High Desert Gardening Archives – Page 17 of 29

Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

High Desert Spring Gardening

By JM PerezJanuary 28, 20142 min read486 views

Right now in the High Desert it literally feels like Spring. The days are getting warmer and the plants are reacting to the unseasonably warm weather. I noticed a few days ago, some flower buds on the branches of the Sweet Almond Tree in my front yard and I am excited to see the tree all covered in delicate White flowers. The Almond Tree is always the first to blossom after Winter around here; however, the Tree is blooming too early this year compared to the previous years. The weeds too, are coming on strong as they rob my yard of its beauty.

This year, my Sweet William Dwarf (Dianthus) are the first to bloom.

For Spring Colors, plant the following (just to name a few):

Eastern Redbud
Freesia
Pasque Flower*
Cherry Blossom Tree
Iris*
Daffodil*
Kangaroo Paw
Hyacinth*
Grape Hyacinth
False Indigo*
Rose Bushes

Rosemary
Tulips*
Hibiscus (Health Benefits)
Sparaxis*
Star Jasmine
Saucer Magnolia
Crocus*
Persian Buttercup (Ranunculus)*
Broom*
Lilium*
Oriental/California Poppies

Plants with the * next to the name (as well as some species of the plants) are poisonous and/or toxic (either to Humans, Livestock or both). Click here for a list of Toxic Plants.

How can you tell if your Garden is ready for Spring?
According to OrganicGardening.com, the best way to tell if a garden has dried out enough to be worked is to pick up about half a cup of earth in your hand. Now squeeze the soil together so that it forms a ball. If the ball of earth can readily be shattered by pressing with your fingers or dropping it from a height of 3 feet or so, it is dry enough to dig. If the ball keeps its shape or breaks only with difficulty into solid sections rather than loose soil, it still contains too much water. Clay soil that is too wet will feel slick when rubbed between thumb and forefinger and working soil that wet can spoil its texture for the whole season.

Since my soil is not quite ready for Spring Gardening yet, I am focusing most of my time and energy on various activities and yard tasks:

Planning a Fairy Garden
Researching Native Plants
Building Bird Houses
Cleaning Bird Feeders and Baths
Getting my Gardening Tools ready
Servicing my Weed Eater
Starting seeds indoors
Preparing new Sunken Garden Beds for Native Plants
Tending to my Perennials (pruning, trimming, cutting back, dividing)
Revitalizing my Mint Plants
Maybe start a compost pile.

With the weather this warm, it’s definitely time to Start Planning your Spring Garden.

Linking up to Beverly’s Pink Saturday.

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By JM Perez

Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Spring Bulbs Sprouting

By JM PerezJanuary 13, 20142 min read565 views

Surprisingly, we are having a very nice weather here in the High Desert this Winter (with warm days and cold nights). We turn on the drip system irrigation on a needed basis (depending on Plants need), for a deep watering to help our Flowers, Shrubs and Trees to establish and spread their roots systems.

I am loving the Rebirth in the Garden with most of my Spring Flowering Bulbs Sprouting. Some are sprouting through pine needles (which make awesome mulch) and others sprouting from scattered/dispersed seeds randomly around the backyard. The seeds were probably carried by the Wind.

Around the neighborhood, some flowering trees are beginning to show buds like the Raywood Ash tree in my front yard which normally starts leafing out around April or early Spring.

*Raywood Ash (Male Flower Opening Buds).*

Another surprise this morning was the discovery of this tender Miniature Rose ‘Del Sol’. The new growth is poking through the gravel reminding me once again that nothing is really lost in the World. We relocated the Parent plant last Summer and I guess one of the many living roots left behind during the relocation process survived.
Click here to learn about Growing Plants with Root Cuttings.

After two consecutive years of dying back from frost, my Belladonna Amaryllis shoots are going strong. Most of my plants are showing signs of life except for my Saucer Magnolia, Navajo Globe Willow, Plumbago Auriculata ‘Imperial Blue’, Cleveland Sage and Red Autumn Sage which seems to be dormant.
I am looking forward to warmer days like this one, to go outside and get a couple of garden beds ready for Spring.

Click here for Real-World Winter Gardening Tips From Your Growing Zone.

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By JM Perez

Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Reviving My Bare Root Rose

By JM PerezDecember 28, 20132 min read2K views

While my kids were running around this morning in the backyard, I decided to check on my Rose trees. The first one I checked is Rosa ‘Circus’ which I bought two months ago from Lowe’s and it looked healthy. My Hannah Gordon, which I moved from the front yard and transplanted in the backyard a few months ago looked odd and came right off when I lifted it. How could this have happened since the base/roots of the plants was protected by chicken wire? Did the Pocket Gopher chew through the chicken wire? I wondered. Rather than try to figure it out, my husband decided to set a Macabee Gopher Trap in the hole, which appeared to be fresh, quite large and unplugged. Saddened, I proceeded to check the next Rose tree, Iceberg Floribunda.

The next Rose tree is a bare-root I bought at Lowe’s almost three years ago and which thrived until a couple of months ago when it suddenly dried-out and died (or I though so). I dug out the plant and relocated it in hopes of a miracle. After pulling the plant out of the soil and inspecting it closely, I noticed tiny growth at the base of the plant as well as a few healthy white roots next to some thick black dead roots.

I started out by cutting off the dry stalk, then I dug the original hole twice the size of the base of the plant. I placed a wire basket (made out of chicken wire) to protect the roots from rodents. I added some potting soil and some wood chips which acts as insulation for the plant (keeping the warmth and preventing the plant from freezing). Finally I made a chicken wire fence around the plant to protect the new growth from being eaten by Squirrels.

Rose Tree - Iceberg Floribunda — *Rose Tree Iceberg Floribunda (Rosa ‘Korbin’), Spring 2011.*

The picture above is what the Bare-Root Rose looked like the first year after planting. Rosa ‘Korbin’ is a repeat bloomer from Spring through Fall with a light flush of pink to the blooms and glossy green foliage.

I am confident that the plant will grow and thrive, as I know I have given it a good start.

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By JM Perez

Gopher Animals Gardening High Desert

DIY: Gopher Trapping

By JM PerezDecember 3, 20131 min read1.5K views

We are rejoicing today as the trap we set in place finally caught the Pocket Gopher, which has been digging holes on a daily basis around my Photinia Fraseri (Red Robin) shrubs. Last week, I covered a hole it dug at the base of one of the huge barrels in the front yard and it kept returning to the same hole. Yesterday, we finally had enough and my husband decided to set a Macabee Gopher Trap in the freshly dug hole.

Materials/Tools Needed:

Macabee Gopher Trap
Shovel, Garden Trowel
Wire chain (to secure the trap in place)
Stake (to hold, support and secure the wire chain in place)
Gloves or your bare hands
Fabric, cardboard, leaves, mulch or anything light to cover the hole.

Step by Step:

Using a shovel, open the tunnel wide enough to set the trap
Use a stake to secure the wire chain (attached to the trap) to prevent the injured Gopher from running away with the trap. Otherwise you will have to dig further to pull out the dead rodent and recover your trap.
Cover the hole with plastic, fabric, cardboard, plywood, leaves, mulch or stones (to help create the illusion that the hole has been closed from the outside).

This is the fifth Pocket Gopher we have caught since we moved here.

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By JM Perez

Insects Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Joy Of Gardening

By JM PerezNovember 16, 20131 min read574 views

Despite the hectic weather, it felt good stepping out today and watching the wind send leaves flying everywhere in the backyard as I slowly made my way towards the front porch. It was time to bring my Boston Fern indoors. I walked around the backyard and spent a couple of minutes with my Roses. These are some of the moments I cherish the most. Growing and caring for Roses is hard work as it demands a lot of determination, time, patience and love. In the end it pays a thousandfold and I have had a wonderful year with my Roses.

On my way to collect the trash can from the street earlier in the week, I couldn’t resist stopping by my Rose Garden where a couple of rose bushes where blooming. As I began taking pictures of the beautiful blooms, I spotted a large Green Valley Grasshopper (from its rather large size, I believe it’s a female). I can’t tell if the insect was just hanging out, perhaps resting from a long flight or just getting ready to feed on my plants.