Flowers Shrubs & Trees Archives – Page 6 of 27

Summer Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Hello, Summer

By JM PerezJune 20, 20202 min read1.2K views

Summer is finally knocking at our doors, bringing with it heat waves.

We’ve made a lot of progress in the backyard, completing a few projects and starting others. I have planted six young trees around the backyard and I go out twice daily to water and do a little maintenance, until I give my husband thumbs up to set up drippers for those plants. What’s blooming for me now are: Agapanthus ‘Storm Cloud’, Daylilies, African Iris, Lavenders, Gaura Lindheimeri, Broom Shrubs, Texas Sage, Desert Willow, Silvery Cassia, Dwarf Cup Flower, Heavenly Bamboo, Autumn Sage, Sedeveria ‘Hummelii’, Donkey’s Tail, … etc.

My African Irises (Dietes Vegeta) are flowering. While still searching for better companion plants, I have settled for Spanish Lavender, which I am shaping to grow as topiary.

One of my new favorite plants in the garden is this beautiful Phenomenal Lavender, given to us by one of our neighbors a couple of months ago.

According to High Country Gardens, Lavender Phenomenal or Phenomenal French Hybrid Lavender (Lavandula x Intermedia ‘Phenomenal’), is a French hybrid lavender notable for its outstanding cold hardiness and tolerance to heat and high humidity. ‘Phenomenal’ is said to be the toughest lavender there is as it is also resistant to root and foliar diseases and deer proof. They grow into a beautiful mounded shape, with purple flowers on tall stems in mid-summer.

I love ornamental grasses. One of my favorites is the Purple Fountain Grass; unfortunately, they cannot survive cold winters and are not hardy in my USDA Plant Hardiness Zone. I had a few of them for some months and they never came back the following year.

Two years ago I bought a few Hameln Dwarf Fountain Grasses, just to check them out. They have survived a couple of harsh winters and they are thriving in the garden.

Happy gardening and safe weekend.

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By JM Perez

Ladybugs Spiders Insects Garden Decor Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Loving Warm Weather

By JM PerezMay 25, 20202 min read891 views

I do not know about the rest of you, but we are enjoying the warm weather here. This week has been really good and we accomplished so much around the yard. With most plants flowering all around my property at the same time, I am realizing that most of them are yellow. From Daylilies, Rose trees, Climbing roses, Gladiolus, Gopher plants, Silvery Cassia, Yellow bird of Paradise bush, Green Feathery Senna, California Poppy, to Scotch and French Broom shrubs, … etc!

Spartium Junceum, also known as Spanish Broom, Rush Broom and Weaver’s broom, is a medium sized shrub which produces clusters of abundant bright yellow pea-like flowers. Spanish Broom is closely related to the other Brooms, with the exception of the honey-vanilla scent that the flowers from the Spanish Broom emit. They are drought tolerant and deer resistant.
This evergreen shrub is self-sowing and due to its prolific seed production, has been classified as a noxious weed. The plant is poisonous to humans and livestock.

I love ladybugs and I love the fact that they are beneficial garden insects. They are a favorite to gardeners, as they help keep garden pests at bay. Some ladybugs are omnivores, feeding on soft bodied insects such as mealybugs, aphids, scale insects, spider mites, eggs of the European corn borer and Colorado potato beetle. Other ladybugs are herbivores, feeding only on plant material and fungi, such as mildew. Ladybugs lay many eggs and the larvae immediately begin to feed as soon as they hatch.

As the weather warms up, Black Widow Spiders come out.

I spotted a lone Green Stink Bug (Chinavia Halaris), also known as Say’s Stink Bug on a Daylily Bud.

Mosquitoes too, love warm temperatures. We had a pretty wet late Winter and early Spring, and along came mosquitoes. Click here to learn how to protect yourselves.

So far is it a good year for all the plants in my gardens. The amount of rainfall we’ve had since the beginning of the year has made a huge difference by giving everything a good start.

I hope you are all enjoying the warm weather while being productive and staying safe.

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By JM Perez

Plant Propagation Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Backyard Delights

By JM PerezMay 9, 20202 min read732 views

I am happy today, especially as one of my succulent plants flowered for the first time.
Sedeveria ‘Hummelii’ (a cross between Sedum and Echeveria), is a tender succulent with reddish leaves during cold months and blue-green with red tips during warmer months. The plant bears small yellow star-shaped flowers. It can be propagated by separating offsets, by leaf cuttings and by seeds.

Most succulents will not survive the frost, but this one survived three cold winters (snow and frost). The first year was just a test, as I grew a succulent leaf next to an Autumn Sage and it survived the hash winter. Last Spring I move the young plant in a container and left it there. It survived two snow storms, frost and has now bloomed for the first time.

*Sedeveria “Hummelii” (Hybrid: Sedum x Echeveria).*

My Lavenders are thriving and spreading. These self-seeding plants have been popping up everywhere in my gardens. I left some seedlings untouched and transplanted others in different locations.

Green Feathery Cassia is yet another low maintenance plant I have come to love.
It is an evergreen drought-tolerant shrub with narrow gray-green foliage. From late Winter through early Summer, tiny showy yellow flowers appear at its branch tips followed by abundant seed pods. It attracts butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

My Wisteria just bloomed for the first time, how exciting. The rewarding work of shaping and training the plant to climb on the pergola has begun.

With the exception of the Japanese Boxwood, every other shrub in my yard is heavily covered with flowers. The flowers on the Common Broom shrubs are so heavy that the lower branches drag on the ground. Caring for this plant can be overwhelming as they are a host to the Genista Caterpillars, the larvae of the Genista Broom Moth, Lepidoptera Pyralidae. Also, the plant is self-sowing. I got rid of over one hundred seedlings with more emerging here and there.

The Red Tip Photinia are clothed in delicate clusters of white and cream flowers. We lost one plant a week ago and we will be replacing it this weekend.

Don’t forget to stay hydrated as the weather becomes hotter.

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By JM Perez

Plant Propagation Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Backyard Blossoms

By JM PerezMay 1, 20202 min read615 views

It’s a beautiful day here in the High Desert. The weather has turned around for the better; and with warmer days ahead, I look forward to stepping out and smelling the roses. Now that the soil has finally warmed up, my gardens are looking really good with colors and blooms. The Dwarf Cup Flowers are thriving and spreading rapidly, most are blanketed with delicate violet blue flowers. I realized years ago that this plant does better in-ground than in containers. They are self-sowing too.

The Rose trees are all blossoming now. I can’t remember the name of the hybrid tea rose below, but I absolutely adore my Blue Moon Rose. I hard pruned it last Fall and it has tripled in size.
I will enjoy a vase of cut roses.

The stash of Walnuts seeds and Peach Pits a squirrel hid around my backyard are emerging from the ground. I got rid of most and saved a couple. One of my next door neighbors has two mature Walnut trees and many Dwarf Peach Trees; he has been sharing his peaches with us and they are so sweet; I figure these seeds might be from his trees, dispersed by squirrels. I hope I can successfully grow the peaches, at least.

The Purple Leaf Cherry Plum trees have some fruits. Depending on the taste, we may eat some when fully ripe and let the birds have the rest.

Happy first day of May and good start to your weekend as you find your happy place in the garden.

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By JM Perez

Ground Squirrel Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Scents of Spring

By JM PerezApril 18, 20203 min read590 views

The Lilacs are blooming and they are exploding with gorgeous clusters of fragrant lavender blossoms.
I got a couple more young plants from my neighbor today. In total I have 10 Lilacs planted in the garden, all of which are Lavender Lady Lilac, as far as I can see from those flowering. I hope to be blessed with a few different varieties from the younger plants.

I love my Periwinkle Creeping Myrtle! They are more creepers than climbers, and I hope I can successfully train them to climb. I am planting a few more on each side of the pergola.

As much as I love my property, I dislike the fact that it attracts squirrels, which I have come to despise. They dig, they chew and they damage everything. Once in a while, like every two years to be precise, a daring squirrel comes along and wreaks havoc in my garden. I don’t mind these little rodents choosing an opened area in the backyard; however, when they decide to burrow right under my drive way, garage, gas line (or anywhere near my home), it becomes an issues. We have spent so much time and money over the years in repellents, patching holes and we might end up redoing our backyard driveway.

There are so many squirrels and rabbits in the neighborhood. Some neighbors thought they were so cute and started feeding them, now they are everywhere. These rodents are fast learners, believe me. They have found ways to go around chicken wires and sometimes will chew through it. Now they stopped eating plants roots. They figured that eating the root would kill the plant, so they dig next to the plants and eat everything, then return when there’s new growth. I was surprised to see walnut seedlings emerging in different locations all over my backyard. Come to find out, this squirrel stashed them all over the place.

I have tried different methods to keep them away from my property and none worked. I pruned branches, protected my containers and garden beds with wire mesh, dug a few inches into the ground to prevent them from gaining access and they just chew through the wood. I have secured the roots of plants using wire mesh, applied a thick layer of mulch, sprinkled coffee ground, cayenne pepper/hot chili pepper.
The Live Animal Trap was useless; they would go in, eat the nuts and exit without triggering it. We set a squirrel trap just to find out that the squirrel dug an exit hole at a different location. This time we used a Macabee Gopher Trap and my husband found an agonizing squirrel the next morning and took care of it. As you can see in the picture above, the squirrel’s left hand got caught in the trap.

The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources has many articles about managing Pests in gardens and landscapes. You can find the article on ground squirrels here.

I’ve had the Rio Samba Hybrid Tea Tree Rose for over eight years. It was in such a bad state a couple of years ago that I was ready to replace it; and then last Spring it bounced back, stronger and healthier with green leaves and abundant blossoms.

A few days ago, I built a simple fire pit in our backyard. It was always a matter of location for us, and I found just the right spot for it. Most of the retaining wall blocks were a gifts from a neighbor and the rest were purchased from our local Lowe’s store. We stacked them three tiers high, using the existing gravel as the fire pit’s floor. We love the outdoors and I know we will have fun nights, sitting around a fire.

Wishing you all a joyful weekend.

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By JM Perez