Are You Staying or Not

The tree wants to live at the neighbors. It finds the wind tunnel uninhabitable.

A 40 ft. tall tree right there sounded like a great idea in my it'll never get that tall scheme of things. Husband thinks we should saw it in half, and I already see the dozen small branches that have been whacked off by the wind on the one side, and think "Oh great, then it'll look like a tree stake with branches coming out just the one side, and I'll have to listen to what Zen would say every time I come out the door!" " Nope, Zen won't let you do that!"

The bare root fruit trees are coming up for sale in Sept. and one of them might like it here being as though that eucalyptus has halfway moved out. Just saying....

I think the lizard likes it here. He was hanging from the curtains in the living room, so we had to go over that "here" for him meant staying outside.

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

Let Wrangler Drive

This morning I started filling in the raised bed with base material before I head out to get Tomato Lady soil to finish it off.

The cannas are looking great with very little sign that they were ever ressurected.

This is the iris planted in the black dirt on July 20th. This is remarkable in comparison to the iris that I purchased from the iris sale on June 28 that was planted in a planting mix from a garden center. With the black dirt they take off running.

The iris in the front yard are starting to take off too. These were the tiny pups.

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

Catch the Bus

Garden tours are awesome! I enjoy The Empress' hosted garden tours with her twist of delightful perspective. I don't even know if we have garden tours around here. Let's have garden tours, by God! I would love to drive the bus so that I could share some of the unique places I have happened upon while traveling around Las Vegas. Like this place is fun, even down to the strategically placed kitten beneath the birdcage.

Do you think they would mind if me and my Townsfolk lollied around the grounds for awhile? Is napping allowed?

Gardens that have been around for awhile are the richest. It's layers and layers of green opulence, that shows years and years of watering discipline.

I like this photo, self indulgently speaking and no, it doesn't stand for Laverne. Thanks for riding Laura's Tourbus for Townsfolk.

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

Get a Plate

Having coffee on the patio finds me standing behind the marbles,

Contemplating the sacrificial candelabra shaped zinna, that now bears signs of hope. Is this what's left of the feast?

Walking along I discover this entree. I like salad greens, but I am not one to munch on them while they are still attached at the ground. Is there no decorum? Can't you find a plate! Mealy bugs are so trailer, and cricket's, are too.

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

Cat Dog

There's plastic stapled just shy of the edge, waterseal on the exterior, and irrigation curled for the strike. Now I am waiting for Wrangler to rustle me some dirt.
The Crape Myrtle is flowering nicely since increasing the water.

Cat Dog destroyed one of the echinaceas so now there are about 6 and the melon that was growing new leaves took a turn for the worse, being in the same area....draw your own conclusion, so I went oriental on him and placed more chopsticks strategically around the echinacea and black eyed susans that are planted for next years enjoyment. We are trying to stick to the plan here. He looks proud as he lounges there. I am going to paint a picture of him in that style like he is a hunting dog, and then see if it is befitting over the fireplace.

This photo comes to mind as the motivation for the piece. I would move the green in closer, and painting the mulch might become distracting which presents some challenges as does painting rocks. Me painting fur presents even greater challenges. I'm trying to grow those brain cells as I go.

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

Show Off Your Stitches

I took a trip this morning to Boulder City to view the community gardens. I met a couple of gals from Let_It_Grow_LV, an online local gardening group, and it was fun to meet them for the first time. We walked along the raised beds that are set up like allotments. Each individually managed bed averaged about 14 ft, and the plants that were growing, the fertility of the soil, and the watering methods varied vastly from bed to bed, similarly to the personalities and the diversity of the actual owner's themselves.

I visit the gardens a handful of times a year. I like to walk amid the handiwork of gardeners. Each new planting, and new thing attempted whether successful or not is like another stitch in the quilt of one's own gardening experience. Gardening is a beautiful personal journey even with a little bad dirt, a broken sprinkler, and mint everywhere.

Heading back to LV we stopped at Bootleg Canyon. It was too hot to stay there for very long unless you are a lizard.

Bootleg Canyon is rich when there are clouds in the sky and you can see all of the colors in the rocks more clearly.

Some of the rocks have crystals in them.

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

Early Morning Sounds

Michael and I arbitrarily awakened our neighbors to the sounds of high volocity cellulous piercing shrills and murmuring. Finishing the lumber portion of the raised bed early, allowed them to still be able to fit in an early morning nap, prior to actually arising. Taking a nap on the weekends is truly a luxury! Tomorrow I'll staple plastic on the inside against the wood, and waterguard the exterior of the frame all before 95 degrees.

Here is the view from the patio. The raised bed will be filled with black dirt to grow lettuces, spinach and other cool season crops. The traveling pots will be moved again least they become roof splatter buckets. The rock area next to house inside the dripline is for a rock collection someday. It mostly has melting rocks in it now.

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