Plumbago and pears

The blue plumbago at the base of our Asian pear tree looks particularly good this year, probably due to the mild winter. There are dozens of ping-pong ball size fruits on the tree, too.

Revamped pond

Here are two views of the reimagined upper pond and streambed. This one is the view from the gazebo with the new spillway. In the original design, there were plantings of plumbago which blocked the view of the pond when we were sitting in the gazebo. The additional spillway gives us a better view and also allows us to  better hear the sounds of the flowing water. The two trees are an early-fruiting peach on the left and a dwarf nectarine on the right. We're in the process of adding water plants to the new stream bed now- watercress, yerba mansa, and other small plants. Hopefully I will be able to keep the "evil four leaf clovers" at bay! The second view is from the side patio of our house. The bare tree on the left is an apricot, and the one on the right is an Asian pear. The green one in the background is Thevetia peruviana (yellow oleander). Mike loves these treelike shrubs as much as he hates bouganvillea, but I'd like to take this one out and plant more fruit trees. There's a kind of cherry that can supposedly be grown in the desert, but you need two varieties (Minnie Royal and Royal Lee) and I think this would be a good location for them. We planted three varieties of strawberry in the bare-looking raised bed in front of the pond, and a few of them have started to come up.

Pond remodel progress

Here is the original (but remodeled) spillway into the streambed. The plants Paul gave us have really taken off, particularly the watercress. We're still working on the second (new) spillway which comes off the gazebo side of the pond.

The tree on the left side is a dwarf nectarine and the one on the right is an Asian pear. At the base of the pear is a plumbago and some invincible Mexican petunias that return like zombies no matter what I do to them. The dead branches in the upper center right belong to a thevetia which was frost damaged this winter. We haven't cut them off yet because (a) it would be a hassle, requiring the use of a ladder on an uneven surface and (b) Mike keeps hoping it will continue to green up.  The marigold in the foreground came from seeds I snagged while deadheading elsewhere and then played Johnny Appleseed in various locations in the yard.