Margaret's Gift

The wind is back and the sky is overcast and it doesn't look like rain. The weather is cooler by 10 degrees than normal for this time of year. I could easily forget how hot it is going to get and get used to weather like this all the time.

There are buds on the zinnas. This is a crook neck one. Initially I thought it was severe lack of water, so I dashed off to get a resuscitative amount of water and throw it at it's base and then discover that the stem isn't flimsy, it's deliberately crooked this way, so I ponderously carry on. In the photo you can see the California Poppy seed pods. I picked some and put them in a sack to dry, then had to move the sack indoors because the seeds heads popping inside a sack about drove me bonkers. The overcast sky lends a coolness to the colors of the Chase Tree and is a relief from our sun drenched colors. I remember Margaret. That sounds like her. I purchased a book "Painting Better Landscapes" by Margaret Kessler, and spent the whole evening a few nights back, reading every word and studying every painting, spellbound by the works of this amazing oil painter. Michael and I decided we would start painting again, it's been a year since we put the materials away. I brought down the canvas about a week ago and thought we would set up shop again in the kitchen, and then I stumbled upon the book. At the same time that I've felt the desire to paint, her work is so awesome and her subject matter exactly what I've craved, the landscapes, the barns, the rivers, and farmland, the memories to reconnect with and be re-immersed in, I think I am still just revelling. What a wonderful affect is has had on me.

The Fickle Gardener

A few new blossoms on the cannas since yesterday's wind so now they are ready for a close up. Here's Symba, the cat faced boy, as he zooms in from an opposite angle.

Here is a photo of the new lily. It is absolutely my new favorite. Have my favorites become so fleeting, that perhaps I am fickle? I feel like I am being unfaithful to the iris. Perhaps some flowering zinnas will make me feel better. Will an annual cure this perennial woe?

Here is an all black hummingbird thanks to the placement of the feeder against the sky. If you have hummingbirds, you are familiar with their call, that timeless looping whistle. Hummingbirds are the best. Someone asked me once what kind of pets I had, and I said," A cat and hummingbirds." They said "Oh, you can tell alot about a person by the kinds of pets they have." Hummm. They probably had me figured wrong. I am a siamese rescue of 6, koi pond full of beauties, banty chicken loving, peacocks in the trees kind of person.

Here is a photo of a peacock in the trees from our last trip to Bonnie Springs.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On!

Blazin Desert

Lilies are ablaze and they reign in the garden right now. There is also a new lily added to the lily bed. It's called Assorted Lily, just kidding but really. I read it twice.

It's the lovely deep purple with a green center. It would look great next to the surprise lily from the plant rescue which happens to be a deep rich yellow.

Chaste Trees have been added to the area behind the main bed, one on the left between the butterfly iris, slightly hidden from view and one just below the mountain. They are our equivalent to a lilac bush. They will become small trees and will shade the walking path, and also buffer some of the reflective heat. The directional sign in the distance is as follows:

A little garden art using a tree stake and palet planks with green, red and blue acrylic paint. Husband wanted to write our elevation on the back with a pencil. He headed out to scribe until I convinced him that our elevation should go with the next sign I intend to make, 'Hummingbird Trail'. We can't get our horizontals and verticals mixed up now can we?

Cannas have started to bloom. They are orange mottled, and also there are red ones that should follow soon and are a smaller variety. The wind has kicked back up and these two are slap happy, so no close ups, please.

Garage sailing :) I found these glass voltive holders for a dollar and thought they'd make great rain gauges in the cactus garden, still under construction.

Thanks for visiting! To all my gardening friends, Carry On!

Get it Bird Cheap

Michael and I went to get more boulders from a nearby dirt landfill. A couple of landscapers had dumped boulders and river rock from landscape makeovers and it was hidden among the hundreds of dirt piles. What a find. This would have been our 3rd trip, and I had my heart set on working with huge boulders and constructing a stone seat in the shade behind the tree and adding more mass behind the top of the dry stream bed. I was so disappointed that the land fill had been leveled over and all of those huge boulders now sit buried below the surface. I like my boulders bird cheap so I will have to wait until I am gifted a few tons of large boulders in Apache Gold to fulfill that vision.

Really I just love rock work and I am intriqued by places where there are old stone walls, and buildings and houses constructed of local rock. Places that have beautiful local stone are really quite special and possess increased Chi because of the stone. Here we have the local rock, but it disintegrates over time especially when you add water. It must have something to do with the "once was an ocean" part of Nevada's history.

Two new perennials are being introduced to Black Mountain Garden, Black Eyed Susans and Purple Cone Flower. I have planted them by seed, and just planted the Black Eyed Susans in accord with Moon Gardening, being as though I am getting a late start on things. The virtual Black Eyed Susans in the photo above are spray can applied via microsoft Paint. I grew up in Missouri, and I remember Black Eyed Susans growing along the roadway and in the ditches. I guess if it grows neglected along the road elsewhere in the country, it might like this Nevada desert garden.

I am also considering a really dark red hollyhock for the sunning bed. I have seen a couple in my travels, and one was almost a black red, and really intriquing. I think the dark red and red would be stunning together. I am hoping to gather seeds from the first few flowers in a couple of weeks. Can you hear the bird?

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On!

Waiting for Lily

The orange daylilies are close to opening and could be any day now. I threw a couple more black rocks around the base of the sundial,

Checked on the zinnia that are really starting to take hold,

And notice, zinna down! Feeling a sudden kinship with early Nevada pioneer women, I contemplated what it must have felt like for them to see all of their efforts devastated by tidal waves of grasshoppers. I then briefly contemplated the romanticism of pesticide-free gardening. Put on your boots girls, the grasshoppers are coming.

I got a new pair of gardening gloves in a lovely pale blue and just in time too because this cactus needs to be divided.

Ming Toy Now

The first lily, Ming Toy opened this morning. Last year was the beginning of my obsession with lilies. When they bulldozed the frontage of a residential housing development in order to put in a 12 foot wide drainage channel, I noticed that the entire landscape was in peril, there were hawthorns, rosemarys, and lots of lilies. By the time I returned, it had been cleared by a bulldozer. I identified the green leaves of about 9 lilies and dug them out of the dirt. This is the kind of landscaping I enjoy. I like the thrill of the save, the fact that they were free, and the intrique of not knowing what color they will be.

So here is my surprise daylily, and my first bud. In a couple of days we'll be able to identify this lily by name.

Here is my latest foraging project. This is a start of a cactus that fell off from it's parent plant, and thankfully the landscaping crew doesn't wear gloves so that people like me can add to their cactus gardens. Looks rough, but you can see what one week in the dirt and some water will do.

The front lobe shows sign of it's past, but the other two are plumping up nicely. This is a Prickly Pear cactus and has yellow flowers.

As I am adding cedar mulch to the sunning bed, I look over and notice Symba who must have fallen asleep during a sustained yoga pose.

I need about 4 more bags of mulch for the beds so I'll pick them up next week. It's nice to look out and see something other than highly alkaline dirt.

Spring Garden Party 2009

We had a spring garden party on last weekend. Michael made the invitations using the iris photo from Gardens in Desert. The invitation said We're having a Pot Luck / Garden Party on May 2nd, Saturday at 4:00 p.m., Please feel free to bring any dish to pass and something to drink.

In keeping with the spring garden theme, I found this green tufted fabric perfect for the table cloth, with the tufts resembling little clumps of grass, the herb garden napkins were from a 2nd hand store that when opened became mini table cloths for the drinks, and the salads. We had a small crowd of 14 people in all, with barbequed chicken, cheese burgers, homemade patio salad, carrot cake, ham and cheese pinwheels, guacamole, chips, cupcakes and lemon bar squares. When the sun went down we cranked up the karaoke for a halarious singing marathon which lasted until we could no longer sing or stand.

October Storm iris purchased from the Las Vegas Iris Society opened just in time for the party.

Irene Lantana was flowering over by the peach tree.

The cannas filled the sunning bed with green.

And in addition to everything else that was in bloom, the iceplant from a cutting last fall opened it's first flower.

We had a great time and will have another party later in the year.