End of year review

The Mexican sage in the front yard is over three feet tall and in full purple bloom. Its oval shape adds symmetry to the area.

The Tecoma stans are also in orange bloom again, next to the bottlebush tree that is also trying to bloom for the third time this season.

I also notices a stray sumuc tree near the palm tree. I'm letting one near the juniper shrubs grow but this one most likely will be pulled out. I'd rather see palo verde germinate than sumuc in my front yard! (The fall foliage won't be bad, though.)

The lantanas around the smaller shade tree have stopped their bloom, but they have a nice spread. I hope they can survive the winter so I don't have to cut them back so harshly like I did earlier this spring. (My yard had been neglected while I was in Iraq).

There are almost too many YellowBirdsOfParadise coming up in the front yard. I have let them grow so far, as they may also be IRaqi acacias. Two of them are over a foot tall and should do well indoors in a few months. The two that are in a 5-gallon pot will be my permanent container trees. If they survive the next two years I'll be delighted.

Parts of the yard look overgrown and I am guilty of allowing the heliopsis go to seed. Earlier this summer the yellow flowers were overtaking the front yard! I'd rather see more echinaceas grow; I really like those daisy-like flowers with their happy heads.

All the red sage brushes are also growing nicely. They are now over two feet tall. Even the Texas white sage has finally caught up in growth with its neighbor the Texas sage. I love the purple blooms of the white sage. All it takes is some extra water and the shrub's in bloom the next day.

I don't plan on adding any more plants to the front yard. I nursed the yard the first two years, now I will let some stray seedlings take over. It looks like I have another palo verde growing near the bottlebrush tree anyway. In ten years that tree will overshadow the nearby velvet mesquite that found its home in our yard in 2006. It's grown three feet and branched out since then and should be a nice filtering shade tree in a few more years.

The pineapple sage plants (three) have grown into a nice red shrub. Right now the plants are finally in bloom, but it's too late for the hummers this year. Hopefully the plants can survive the winter and come back to life earlier next year.

Same goes with the beebalm. The plants suffered from some kind of beetle infestation that ate the leaves. The blue sage next to it wasn't affected, but the balm never reached a lush, bloomy stage like I had hoped. I hope the balms survives as well for next year.

Next year I want the front yard to clearly be a butterfly/hummingbird mecca.

The century plant that grew a stalk in June is now in decline. It should be dead by the spring. Its pup is in a 1-gallong pot that I will replant sometime next year in memory of its mom. I love agaves and yuccas as accent plants.

I miss the ocotillo that was blown over in a storm in November 2007. None of the branches survived to grow into a "living fence" but I do hope to purchase another ocotillo in the spring to accentuate the small cactus garden near the palo verde.

The front yard won't be the same in ten years. All these seedlings will take over, and the two decidious trees in the front yard will be dead and gone. (I never would have planted those trees in the first place)

The roses will go, too. I am not a rose fan. The shrubs require more care than is necessary. the shrub will die a natural death. As long as the shrub is alive I will water it.

I also wouldn't have put all this cheap gravel down, either. I'd rather have used smaller pebbles. What's on the ground now resembles more river rock, the cheapest rock one can by at homebuilding stores.

The mimosa in our parking lot is also four feet tall. If Kevin had it his way that tree would be gone as it's right in the middle of our parking area. With four cars we need all the space up front. I didn't plant the tree but hope in another ten years it provides our cars with some much-needed summer shade.

The small turpetine bush that took hold in early 2006 (before I went to Iraq) is now a foot tall and in yellow bloom. It's a pretty specimen that thrives in full sun. It picked a nice spot, near the palo verde, to grow.

The smaller blue palo verde, that grew more like a psychotic wild plant with branches in every direction, is starting to take on a more tamer appearance. I had the plant heavily pruned a few months ago, to remove rampant and dead branches, and it's now grown upward rather than sideways. Blue palos are slower to grow than yellow palo verdes, but I planted the blue to take over the deciduous tree in ten years. (I want all the plants in my front yard to be native plants and not plants that need special care to grow).

The two saguaros are still alive but they don't seem to have grown any. The bunny-ear cactus also hasn't grown any more pads.

As for the back yard, it's now covered in Bermuda grass. I'm letting the grass grow to seed so it can reseed itself, although with our cooler nights I don't think the grass will spread much more above ground.

The Paulownia tree's offshoot is now also over two feet tall. I wouldn't have planted the parent plant but it was there when we moved in and it's provided the squash garden with much-needed summer shade, too. So it's earned its position in the back yard.

The corn was a disappointed. All that labor that went into growing the corn and most of it succumbed to beetles and fungus. Next year the corn will be planted a month early, 1 March, to avoid the July beetle infestation.

Tomatoes were another disappointed. We didn't have a bumper crop of toms this year. All original plants died off by August without bearing much. The few fruit that did mature went bad on the vine. Perhaps the location was too shady for the toms.

The stray toms that grew out of the compost pile in July, however, are still growing fruit and growing into healthy red fruit. Lesson learned: don't plant the tomatoes until 1 July when the monsoon hits! Otherwise we spend too much $$ on the water bill.

Beans and peas were a success, and so were the Detroit red beets that I have learned to love.

I planted too much Romaine lettuce that went to bolt before we ate any of it.

But I will plant more spinach!

Red cabbage is another vegetable I want to do well with.

The strawberries are all reproducing very well in the containers, but the containers are too tall and deep. I should have picked shallower containers for the Quinalt varieties.

The red potato plants that grew from a tuber didn't live long enough to produce enough potatoes. We got a handful from the one I planted. What went wrong? Was it the summer heat? I will try again with another tuber soon. The few that grew were delicious.

There are things growing in my compost!

After a three-day cold snap after Hurricane Norbert two weeks ago, we are back with beautiful autumn weather: highs in the 80s, lows in the 50s. Today I planted Bloomsdale Spinach, Detroit Red Beets and White Globe turnips in Bed #1 for a winter harvest.

As I added watered coffee grounds to the tin can we use as a compost pile, I noticed many seedlings growing. They are all cotyledons so I have no idea what they will be (green beans?), but for now I will let them be. There is nothing growing in the plastic bin we use as a compost container.

The stray tomatoes are now ripening. Kevin will use them in the chili this weekend. In the front yard we have Pineapple Sage in red bloom. The Iraqi acacias are all still doing well.

A cool-down is coming

I started a substitute teaching job at a local school district. This 12-hour day has kept me busy even on weekends, just trying to get caught up with the book material, grading papers, etc. My garden has been neglected.

But...the stray tomatoes are finally turning orange! That means by the end of October we will have fresh ripe tomatoes and Kevin can make his chili. Many of the bell pepppers died on me while still bearing fruit. The beans are still coming, though but even they are starting to wear thin on us as we have a whole refrigeratore full of beans.

Metereologists have said that this summer was a mild one. We only had four days above 100F and ample rain during the monsoon. The gardening season is coming to a close. But I'm still fighting mosquitoes, moths and praying mantids. (The latter are welcome, the others aren't.)


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