trellis

Mums A Bloom in the Spring Desert Garden

Jeff

In June of 2018, I wrote about growing Mums (Chrysanthemums) in the desert garden. As I explained, these have been more traditionally associated with the Fall in the north and eastern parts of the United States.

You can read the article HERE –
Mum is the Word in the Desert Garden

I thought I would follow up and show readers how the mums look now in nearly mid-spring. They are coming into bloom and will continue for a number of weeks until the process explained in the article above will take place again.

It may be easier to purchase new plants than to take the time and expend the effort to revitalize these older specimens, but I enjoy the challenge of keeping these long-time garden residents alive.

This year we have five pots of yellow mums which is an increase over the three we had last year. I won’t keep more than five because space is limited in our garden. You may recognize some of the pots from the post referenced above.

As a matter of orientation, this is a picture of the mums in front of our sun trellis and the snail vine from last year. You will note that there are three pots of mums



This is a rejuvenated mum currently residing on the left side of the trellis.



You may note the buds on the top of the plant. There appears to be an alyssum volunteer growing along the left rim of the pot. It gets a lot of shade this time of year and will receive mostly shade as the snail vine covers the trellis.



The two mums pictured above receive a bit more sun and the one that is flowering was in sunnier location a few weeks ago and moved to the trellis where there is an existing emitter for the irrigation system. The mum on the right is a bit leggy as it has been mostly in the shade and gets hand-watered because there is no emitter there yet.



These last two mums are on the other side of the courtyard and receive afternoon shade from the Ipomea fistulosa and the Golden Showers Rose which are mostly off to the right of the frame. As you can see, the one mum is blooming and the other has many buds on it.

The nice thing about mums in the desert is that they tend to bloom twice a year and this time of the year, they add color to areas that are just beginning to thrive, i.e. the snail vine.


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Agave Trellis

Jeff

After nearly a decade of gracing our desert landscaping, several agaves started to shoot out their thick center stalk last year.

Agaves with spikes

The “maturation”/growth of this spikey stalk takes nearly a year; and in the final months of the process, the mother plant starts to wither and will eventually die after sending out multiple “pups.”

Agaves with pup

The spikes often exceed 16 feet; and after several months in the hot sun are lightweight yet sturdy. Previous uses for these spikes have included our year-round holiday light pole (scroll all the way down) that continues to adorn our patio. Now we wanted to extend our agave craft to the creation of a trellis!

Internet research yielded no effective uses of these agave poles for a trellis; so an original prototype was designed! Our three spikes were each approximately 12 feet long; with varying thickness of about three to five inches in diameter.

After the appropriate cuts were made, two coats of fast-drying clear satin polyurethane was applied.

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The thickest spikes were used to create the three 6’ vertical spikes/supports that were placed at equal spacing over a 5’ linear area (each end spike was approximately 30 inches from the center spike post).

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The three vertical poles were carefully placed in 6” PVC piping submerged into the ground, with pea gravel used to fill in any gaps. Effort was made to assure that these poles were aligned carefully to facilitate the placement of the cross bars.

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Lighter lengths of spike were used for the three horizontal (cross) bars and placed at equal intervals; with the bottom being 18 inches from the ground.

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For additional support (and because the spikes have natural imperfect planes), the middle horizontal bar was placed to the opposite side of the top and bottom bars.

Carriage bolts of varying lengths (dependent upon the thickness of the two spikes used being secured) were employed….and holes were made with a cordless drill prior to ratcheting these bolts into place.

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Now the challenge is to find a worthy resident for the trellis that will offer a bounty of flowers and yet get along with the other desert denizens!

Bower Vine Blast Finally

Jeff

We have been growing a variegated Bower Vine with pinkish flowers for three seasons, this being the third. It has been a disappointing performer up until now. This year however, we tried something new! Like any vine, we supported this one on a trellis. Each year the vine would grow long and unwieldy, but would not cover the entire trellis as our Snail Vine had done on it’s support.

This spring we decided not to let the Bower Vine grow as tall as it wanted. We began clipping the long tendrils as soon as they reached the top of the trellis. Much to our amazement and delight, the plant put the energy into producing copious blooms. It is understandable that a more mature plant would generate more flowers, but this vine had produced only a sparse display of a few flowers a year and the memories of last year’s bloom are vague to say the least.

Below is a closeup of a cluster of this pink Bower Vine’s flowers. The dark purple throat is beautiful!
Variegated Pink Flowering Bower Vine

The second picture (below) gives a better view of the plant and the contrast between the flowers and the variegated leaves. There is one school of thought that variegated plants do not bloom as much as their non-variegated cousins, but this year that does not seem to be the case.

Variegated, Pink Flowering Bower Vine

How do you think the color of the flowers look contrasted with the variegated leaves?

Sun Trellis

Jeff

Several years ago we decided to plant a snail vine (Vigna Caracalla) in the courtyard of our home in northern Phoenix. This is a good plant for our particular climate; tolerating reflected heat and a great amount of sun exposure and able to tolerate moderate freezes. (If the frost kills the top; cut to the ground and it will re-bloom in the spring). As this would be a focal area, a special trellis that would accommodate an eight foot expanse in front of an inside wall was required. A trip to an eclectic pottery and home furnishing store in nearby Cave Creek that was “going out of business” provided a sheet metal screen of smiling suns! Slightly damaged; (the blemish that prompted its reduced price was negligible) the screen was cut in two even sections to facilitate ease of installation. Over the years, the weight of the new growth has required some staking with rebar and wire, but the effect is still impressive!

Note: this vine (at least in our particular area) develops mildew each year during the humid part of our summer; after a significant re-cutting and application of Bayer Advanced Disease Control for Rose, Flower and Shrubs Concentrate, it resumes vigorous regrowth.


Sun Trellis with Snail Vine

The Trellis with Foliage Beginning to Fill the Voids

Snail

A Snail Vine Bloom