High Desert Archives – Page 14 of 44

Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Warm Days are Ending

By JM PerezOctober 11, 20171 min read784 views

Today I made myself happy by getting my hands dirty in the garden!

Rose Moss are popping pretty much everywhere in the backyard and I planted as many as I could in pots. They are extremely drought tolerant with vividly colored blooms.

I have a variety of Lavender, all of which are adding a burst of color to the garden and the bees are loving it.

I have a couple of Silvery Cassia which I planted a couple of years ago. They are now about 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide each. This evergreen plant with its silver, sickle-shaped foliage is extremely drought tolerant as well as cold-hardy and blooms almost all year round.

The Crimson Glory Tea Tree is still growing strong and for the past years, I’ve enjoyed having it as a shrub. Now, however, I am training it into a small tree.

I have been growing Horsetail reeds in barrels for the past five years, cutting every shoot back to ground level to keep them in bounds and from invading the yard. A couple of weeks ago I found one shoot growing outside, at the base of the barrel and I am beginning to wonder if controlling this plant might become an issue.

The weather has been great lately, but it seems the warm days are coming to an end.

Pages:

By JM Perez

Birds Nature Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Peaceful Morning

By JM PerezAugust 16, 20171 min read784 views

Today was an absolutely beautiful day here in the High Desert. I got the kids ready and drop them off to school and head right back home to tend to my garden and spend a great time in the backyard. The weather was great, the air was fresh, nature was peaceful and plants were covered with beautiful blooms.

Our newest addition to the garden is the Pygmy Date Palm. Last year I got rid of all the rose bushes from the right section of my front yard (view here, picture captioned “Front Yard, Right“) and planted the the Pygmy Date Palm six months ago.

I came across a young bird this morning. It seems like the little bird came out of its nest for the first time and fell down to the ground. I spotted its mother on a nearby tree, so I left the baby alone.

The squirrels are keeping me quite busy this summer, particularly the little ones. Early in the Summer the Pomegranate tree was covered in fruits and just a few days later, those little critters stripped almost all the fruit from the tree. I read somewhere that squirrels do not like the scent of spicy foods, garlic, peppermint and mothballs. I will try some of these to deter them and will be looking into other ideas since they have no problems climbing fences.

Happy Wednesday.

Pages:

By JM Perez

Winter Weather Nature High Desert

Beautiful Winter Season

By JM PerezFebruary 3, 20171 min read688 views

Much to everyone’s surprise it still hasn’t snowed in the High Desert and my kids, who were looking forward to making snow angels were a little disappointed. Our mornings are chilly and the nights are long and cold. It has rained a lot lately, causing flooding, mudslides and other property damages.

*Thick clouds floating at the bottom of elevated snowy mountain peaks.*

Even though we didn’t get any snow (and most likely will not be getting any this Winter season), for the first time in many years, our mountains covered by thick snow look prettier than ever.

We have beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

Stay warm while enjoying nature.

Pages:

By JM Perez

Spiders Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Cat-faced Spider

By JM PerezAugust 25, 20161 min read1K views

This has been a beautiful summer in the High Desert with Roses bursting all over the place. I took a morning stroll through the garden after dropping my babies off to school and it felt really good to walk among plants and enjoy nature’s beauties.

I spotted what turned out to be a cat-faced spider by the entrance to my storage shed.

According to Wikipedia, the cat-faced spider is a common outdoor orb-weaver spider found in the USA and Canada.They are considered harmless with a low-toxicity venom and are useful natural predators for insects. They make their webs near lights, closed spaces, and on the sides of buildings. They can also be found under wood, overhangs, or guarded places such as animal burrows. They come in varying colors but are easily identified by the two horn shaped growths on their relatively large abdomen.

Hoping you are enjoying your day, wherever you are.

Pages:

By JM Perez

Reptiles Spiders Birds Nature High Desert

Rescued Hummingbird

By JM PerezJune 25, 20161 min read854 views

This afternoon we rescued a hummingbird from the garage. The tiny bird went in while we were all busy in the backyard and some how couldn’t get out even though the doors were wide open. For almost fifteen minutes, it kept flying high hitting the ceiling and becoming distressed. It seems that these tiny birds would not fly low unless something gets their attention. My husband used an insect catching net to carefully rescue the bird. We made sure the hummingbird was safe before releasing it.