I started my desert wildflower garden just over three years ago. I didn’t really know what to expect at the start, except that I was sowing native wildflower seeds, so they should grow well in the desert. Although I love my wildflower garden, there have been difficulties along the way. Wildflower or Weed? It can […]
One of my pet peeves is recipe websites that make you scroll through pages of useless stories prior to getting to the ingredients and instructions. So I am going to start with the recipe and follow with the explanations. Native Desert Soil (Clay) Although native desert plants typically grow in 100% native desert soil (which […]
Several of my more mature cacti flower and produce seeds. If the fruit does not get taken by animals, I harvest it and store the dry seeds in labeled containers. Seeds have the best germination rates when used within 3 years of harvesting, so I try to plant or share the seeds within that time […]
Although it is nice to see green space around town, the typical pruning practices in the Greater Phoenix area are disasterous. There are several common practices that I want to review: formally shearing shrubs, overpruning, cutting back to the ground, and trimming all species. Formally Shearing Shrubs A formally sheared shrub or tree is one […]
In 2019, I moved from an apartment into a house in Tempe. Now I had a yard of my own to take care of. There was no grass and no pool. The front-yard was mostly gravel with a few palm trees, an olive tree, and an oleander hedge that was overgrown with weeds. In the […]