Gardening

Weekend Updates

JM Perez By JM Perez2 min read395 views

Lovely weekend here in the High Desert and I am so thankful for the cooler temperatures we’re having late in the afternoon.

I haven’t gardened in a very long time as the plants seem to do just fine when left alone.
The ground squirrels seem to be on their best behavior; they must have realized that we are unto them and we are not backing down. Besides, all the plants now have chicken wire around their base as well as the plant itself. Some neighbors are starting to destroy their burrows, which hopefully will drive them away from this side of the neighborhood. How great would it be if everyone was working hard to eradicate this problem!

Seven months after being planted, my son’s tiny Pumpkin from his field trip has emerged and is fast growing. My son, of course, is thrilled. I almost dug it out by mistake, until I saw the familiar large leaves. Not many plants have their leaves larger than the plant themselves. Everything has been going really well until last Saturday. As we went to the Beach for the day, little did we know that we would return home to find our young pumpkin plant half eaten. We’ve enclosed the raised bed with chicken wire to prevent the squirrels from causing further damages to the young plant. I can’t tell if we’ll be getting any good sized pumpkin out of it.

Pumpkin Sprout.
Pumpkin Sprout.

On Friday night we took a trip to Lowe’s and purchased more Privacy Fence Slats which we put in on Saturday morning. I like and respect my neighbors and I really don’t need to know what’s going on in their side of the fence. Some are neat, others not so much. Without fence privacy a neighbor’s pile of trash can make your yard look unpleasant as well. Our yard is huge, spacious and we enjoy spending time outdoors. Therefore for us, adding some privacy gives us some peace of mind and helps us maintain a peaceful and healthy relation with our neighbors. Like the saying goes, “good fences make good neighbors”.

Happy Gardening!

Succulent Leaf Propagation

JM Perez By JM Perez2 min read895 views

The weather is at its best today and I am so grateful. The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch in effect from last Friday through Sunday evening (with temperatures as high as 106° Fahrenheit). I hope that just like us, everyone else is making plans for the upcoming days. Be it a trip to the Beach, Lake, Book Store, the Mall or just staying indoors and cooling off. Though I am not fond of High Winds, these are the times I really wish for them as they always help alleviate the hot weather conditions.

Succulent Leaf Propagation.
Succulent Leaf Propagation.

My garden looks lovely and the plants are thriving in this hot weather. I deadheaded some Roses and some Petunias. After going around the property searching for Squirrels holes (none so far) and making sure that no plants have been disturbed/damaged on the Raised Garden Beds; I checked on some of my Succulents to see if the leaves I planted a couple of weeks ago had sprouted roots. And what a pleasant surprise!

I use two methods to propagate my leaves:
1.  Setting the leaves on top of the soil
2. Sticking them into the ground.
The second method is the one I use when propagating my Succulents outdoors. I made the mistake of setting some leaves on top of the soil, just to find out that they had all disappeared the following day. I blamed the disappearance on the Wind. I can’t say for sure that some Squirrels ate them; however, I have seen one gnawing on my Aptenia Cordifolia (Baby Sun Rose), Portulaca Oleracea (Purslane) and Portulaca Grandiflora (Moss-Rose).

After that unfortunate incidence, I decided to stick a few leaves in the ground, all disappeared except for one. As I gently pulled it out, I was happy to see that it’s been busy growing roots and what appears to be leaves? I moved it to a bigger planter along with my Sedum Morganianum (Donkey Tail). I will continue to water it regularly while allowing the soil to dry a little between watering (to avoid killing the plant).

Happy Gardening!