By George! - A Blog!

Our street-side landscaping has brought us a wonderful display of color in response to the recent showers. Texas Rangers (more accurately named Texas Rain Sage) or Leucophyllum if you like using Latin names, have burst into solid shade of magenta.  There are other colors, too, but pale blue and lilac are not so eye-catching.
The original […]

Several gardeners have sown seeds provided by Native Seeds Search who generously gave them to us with the understanding that we would report plant behaviour ( yield taste, pest resistance and so on). The information collected will give them an opportunity to produce better catalogs in the days to come.  Please let them know what […]

We have enjoyed a beautiful spring but now its the official beginning of summer and there are disappointments lying in wait for us.  The heat of the sun kills pollen of our flowering vegetables–not all of them, just those that are on the edge of comfort.  The squashes, okra, melons Chinese pole beans ( a […]

We are now at the middle of summer and most gardens are planted with summertime things but there may be a few spaces open for additional plants. A fully planted plot is an efficent use of your imputs, the water, the soil amendments and fertilizer, your work, and the fertility of the soil itself.
Summer time vegetables […]

Summer is with us now and we need to consider how and when to water.  It’s good to have an understanding of how we do this.
At this time of year always work in moist soil when setting out new plants.  Usually a drip irrigation system provides this but here’s a way that to makes sure […]

Here we are at the beginning of May and the night temperatures read in the sixties and the day temperatures are in the nineties.  One result of these wide figures is that our soil temperatures hang around 65 degrees which is decidedly cool for this time of year.  Most reference books stress the importance of […]

Spring has sprung—judging by the crowds of shoppers at our nurseries and by the gorgeous colors of bedding plants on the benches.  Stay calm and take your time to buy your plants.
Take a look at the roots, as well as judging the vigor of your purchase by the size and color of the green tops or […]

The big question right now (and it is a recurring one every month, actually) is “What can I plant or sow right now?”  The answer is to be found in the part of the newsletter that is called the Planting Guide.  You’ll find it helpful. Although we are finishing the winter vegetable […]

Because the temperatures are rising; because rain is falling;because the days are getting longer we tell ourselves that spring is with us, or is not too far off.  The bees know this and, to their benefit, a consequence of these natural happenings is another—flowers appear.  Sometimes the flowers are what we call weeds, sometimes they […]

Our desert trees have gone through a year of inadequate rainfall, which is something we cannot do anything about. That’s bad enough a handicap to good health. What we can see, now that the leaves have fallen off is a widespread scourge that we can do something about.  Those lumps of green that infest the […]