High Desert

Nature Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Glimpse Of Beauties

JM Perez By JM Perez2 min read636 views

It’s October, the weather is cooling down and still not a drop of rain in some parts of the High Desert. In the midst of everything, I am still grateful to Mother Nature. The winds are picking up and allergies will soon be on the rise …

I haven’t done much gardening lately;  however, strolling through my front and backyard yard, I catch a glimpse of beauties here and there. My Hybrid Tea Tree Rose Rio Samba isn’t doing so well. I have had it for over ten years now, and it was doing well until last year; I suspected curl grubs and other soil pests and took care of it. A couple of weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of buds emerging from the trunk, and last week one of the buds bloomed.

Hybrid Tea Rose Rio Samba.

The Crassula capitella I propagated through cuttings a couple of months ago are covered in white flower buds atop the stems. I am looking forward to seeing those buds open up.

Green succulent

I spotted a very small White Moth resting on the leaf of a Gopher Plant; possibly Cataclysta Lemnata, also known as Small China-mark. According to The Bay Magazine Swansea, their larvae develop underwater, after which the caterpillars feed on duckweed and live underneath the tiny plants floating on the surface of ponds and lakes. In order to disguise themselves, Small China Mark caterpillars fashion tube-like silken cases for themselves which they cover in duckweed, rendering them all but invisible.

Tiny White Moth, male.

Sunsets in the High Desert never cease to amaze me. Below is an image of the sun shining through a gap between the clouds while setting. It’s simply beautiful.
According to GeographyReal.com, as air descends, it increases in temperature, a process known as adiabatic warming or heating. That effect of descending air being warmer and drier is what created gaps in cloud coverage.

Sunset

A couple of week ago, at sunrise, the sun was orange-red due to smoke particles in the sky blown from various wildfires.

Orange-red Sun.

Happy new month and happy gardening.

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JM Perez By JM Perez
Plant Propagation Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Endless Summer

JM Perez By JM Perez2 min read623 views

Is it just me or does it feel like Summer keeps dragging on? We are experiencing severe drought conditions, brush fires, and heat waves. Rather than gardening this Summer, I have been busy protecting and keeping the plants alive from the scorching weather.

Early in the year I received a few cuttings of  Sedum Spurium (Tricolor, Coccineum, and Dragon’s Blood). I thought they would look good in a container, so I planted them in a cement Conch Shell Planter.

Dragon’s Blood Sedum Conch Shell Planter.

The Madame Galen Trumpet Vines started blooming last week and they are so beautiful.
It is a hybrid trumpet creeper between the American trumpet vine and the Chinese trumpet vine. I am not sure if I picked the right location for the plant, but so far, so good. If you are looking for a fast growing, drought and frost tolerant climber, consider getting this plant. The plant is said to be invasive in some zones.

‘Madame Galen’ Trumpet Vine Flowers.

The Texas Sage ‘Green Cloud’ are blooming for the third time this year.
I found out an interesting fact about Texas Sage not too long ago. It appears that blooms are triggered by a change in humidity, and/or moisture in the soil after the rain (hence the name ‘barometer bush’). It hasn’t rained at all here in the High Desert since Spring, but it sprinkled a little yesterday and today the plant started blooming.

Blooming Texas Sage.

For the first time in many years, extreme and persistent heat is taking a toll on a few of my drought tolerant shrubs; increasing the watering and schedule time has made little to no difference. These scorching heat waves are becoming more and more exhausting, and we are looking forward to Fall and to cooler days ahead.

Happy gardening!

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JM Perez By JM Perez
Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

July Favorite Plants

JM Perez By JM Perez1 min read574 views

It’s another good year for my Agapanthus, these plants are truly drought and frost tolerant as well as tolerant to extreme heat. Despite another week of temperatures over 100 degree Fahrenheit, these plants sent up multiple stalks, with beautiful flowers atop each floral scapes.

Agapanthus ‘Storm Cloud’.

Asparagus Fern is one of my favorite plants. It’s an easy to grow plant, heat, drought and frost tolerant that will thrive nearly anywhere with proper care once established.

Asparagus Plumosus.

Grow them as houseplants or outdoors in raised planters, in garden beds or in hanging baskets; Asparagus Fern is an attractive plant that make a wonderful display.

Flowering Asparagus Fern ‘Sprengeri’.
Asparagus Fern ‘Sprengeri’.

As we celebrate the Fourth of July weekend, let us be mindful of others, of brush fires, of bodily injury and/or property damage while setting off those fireworks.

Happy 4th!

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JM Perez By JM Perez
Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Heat-Tolerant Plants

JM Perez By JM Perez2 min read656 views

These couple of weeks have been exhausting, with extreme heat and high temperatures reaching 107 Fahrenheit almost daily. All outdoor activities are being postponed or put on hold until early evening when the weather is cooler. In times like these, some rainfall is much needed and would be greatly appreciated.

There have been interesting finds in the garden such as the gorgeous Cherry Pink Calibrachoa below (also known as Million Bells). I’ve had them for over eight years. The first couple of years they were in hanging baskets and then I moved them in containers.

Cherry Pink Calibrachoa.

This season as usual the Pomegranate tree has produced hundreds of buds with most flowering, and a few dropping due to high winds.

Pomegranate Flowers.

I enjoyed watching the Amaryllis ‘Minerva’ and White Lilies blooms. I cut a few stems and they lasted for a couple of weeks in a vase. The combination was beautiful.

Amaryllis ‘Minerva’ and White Lilies.

The Plains Coreopsis below also known as garden tickseed was part of a class experiment project for my daughter. She along with other classmates were given random seeds and were instructed to grow and care for them, reporting once a month. This seed germinated on time, but took a while to grow. I moved the seedling to a larger planter earlier in the month and it thrived. Last week one of the buds developed into a yellow flower with maroon/red center.

Plains Coreopsis.

I have different varieties of Pine Cone Cactus in my backyard, Tephrocactus Articulatus var. Inermis, Tephrocactus articulatus var. Strobiliformis, and Tephrocactus var. Diadematus. I have had all three species for a year and they have flowered for the first time two weeks ago. The plants produce delicate showy white flowers with a yellow center at the tips of the joints, lasting up to 48 hours and closing at dusk to reopen at dawn.

It is recommended to use gloves while handling the strobiliformis species as they have little glochids at the areoles which irritate and are hard to get out of the skin.

Pine Cone Cactus Flower.

Other heat tolerant plants in my garden are:

Happy gardening. Stay hydrated and rehydrate often.

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JM Perez By JM Perez
Birds Nature High Desert

It’s a Struggle for Birds Too

JM Perez By JM Perez2 min read590 views

When designing our gardens thirteen years ago, we didn’t think about wildlife, we simply wanted to create a simple and relaxing atmosphere both in the front yard and back. As time went by our gardens became an attraction to various wildlife, so much that we had to take drastic actions to protect ourselves and our plants. We have many dense native bushes, shrubs and trees all over our property, which attract birds, hummingbirds, lizards, butterflies, bees, ladybugs, beetles, dragonfly, wasps, hoverflies, stink bugs, praying mantises, garden spiders, and much more (most of which are beneficial garden insects). These plants are nesting sites for birds, most of which prefer the front yard. We have bird feeders, bird baths, and water fountains all around our gardens to keep the birds and other wildlife happy.

Eight years ago we built two birdhouses in the backyard, one of which is double sided. A few years ago, a bird built its nest in one of them and laid ten eggs. Everything seemed to be going fine, the eggs hatched, and both parents went back and forth looking for food and caring for their young. At some point we noticed that the baby birds were constantly chirping and found one of the ground, dead. The parents eventually abandoned their babies most likely due to shortage of food and the remaining nine eventually died in the nest.

Birdhouses.

Early this month, a female House Finch laid five eggs in the nest. One of the nestlings fell out of the nest, in what seemed like an attempt to take flight, and didn’t make it. The remaining four flew from the nest a few weeks later.

House Finch fledglings in nest.

Last weekend while fastening Jasmine vines to a trellis, I saw a bird nest with five tiny eggs hidden among the leaves of the climbing Jasmine. I don’t know why this nesting place was chosen; perhaps it offered camouflage and protection, or because other birds have successfully raised their nestlings nearby.

Bird nest with eggs.

A few days later, we found two dead featherless chicks on the ground and realized the nest had been disturbed. We suspected a crow, since one of the chicks had disappeared. We moved the nest back in place, secured the opening, and hoped the last two eggs would make it.

On Tuesday, we found vines on the ground and noticed that the nest was pulled forward. One of the last two recently hatched chicks had vanished and the last one was lifeless.

Newly Hatched Baby Bird.

Our backyard is the heart of our home and the place we explore and observe. For now we are looking into ways to better protect and secure the bird nests from predators.

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JM Perez By JM Perez