All about the Hyacinth

The little grape hyacinth are delightful and I would love to have field of them. They are nestled beneath the eucalyptus and will get shade as the tree gets bigger. I placed them next to the rocks edges so that they won't get disturbed by the flowers to come. I have sprinkled blue lobelia along the rocks, and purple alyssum too. Last year's alyssum self seeded and there are hundreds of little seedlings in white, pink, dark pink and light and dark purple.

We have had a little cold spell, and the wind has picked up to 35 mph. Mid week it is to be 40 mph with 60 mph gusts. That is enough for me to appreciate the garden from the window, and only go out to sprinkle the seedlings when necessary.


I am contemplating how I will have morning glory in the garden. I have 2 packs of seeds, one baby blue and one the darker midnight blue. The winds up here on Black Mountain are quite strong which is a consideration, but also too is the blazing sun and the baking heat. Morning glory like full sun, but here in the desert their roots would need to be protected, late afternoon shade would be best. Another consideration is water conservation so I would want to incorporate them into an existing garden bed so that they could share water. I am designing either an arbor or a trellis, out of tree poles. I have about 10 tree poles left over from the lily bed edging, and I am working on the outcome.

Last years plantings

Last year I planted yellow allysum from seed. It didn't flower until this year. It is subtle but this area needs something low to the ground and yellow is perfect for this area of the garden, in feng shui, this is the center bagua. Symba is still on his medicine which make his eyes look even more oriental.

I planted seeds yesterday in whatever I could find. I was cutting plastic bottles to use the bottoms, saw the cooler trays from the camping equipment and said hey, the cooler trays are perfect for seedlings. I planted Northern Lights chard, purple and green basil, red and blue lobelia, red allysum, catnip, purple coneflower, and mix colors of zinna, red yellow, pink and orange. A little misting everyday and they will be on their way.

Last year I went to the Las Vegas Iris Society's Iris Sale, held the last weekend in June. I bought 3 single iris risomes, Hula Hands, Vizer, and October Storm. They wintered over and now the leaves are fanning, and I am excited to see if they will bloom this year. It was great to meet the Iris Society, and to discuss their varieties of iris, learn a little, and bring home the gems.

New cushions for the sunning patio

I made new cushions for the sunning patio. I used the last set as a pattern, and reused the foam. It was a daring choice over the previous fabric, but they turned out nice. Symba likes the new look.

Symba is our 4 year old siamese cat. He is getting over a respiratory infection. Someone trapped him, and put him in the night depository at the pound! So after he was gone a day, I called and they said the siamese they had might be my cat. When I got there, he was tramatized, and had clawed his nails down to the quick in the metal cage. Then, a few days later he had to go to the vet because of a respiratory infection. I'm on the lookout for the culprit.

I decided to make a the walking path around the the central bed with granite chat, with a few tons of 3/4 inch stone for other surface areas of the garden. We spread the chat and 1 ton of the rock last week, and finished installing the tree poles around the lily bed which makes that area look more tidy.

The peach tree is in full bloom glory. Last year it was a patio tree and didn't bloom because of the shady spot it was in. So this year makes up for last.

The purple iceplant from Ladybug Nursery in Boulder City, is blooming, and this year we added the orange, and hope that it likes it's sunny spot. Today I saw some red flowering iceplant, and I have designs for that because the three of them together would be amazing.

Get On With It

It's time that I just started writing. I have wanted to start the Gardens in Desert Garden Blog for a couple of weeks now, and have been hesitant because the computer is acting up. So hopefully I can post this before the computer freezes up again.

The little blue grape hyacinths "muscari" are starting to peek above the surface. This is an exciting time, if you are familiar with the large hyacinths at the nursery, these have the same look in a petite form. I discovered them in the backyard of an old house we lived in when I was a girl. I stumbled upon them next to the garage, and they were so magical, neglected, and perfect, planted many years before, and what a surprise. So they are special to me and especially to find them at the nursery here in Nevada! I bought 4 dozen as they were on clearance mid January, and I am so pleased!

I have been considering using tree staking poles to define the edges and walkway of the lily bed and pathway from the side porch. I decided against the chiquaqu fence which would have been two poles horizontally placed four inches apart on 2 foot tall pieces posted into the ground. It would have looked striking, however would have detracted from the smaller plantings, so I decided to go with poles nestled into the ground, cut at 45 degree corners and used as a formal edging. They will decay in a year or two, but they fit in nicely with the feel of Black Mountain Garden.