Springtime in the Desert

"For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
'The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
'The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!"

I've been rather busy during the month of March actually working in the garden and haven't bothered to write about it. This is the most enjoyable time of the year to do so- it hasn't gotten unbearably hot yet (okay, we've had one hundred-degree day so far, but it's cooled off since then) and I delight in seeing something new almost every day. I don't have a vegetable garden, a flower garden, or an herb garden...I have a gloriously eclectic mix of things that look good, smell good, or taste good all mixed together. Our several raised beds contain small fruit trees, herbs, vegetables, and flowers. Some of these were deliberately planted from nursery six-packs (love the price wars between Home Depot and Lowe's on these), some came from seed packets, both specific kinds, and packets of mixed seeds, and some reseeded from last year. I like a full garden, so when seed germination is sparse, I stick something else in the bare spots.

We've had a lot to do this spring, too, because of the unfortunate timing of two "once in a century" hard freezes this winter. The two ficus trees in our back yard were completely killed, while the older ones in our front yard were killed off to the ground. Bougainvillea, tecoma, hibiscus, all vines except honeysuckle were killed off to the ground, and thevetias took a pretty hard hit as well. So we've been doing lots more pruning, but most things (other than ficus and some of the hibiscus) are coming back.

We replaced the ficus in the back yard with a Bradford flowering pear and a Hong Kong orchid, and the ones in the front with Chinese elms. In place of the hibiscus around the pool, we planted Little John bottlebrush and Texas mountain laurel. These plants are a little more cold tolerant, and hopefully will survive the next freeze. Or at least, so I have been told.

One of our peach trees was in bloom at the time of the second frost, so not surprisingly it doesn't have the amount of fruit it normally does. Other trees (three kinds of pear, apple, Santa Rosa plum, nectarine, fig, and a later-fruiting variety of peach) flowered abundantly and appear to be setting a nice crop of fruit which we're trying to keep reasonably thinned out. I don't see anything that looks like almonds on the almond tree, but we only added it last summer. We're attempting a nursery-bought avocado tree in one of the raised beds this year; we have several grown from pits that have survived several years but never produced fruit. Of course, we have our usual bumper crop of lemons, oranges, and grapefruit. The lime trees (Key lime and Bearss) were frost-nipped but should survive, albeit with no fruit this year. There are dozens of grape clusters on our four vines, more than we've ever seen before, our relatively young blueberry bush is loaded with berries, and I saw a flower on our blackberry bush today.

As far as flowering plants go, roses are in full bloom, along with snapdragons and many kinds of wildflowers from a Southwestern mix packet- blanket flower, lupine, owl clover, Mexican poppy, and some kind of red flower I haven't seen before. The petunias and pansies I put in last fall are somewhat disappointing. Larkspur (from seed) is beginning to bloom, with poppies and coreopsis ready to flower any day now.

The sugar snap pea crop, which was abundant the past two years, was a disappointment this year. It's been replaced by snap beans, both bush and pole varieties. The two asparagus plants we put in last year have sent up dozens of tasty-looking shoots, which required an enormous amount of self-control to leave alone as recommended for the first season. After enjoying all the romaine and red leaf lettuce we wanted for several months, we'll have to go back to store-bought salads as it has started to bolt. We've put out transplants of several kinds of tomato, peppers, and a Japanese eggplant as well as starting Armenian cucumber, straight and crookneck squash, and honeydew melon plants from seed. The cold weather killed off the basil plant, so I replaced it, but other herbs planted last year- oregano, thyme, and mint- are thriving. We added a catnip plant this year- will see what the cats think of fresh vs. dried.

So...as I said, I've been busy. I won't mention weed-pulling...the regular garden-variety dandelion-type weeds, or the invasive Mexican primroses and petunias that I wish I'd never planted...but there is always something to see and/or do!

Pruning Time

We've spent the morning rather aggressively pruning things- part removing frost damage, part removing branches that aren't where we want them to be for one reason or the other. I went after the key lime tree with a particular vengeance. Not only has it been heavily frost damaged (limes are more susceptible to frost than other kinds of citrus), it also has particularly nasty thorns and we don't use too many key limes. They are so small that it's very time and labor-intensive to get any usable quantity of juice from them. So, in spite of the fact that as a certified Master Gardener, I know that citrus trees are really shrubs and are healthier if left to their own growth pattern, I decided to remove all branches below the height of my head. That way, I can get in underneath them and attend to other plants without the use of colorful metaphors of various kinds. We'll need to paint the truck for sunburn protection now, though, and we'll see what happens.

I also severely pruned the Valentine emu bushes in the front yard, and we may wind up removing them entirely. Although they are not frost-sensitive, they've gotten rather ratty-looking, and if they look ratty now, which is their blooming season, it may be time for them to go. We've also filled several industrial-size trash bags with prunings from lantana, bougainvillea, hibiscus, yellow bells, and Cape honeysuckle bushes. It all looks pretty barren and sad now, but based on past experience, should come back nicely within the next couple of months.

Roasted broccoli- delicious!

So, I wondered if the broccoli that had flowered was edible, and upon researching it found that it was and was even said to have a somewhat milder flavor than when harvested at the usual bud stage. I thought about making broccoli cheese soup, but couldn't find a recipe for the crock pot utilizing fresh broccoli and natural cheese...everything I found seemed to involve cream of something soup, Velveeta, and/or cheese whiz, and frozen broccoli. I decided to try roasting it, flowers and all, following another recipe I'd found online. I cut the broccoli into good-sized florets, tossed with olive oil, garlic salt, and fresh ground black pepper, then roasted at 425 for 20 minutes. Then I squeezed half a lemon over it and threw in about a tablespoon of fresh Parmesan cheese. It was amazing and quite different- the flowers and buds were crisp and crunchy brown. I found it every bit as addictive as chips or chex mix....hard to stop eating it.

The frost must have really damaged the lemons, so I doubt we will be freezing bags of the juice for homemade lemonade this year. This time, and another couple of times I've used a fresh lemon for something, it was brown and semi-dessicated on the inside; the flavor wasn't affected but there wasn't very much juice. As I recall, this also happened the last time we had a bad freeze....and then we didn't have any lemons or key limes the following year at all.

I pruned off the dead tops of asparagus fern growing alongside the streambed, which was a painful task given that I wasn't wearing gardening gloves (need to get new ones!) Then I packed in algae around the roots which I hope will keep Bermuda grass from growing in there. It's hard to weed around asparagus fern because of the thorns. It's unbelievable how much algae the ponds and streambed produce this time of the year, before the water lilies come back from dormancy. I'm sure it is full of plant nutrients, but when you toss it into the garden it makes a thick, dried mat that nothing can grow through....and it doesn't compost very well either. So I decided to try to use it in places where I don't want Bermuda grass to grow. I packed it around the blueberry, blackberry, and asparagus roots too. That's another place it is not fun to weed, not only because of the thorns, but because ants have taken up residence in that particular bed.

It might as well be spring

It's late January and quite pleasant outside....afternoon temperatures in the low 70's. Almost time to start gearing up for major spring planting. I cut back the dead asparagus foliage and found two green spears already pushing their way out. They look delicious, but you're not supposed to harvest in the first year (they were planted last spring) so I'm trying to keep my hands off. There are also a couple of blossoms on the peach tree and the calla lilies are emerging from the ground. One of the broccoli plants has flowered; I read that you could eat broccoli flowers so I'm going to try it. Romaine lettuce has done well, but only one leaf lettuce plant (red) survived and I'm disappointed in the sugar snap peas that have done so well the past two years. No cauliflower yet, but I see one head forming.

We had a bad December frost and in spite of $15o worth of frost cloth and spray, may have lost the two ficus trees in the back yard. The ones in the front yard may make it, as the bark is still green when scratched, but all of them look terrible. Bougainvilla, lantana, and hibiscus look dead but I'm pretty confident they will come back, except perhaps some of the newer ones around the pool. The frost got the nasturtiums just at the wrong time, too.

Fall is here (supposedly)

It's late September and still blazingly hot....predicted high of 106 today. I wish it would cool off; I'm ready to get some serious work done in the garden!

The picture above shows several fairly healthy summer squash we planted in July. None of the bush beans planted at the same time survived. No squash yet; they have just started to bloom and we'll have to wait and see how the pollination goes. We're still picking several Japanese eggplant and Armenian cucumbers each week. This week I planted two trays of snow peas, spinach, and four kinds of lettuce indoors. Maybe by the time they are ready to transplant it will have cooled down enough for them to survive. I also put out some broccoli and cauliflower transplants. This year I'm trying them in the raised beds instead of in our designated garden area. I haven't had too much luck with these in the past, and think it might be that flowering plants don't get enough sun in that area in the winter.

The peach and nectarine trees look terrible; the plum trees look okay, and the pear and apple trees look fine. We lost one of our newly planted peach trees this summer; you can see it in the foreground. I'm more worried about our mature peach tree by the gazebo- I'd hate to lose it. I'm not sure if it is salt burn or an iron deficiency, or a combination of both, but its leaves are really yellow. (Our deciduous trees don't tend to lose their leaves until sometime in December) It's getting deeply watered once a week, which is supposed to mitigate the salt problem. I gave it a dose of liquid iron supplement this weekend.

There's a nice second crop of zinnias that came up from the seeds of the ones that bloomed in June. An orange variety has been blooming nonstop since spring, and there's a fair amount of color from vinca and portulaca. Three of the older hibiscus planted around the pool may not make it, though. I'm not sure, but I think the drip system that goes to them was malfunctioning and I didn't notice they were in distress until it was too late. However, when I started cutting back the dead branches, I found green wood farther down the plant, so it's possible they could come back.

Mike finished installing the French drain and is now in the process of leveling the area where the new patio will go. He's debating about whether it is necessary to take out the dead, thoroughly scalped remnants of Bermuda grass first, or just put the sand base down on top of it. I don't think it will revive, but as it decomposes, it might cause the patio pavers to sink unevenly.

Patio Progress

Most of the Bermuda grass appears to be dead, so Mike has moved onto the next step- putting in a French drain where the patio will meet the extended raised beds.

I moved onto weeding another raised bed, the one nearest the pool where we planted asparagus plus blueberry and blackberry bushes, rose bushes, and assorted annuals. It's a difficult spot to get into as it's bordered on one side by a thevetia hedge, and there is also a fairly large colony of ants that does not like to be disturbed. I haven't attempted to get rid of it, because (a) I don't like putting poison down where there are things growing I plan to eat and (b) according to the insect experts in my Master Gardener class, ants are beneficial for our heavy clay soils. The lecturer (an entomologist from U of A) cited a study of alfalfa fields that were infested with fire ants. The alfalfa plants nearest the anthills were healthier and produced more than the ones in ant-free areas. However, getting several ant bites on my hands and feet every time I attempt to get some of the bermuda grass and spurge out of the bed does not make for a pleasant experience.

I haven't seen the mother hummingbird yet, but now there are three eggs in the nest!

It's fall, although you wouldn't believe it by the temperature

Fall planting season is officially upon us, but we're in the middle of a heat wave (110 yesterday) and it's still too hot to work in the garden for very long. I worked on getting the bermuda grass out of a couple of the raised beds today, and scattered seeds of larkspur and snapdragon. I'm harvesting a lot of Japanese eggplant and Armenian cucumbers, and that's about it. We didn't get one bean from the lovely tent of pole bean vines- I think that I planted them too late. Likewise the corn was a waste of space and water- poor pollination and some kind of giant black mutated kernels. I won't bother trying corn again.

The only fall veggies I have planted to date are yellow squash and bush beans, which according to my Master Gardener chart, should be planted in August. A disappointing number of beans are up, probably because I used an old seed packet, but there are about a dozen squash plants scattered in the raised beds. We'll see how they produce- this is the first time I've actually tried them in the fall.

Home Depot had a good price on flowering hanging baskets, so I replaced three of the baskets hanging from the gazebo, which were looking pretty sad. I decided to leave the fourth one in place, because when I took it down, there was a hummingbird nest with two tiny eggs! I can put up with ratty-looking annuals for a few more weeks.

We're in the middle of another big project....taking out a 10-foot wide section of lawn on the north side of the house and putting in a pavestone patio, and enlarging the raised beds so they abut the patio. You can see the location above delineated by the two-by-fours and dead Bermuda grass. (Killing the grass was the first step) When completed, it should be a nice shady place to enjoy the garden, with a view of the raised beds and pond waterfall. Mike is doing most of the work...too hot for me to stay out there more than 5 minutes at a time! I don't see how he stands it, but he says it doesn't bother him.