Harvesting the Web – 20200227

There are some amazing gardening resources to be found on the Internet and most of them are free. Of course viewers have to put up with some “nag” screens and pop-ups, but that is a small price to pay for valuable information. At least that’s my opinion. I decided to write about some of my findings for those who may also be interested in these gardening articles.

I have been gardening and growing plants for more than fifty years and I am currently a Master Gardener in Maricopa County, AZ (Phoenix area. I hope you find something useful among these harvested tidbits.

What to Do With Dried Potting Soil?

Author Katie Jensen, graduate of Arizona State University, points to some interesting hints for those who find that their potting soil is depleted of nutrients or so dry that it cannot absorb the necessary water when potting new plants.

As Master Gardeners, we are well aware of the problem of using peat moss in a potting mix and then having it become hydrophobic when dry. Jensen offers several good pointers at the link above.

NOTE – What has worked for me in the past, if one needs a speedier answer to hydrating soil, is to use very warm water. The warmer the water, the better. Do not use boiling hot water as it may hurt beneficial microorganisms and elements.

When dealing with soil that has the potential of being depleted of nutrients after long-use, I create a new mixture of two-thirds new potting soil and one-third old soil. I then increase the recommended amount of fertilizer by one third (+/-). In the desert, additional applications may be necessary because of increased watering.

Naturally, these procedures have worked in my N. Phoenix area, but your mileage may vary.

More garden-related articles from Hunker:

Garden Basics
Garden and Lawn


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Seven top tips for sustainable living in urban gardens

James and Dick Strawbridge from across the pond, so-to-speak, offer up some hints about urban gardens that focus on the goal of zero-waste. While zero may not be practical, many gardeners can work toward the goal of more sustainable gardening.

One suggestion in the article that some may not have considered before is eating “peelings.” Why not? Restaurants often serve potato skins as an appetizer and that includes the peels. The Strawbridges suggest other peelings that might be just as tasty with a bit of imagination in their preparation.

Another tip that is worthy of some consideration is “creating a wormery.” Worm castings have been demonstrated to be excellent fertilizer. The process in our desert is a bit different than elsewhere, but a visit to the Arizona Worm Farm * will get you started.

Read more about sustainable gardening at the link above.

*Here is the link for the Arizona Worm Farm

Arizona Worm Farm YouTube Videos

The Worm Farm offers very interesting tours of their operation and has vermiculture workshops. For fees and hours visit their website. Even our non-gardening guests have found the AZ Worm Farm an interesting place to visit.




Hardenbergia violacea is sometimes called the Lilac Vine. In the Sonoran Desert, it blooms at the end of January or the beginning of February. It produces fountains of purple flowers against dark green, leathery leaves.

 

That’s all for now, happy gardening!


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2020 – JBRish.com



Vide – Ohs: Saving a Pony & Foxes at Play

Mila – The miracle pony

We have a heartwarming story of a pony that was found very near death with little hope of survival, but then fate stepped in. Watch this inspiring video about the will to live and being grateful!

From the YouTube page:

This baby wild horse was so skinny when she was rescued — look at her now! | You can keep up with Mila and all of her adventures on Instagram, mila_the_mustang: https://thedo.do/mila. You can help Amanda, Jennifer, and the team at Healing Hearts Rescue care for more animals like Mila by donating to: https://thedo.do/hearts. You can also check out more of Nancy Loftis’ amazing photography on Facebook: https://thedo.do/nloftis. Special thanks to Nancy Harrison for sharing her footage with us!

Foxes Just Want to Have Fun

Who knew that despite their reputation for being sly, foxes like to have fun! Watch this cute and funny video of two fox cubs caught on camera playing on a trampoline – after sneaking into a woman’s garden.

 

More Vide – Ohs

To See additional Interesting Videos, click HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2018 – JBRish.com



A Pungent and Invasive Weed in the Desert

There is a pungent smell in the air this spring in our Sonoran garden and surrounding neighborhoods. It isn’t really a bad smell, but it cannot be described as a totally pleasant one either. When we first discovered this fragrance several weeks ago, we couldn’t figure out the source, but over the ensuing time period we discovered its origin.

You can see the culprit in the picture below…



and here it is again.



This yellow plant is called Globe chamomile (Oncosiphon piluliferum). While seeds can be bought for Globe chamomile, I am sure most gardeners consider it a weed.

Because of the frequent and substantial winter rains, these yellow weeds are pervasive throughout open areas in the Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona corridor.

You can see how thick it grows. It can be pulled out by the handful.





Globe chamomile is a South African native and it has found its way to various regions of the United States and other countries.

It has been in bloom for weeks, but the drier and warmer spring weather is now causing some die off. Notice the brownish stems (below). The flowers are still quite vibrant and fragrant, but they are definitely on the wane.



It has been blamed by many in the area for their severe outbreak of allergy symptoms. Melanie Dunlap, a Naturopathic practicioner, writes about here experience in this article titled Goddess of Allergies

You can read more about Globe chamomile HERE

 

Read more gardening posts HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019 – JBRish.com



A Rascal in My Garden

It all began when I started some seeds indoors in February. I nursed these seedlings as though they were my only charge and when they had sprouted and showed some green, I put them out during the day and took them in at night.

One day, upon inspection, I noticed that three of the four seedlings had been eaten. I have seen birds do this so I simply chalked it up to my feathered “friends.”

Additionally, I take an almost daily inventory of plants growing in our desert garden areas. The tipping point in the desert is very narrow and a plant can go into stress and die within a day under the right conditions. There is little room for error when temperatures rise to near 110 or when the daily low is 92.

It is currently the spring in the desert, but temperatures during the day would be representative of summer temperatures elsewhere. On the day I am writing this, the temperature was 86 degrees at 1:00 PM. Several days ago, while making the rounds in our courtyard, I noticed that the leaves on our hibiscus had been decimated.



To be sure, the plant had been cut back to stimulate new growth after our winter, but all of the branches had leaves on them and now they were almost denuded. This led me to investigate further.

This gazania in the planter below had blooms on it which apparently were a favorite for the critter who had scaled our courtyard walls to gain a free meal. You may also notice that the right side of the plant has leaves that were trampled and eaten (see arrows).



It is even more obvious in the middle of this geranium and alyssum arrangement. The leaves in the middle were matted (see arrows). If you know geraniums, they have a pungent smell and this may have saved it for extensive damage. This was not the work of birds!



We weren’t sure exactly which animal was doing this, but we were determined to stop the devastation. We own a Havahart trap that we put into action. For two days we had no results. We used peanuts and peanut butter. On the third evening, I was going outside to refresh the bait and look what we found…



A bushy-tailed squirrel! I have been told that these are not native to the Sonoran Desert and they are quite large.



He didn’t like being caught and was trying to bite his way out; but not this time!



We have a plastic box with a top that we use to transport our Havahart critters and in he went, trap and all! We put paper on the bottom for hygiene reasons.





Of course this is stressful for the animal as can be seen by all the droppings it left behind. Interestingly enough, there is a piece of corn that he must have had in his pouch as we have no kernels on our premises.



Once the top is secure, into the back of our SUV it goes!



This is a field several miles from our house. We are hopeful that the squirrel will live and we like the idea that we are giving it a chance.



Here he is just before release.



To keep my seedlings safe, I now cover them with our sifting grate.



I know we are not done with the critters in our courtyard. The area is fenced in, but these creatures are fighting for survival while we are just growing plants to look at. Nevertheless, we try to keep our plants safe and healthy.

You can read about how we use our sifting grate HERE.

See another type of critter with which we have to contend in our garden – HERE

 

Read more gardening posts HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019 – JBRish.com



Garden Video: Live Capture of Critters in a Bottle Mousetrap

If you have followed JBRish.com for a while, you may have read one of my posts where I describe the difficulty we have with a variety of rodents (and other critters) in our desert garden.

I try to appreciate and respect all of nature and I don’t like to kill any animals if it can be avoided. I was intrigued by the EL GATO live-capture Bottle Mousetrap which may help with some of our smaller vermin.

Watch the video below and let me know what you think.

 

Read more gardening posts HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross – 2018 – JBRish.com



Sore Thumb, Green Thumb – Desert Bloom

Red blooming desert cactus at a distance

Can you see it?

Red blooming desert cactus at a distance

It stood out like a sore thumb; at least to me. The desert landscape doesn’t usually have a significant number of blooms this time of year with temperatures between 90-110 degrees. This particular cactus was given to me a couple of years ago as a broken piece from a much larger plant.

We hardened it off a bit and placed it in the landscape. Over the first year, I babied it a bit with extra water, but it only receives scant water now in its second full year.

Red blooming desert cactus portrait

Here is a close up

Closeup

The bees were taking advantage of the abundant pollen being made available.

Closeup with bees

I must say, they burrowed way down into the base of the flower and appeared to be “rolling around” in all their glory. We have to feel sorry for the bees nowadays.

I believe this is a torch cactus variety, but I do not have the exact botanical name. It might be a Trichocereus huascha (Echinopsis), but I will let you decide by checking the link.

 

Read more gardening posts HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross – 2018 – JBRish.com



Desert Botanical Garden – March 12, 2015

Living in North Phoenix brings us close to the natural desert, but when guests arrive, they often want to visit the second most popular attraction in the state, after the Grand Canyon of course, which is the Desert Botanical Garden (DBG). Some might argue that Sedona, AZ would also be a close second, but I am just repeating what I have heard based on statistics.

Last week we visited the gardens with family. It has been unusually warm during the last week or so to the tune of 10 plus degrees so I wasn’t sure what the flowers would be like at this time. I am glad to report that many of the spring standard bloomers were still strutting their stuff although there were areas where drying had taken its toll.

Before we get to some of the flowers, however, here are a few pictures of the cactus and succulents we saw:

Silver Agave with Dark Margins

The silver highlights and varied leaf margins make this agave a stunning plant. The chocolate outline with the yellow surround are superb!

Pickle-colored agave with large Serrated Edges.

The wider-leaved agave had a very unusual color almost like a pickle. The serrated edges were also particularly colorful and pronounced.

Small dense agave with dark leaves and silver margins

The plant pictured above appeared to be an agave, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a succulent of a different family. In this particular arrangement, it wasn’t named although I am certain that elsewhere in the garden it would be. It was a smallish specimen being about twice the size of the average closed fist. The dark leaves and silver edges make this a winner.

Penstemon, asters in the wildflower garden

These Daisies/Asters and Penstemon Parryi were doing well in the wildflower garden. Not pictured were the Firecracker Penstemon, Brittlebush, Lupines, Fairy Dusters and others that were plentiful along the paths.

More about our trip to the DBG shortly…