I recognize Basil, Parsley, Mint and Echinacea in this bouquet along with Nasturtium for color.

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Would like your bouquet to be included for October’s Monthly Garden Bouquet?

Just send me a photo via email, or send me a comment with a link to your blog post.

I will provide a link to your blog and ask that you do the same.

*If you do not have a blog, then simply send me a picture of your bouquet, and I will be happy to feature it.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR MONTHLY BOUQUET PHOTO OR LINK TO ME BY THE 19TH OF EACH MONTH.

I hope that you are inspired to create bouquets from your own garden this month 🙂      

Anticipation….

beginning of fall

I always anticipate the beginning of fall and the cooler temperatures that it brings.

I think this Hibiscus shrub is also enjoying the cooler temperatures and is beginning to flower again.

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Thank you all for all your support and kind comments since the death of my father-in-law. 

They are much appreciated.  Life is still a bit crazy as I try to catch up on things that didn’t get done while we spent 22 days at his bedside.

I don’t think I have ever created a blog post with a single photo, but I promise that I will get back to my regular blogging soon.

Thank you for hanging in there with me 🙂

Have a great weekend!

(I am going to my daughter’s baby shower tomorrow, which is going to be held at Double S Farms.  I can hardly wait.  I’ll share some of the fun we have with you next week.)

Shared Love for Gardening….

Some daughter-in-law’s don’t have much in common with their father-in-law. 

In my case, when I married my husband 25 years ago, I wasn’t sure if I would have any shared interests with my father-in-law…..he was a dentist (I was deathly afraid of dentists), he ran 3 miles a day (I got a ‘stitch’ in my side if I tried running to the corner), he was very orderly and meticulous (I am neither of those things) and he was soft spoken (while I can be a bit loud).

I knew he loved me and I him, but sometimes conversation would lag because besides the kids and family, there wasn’t much else to talk about.

That is until I started to become interested in plants and landscaping.  You see, my father-in-law always had well-designed landscapes filled with beautiful plants.  As I decided to pursue a degree in Urban Horticulture, he was very supportive.

Urban Horticulture

Urban Horticulture, Goodding’s Verbena (Glandularia gooddingi)

Even better, we now had lots to talk about.  Our visits would often include visits into each others garden.

I would show him my newest plant acquisition and he would in turn, ask me questions about a few of his plant problems.

Urban Horticulture

Red Yucca  (Hesperaloe parviflora)

A few years later, he and my mother-in-law made the trip up to my newest job location, took me out to lunch and asked me to show them around the landscape areas I was in charge of.

Urban Horticulture

Blackfoot Daisy  (Melampodium leucanthum)

When he retired, he asked me to design the landscape for their new home.  He had some ideas of what he wanted and then let me go at it.

Urban Horticulture

Damianita  (Chrysactinia mexicana)

 I enjoyed working closely with him, in coming up with a design and the plants that he liked.

Urban Horticulture

Purple Prickly Pear  (Opuntia violaceae)

While I enjoyed visiting and seeing his landscape mature, I didn’t always agree with the way he like to prune his shrubs…

Urban Horticulture

His style gardening was orderly and meticulous, like he was.

We would sometimes tease each other because our styles were vastly different.

Urban 'Torch Glow' Bougainvillea

‘Torch Glow’ Bougainvillea

But no matter our landscaping styles, we still enjoyed going out into the garden together.

Last October, my father-in-law was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).  

Phoenix Bird-of-Paradise  (Caesalpinia pulcherrima 'Phoenix')

Phoenix Bird-of-Paradise  (Caesalpinia pulcherrima ‘Phoenix’)

In a very short time, he was robbed of the ability to speak, swallow, eat and the use of his hands.

Now, unable to work in his garden himself, he had to rely on others.

Urban Horticulture

I considered it a privilege to help him where I could.

'Rio Bravo' Sage (Leucophyllum langmaniae 'Rio Bravo')

‘Rio Bravo’ Sage (Leucophyllum langmaniae ‘Rio Bravo’)

He endured this horrible disease with dignity, a sense of humor and through his faith.

Mexican Fence Post (Pachycereus marginatus)

Mexican Fence Post (Pachycereus marginatus)

This past Saturday, after 2 weeks in hospice care, he passed away.

Urban Horticulture

We were all blessed to be by his side as he took his last, labored breath.

One of the last things he wrote was,

“My race is almost over.”

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I think it will be awhile before I can step into his garden without shedding tears.

I will miss sharing our love for plants together…..      

Tour of Sustainable Southwestern Landscapes: Part 1

A House-Call and an Unusual Prescription

Two weeks ago I received a phone call from one of my long-time clients.  She was frantic about her Hibiscus plant. 

I’m not kidding….

Why was she so upset?  Well, she had received this potted Hibiscus from her friend who had grown it for years.  She was having a problem with white flies attacking her beloved Hibiscus and it was losing its leaves.

Now, I had seen the Hibiscus last fall, when she had first received it and she proudly showed me where she had put it in her dining room.  It had always been grown as an indoor plant.


(All the photos below are of healthy Hibiscus.  I didn’t have any photos of unhealthy ones to show you).

Hibiscus plant

Hibiscus plant

It was a lovely specimen of Hibiscus and she was determined to take very good care of her friend’s Hibiscus.

However, when I arrived last week to look at it, it wasn’t looking too happy.

Some of the leaves were yellowing, while some were still green.  The Hibiscus had lost many of its leaves.  There was also ‘honeydew’ on the leaves, which are shiny, slightly sticky drops.  The ‘honeydew’ is actually the ‘poop’ from the white flies.

When I gently brushed the leaves, a cloud of white flies flew upward.

Hibiscus plant

Hibiscus plant

My client had used insecticidal soap and had even carefully brushed each leaf with a soft toothbrush to get “the blasted insects” off.

But, they would always return a few days later.  She was at her wit’s end.  She said that she couldn’t sleep at night because she kept envisioning ways to “kill those blasted insects”.

So if you have Hibiscus (inside or outside) and have problems with white flies, I will share with you what I told her including one unusual prescription:

1. Spray the leaves (top and bottom), stems and soil surface with insecticidal soap.  Do this every 4 days to kill newly emerged white flies before they can lay eggs.

The key to killing white flies with insecticidal soap is that you have to do it 3 – 4 separate times to kill the emerging white flies before they can lay eggs.  Insecticidal soap does not kill the eggs, which are usually laid on the soil surface.

2. In conjunction with the insecticidal soap, put out ‘yellow sticky traps’ around your Hibiscus.  White flies are attracted to the color yellow and will become ‘stuck’ on the sticky trap.  You can buy them at your local nursery, or you can make your own by coloring an index card yellow, attach a popsicle stick on the pack and smear with Vaseline.

3. Neem oil has been shown to be effective as well.  But, its effects aren’t obvious at first.  It interferes with the life cycle of harmful insects and keeps them from eating, mating and laying eggs.  However, Neem oil can be a bit strong for some plants and can damage leaves.  So, before using on your entire plant, be sure to apply it to one leaf first and wait 24 hours to see if your plant handles it without damage.

4. Okay, this is my favorite solution.  Some people have shown great results in repelling white flies when they incorporate ‘earthworm casings’ into the soil.  What are ‘earthworm casings’ you may ask?  Well, it is earthworm ‘poop’.  Plants just love it and it makes a great soil amendment and many people state that it has kept white flies away from their Hibiscus plants.

**I don’t believe that there are any scientific studies to support this and I haven’t tried it personally.  But, earthworm casings will benefit your Hibiscus even if it doesn’t repel white flies, so there is no danger in using it.  You can buy earthworm casings online.

Hibiscus plant

Now I generally do not make house calls for a single, indoor plant.  But, these clients are a very dear couple and I have had quite a history with them.  First, it was attempting to save their old, Magnolia tree.  The client had grown up in Louisiana and had loved having a tree that reminded her of her girlhood home.  

Sadly, the Magnolia tree died due to an underground leak of the irrigation system.  But, the good news is, is that they have a new Magnolia tree that although small, should do very well in its new location.

How about you?

Do you have a tree or plant that is especially important to you?

I would love to hear about it 🙂