Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Miramonte Neighborhood


Today's post is one for the books.  It is about observations over the past several years around my neighborhood. It's long and I do apologize.   In fact, I've been working on this particular post for around 4 months.  I was only able to now go around the neighborhood and take the photos.  The worst part was that I actually wrote this post yesterday and blogger had a hiccup.  Nothing was saved!  I had wasted an hour of my morning!  The first pic is the iconic symbol of the Miramonte Neighborhood.   It is here that the rare avocado tree grows.
This write links previous posts together and it is really interesting how it all fits together like a puzzle.  Leaving El Presidio gardens, people are exposed to this.  I'll let you form your own opinions about this road and homes.  Visitors have stated that it looks like the 3rd world driving up to our place.  And it's a bit true if not a little insulting.  However I understand their meaning.  Miramonte faces two big obstacles.....poverty and poverty housing.  With it comes the crime(drugs, graffiti, killing).  But not all of the neighborhood is bad and it actually has some really neat features.  It just so happens that El Presidio lies between the two extremes.  Last year I wrote a post on our neighborhood.  Note how many of the front yards lack landscaping.  One homeowner has converted their yard into a junk yard.
But as I leave down this road, I do find a home with a beautiful front yard.  It was actually cloudy allowing for these beautiful flowers to remain open.  Note how they've used the cacti as a fence.  Attractive.  Natural....and well done!
A closer view(and the money shot for this morning) is found below.  The blooms are active with insect life.   At night, they attract our bat populations.
Another important part of this post was to show people how our historic freeze last year has affected many of our plants.   In the pic below, and I'm just focusing on the euphorb, you'll note frost damage on the tips.  It didn't look good at first, but somehow the plant pulled through the freezing temps.
I leave my street and turn left.  I see shopping carts, trash, and colonies of prickly pear cactus.   Yes, it's frustrating.  Sometimes it seems that no one cares about their surroundings.  A special police force monitors our neighborhood.  It's a huge meth area.
Part of the problem is the Salvation Army being on the corner.  Now the Salvation Army is a great organization and during the holidays, there are looooong lines of people waiting outside. I pass them by on my way to work and have lots of deep thoughts to myself.  Sad. Happy that they have a place to go for assistance. Angry that some of them will take take take and then trash the area around the business.  Not all of it is good.  The neighborhood association deals with these things on a daily basis.  
I love the agaves in this pic.  The purple flowering plants you see today are known as the Texas Ranger. The tricky part about desert landscaping around this area is that many of our plants have spikes and points.  Sometimes people forget that trash will gather or get stuck around the bases.  With large groups of people, you have trash and with it some very tricky cleanup.
But as I leave this troubling area, I am rewarded with views.  From left to right.  There is a healthy patch of Buddha's Belly Bamboo, an ancient Euc, several palms and the orange flowered Mexican Bird of Paradise.  When homeowners or newbies come to the desert and ask me what they should plant in their yards, etc., I always tell them that they should wait and observe the lighting for the garden spaces and also take a walk around their neighborhood for plant ideas.  For me, it took a year to do all of this.  And also remember that each neighborhood or property have their own microclimates.
I turn on the road.  You may notice that our streets are not well paved.  This is Tucson and it's quite common to find roads in this condition.  However, it's important to note that this street becomes a river during our monsoon storms creating dangerous conditions.  I don't go anywhere during a heavy storm because I don't want my car to stall.
A wonderful thing happened several years ago.  An eco friendly group of condos would go into a space that had been causing issues for El Presidio.  It was an empty lot.  Drug deals and prostitution happened here until a company came in and built these beautiful buildings.  The landscape is wild and natural.  It also blocks people from hopping our walls.  And it creates a wildlife oasis for birds, etc.   These buildings also collect rain water and reuse it.  Note the solar panels on top of the building.  On the far left is another mammoth Euc which creates the highest point of our tree canopy at El Presidio. 
Look at this Canary palm  It takes forever to grow here and this one is midsize indicating it's an older plant.  Sometimes, cacti grow in the weirdest places.  Check out the Prickly Pear caught up in the "haircut" of the palm.
It's near the Miramonte Park.  Our pride of the neighborhood.  Combined, El Presidio Gardens, the Eco friendly condos and this park have created a wildlife corridor in our neighborhood.  Just don't go here at night.  People joke about finding unsavory things on the grounds in the morning....mostly used if you get my drift.  I don't think it's funny and again it is a frustration for the homeowners bordering this park.  However, it's well kept and a lovely addition to our neighborhood.
Here's another look at "frostbite".  Almost a year and a half later from that historic freeze, plants are still recovering.  I wanted to do some followup on the posts I've written over the 2 year period of time. On the pic below, you'll see the very healthy desert fern tree/shrub growing in the landscape.  The landscaper who is incredible and worked on this property for decades is fantastic.  Everyday I drive past this property and he has made miracles happen on plants that I thought would die.  Several of our mesquite, cacti, and desert fern trees bit the dust.  Take a look at this tree from this past January!  I thought it was a goner!
Today with some artistic pruning and a lot of patience, the tree is back in full shade mode.  I spoke with the landscaper this day and we had a nice conversation.  I'd hire him to manage our gardens!
And then there was the Jacaranda.  Very few places can grow these trees in town.  But since we live in Midtown, they do well.  Last year I told the frantic story about how I almost lost my Jac.  I ran to this homeowner for advice.  He was calm and said, "Just wait and see."  Well we did and our Jacs came back.  It's important to note two things here.  His Jacaranda is located in a thicket of Mesquite and next to a wall.  My Jacaranda is also placed in a similiar area to keep it insolated from freezing temps.  On well established Jacs, there is not much to worry about but for little Jacs in their first or second years, people need to monitor these trees during our winter months.
For sale?  Check out this lovely clean landscaping.  Okay, I do have to admit something here.  I love all the plants, but it needs a small and light tree in the middle.  I'm thinking a Desert Willow just to give it some focal point....besides that "for sale" sign:)
Here's one of the few places that has lawn.  Again by the same landscaper.   These are townhomes and very well kept.
Sometimes I forget to grab my green notebook.  I didn't pay attention to the plant here.  Sometimes I snap a pic and forget to check out the plants.  It's one of my personal issues with blogging that I'm trying to be better at.   This plant(is it Vinca?) grows as a groundcover all year round in the shade.  I enhanced the pic to see the leaves, but I can't tell.  This area is home to many birds as well including several families of the Gamble's Quail.
I love this house, but I don't like how the mesquite trees are blocking the entrance.  It looks cluttered.
Then there are quircky places that pop up around the neighborhood.  The lack of landscaping is obvious and it is a forest of untrained plants.  A little too wild for my tastes.
What's perfection?  This landscaping right here is dead on.  Very little needs watering....if any at all!!!  Beautiful house with great plant choices for their yard.  You have several cacti(Tree Cholla, Prickly Pear, and Barrel), Texas Ranger, a Pine Tree as a focal point, and Bougainvillea(the red leaves although I'm not sure exactly because it's a bit blurry).  By the window, it looks like some variety of Tecoma Stans and a Mexican Bird of Paradise.
Some homes are in bad shape.  Love this place but there is a lot of water damage on the outside.  Plus there are boxes everywhere.  It looks like a hoarder lives here.
And the alley ways.  Tucson is very different from Phoenix.  If you ask me which city is cleaner, I'll tell you Phoenix(depending on the area).  If you ask me which city has the most personality, I'll tell you Tucson.  But the Old Pueblo can be grungy in parts.
Healthy indicators of wildlife are seen by the simple existance of Gamble's Quail.  Here is a family that is doing well in the neighborhood.  I can't explain why I know this.....I just do.  These birds indicate a healthy ecosystem.  El Presidio doesn't have them because of the feral cats roaming the property.   But we are home to many hummers.   Today's walk was exhausting.  Not because of the distance but because of the heat.  It was hot, humid and sticky.  At 9 AM, I had to return home.  The heat was too much.  The desert is no joke this time of year.
As I return home, I see my masterpiece at work.  It's nearly complete and I'm proud of what I've done.  It is a work of love, time and patience.  We still have several major pieces left....the fountain, the side planters, the old wooden beams on the front gate and the parking lot.  An irrigation system will need to be set up and then I will be done with my work.  Sorry about the massive post today but I think the landscapers and homeowners will find this write interesting.  Until next time....



32 comments:

  1. Beautiful landscapes and great deal of work for you.

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  2. Nice to read and very good photo's....it's a nice serie Chris.

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  3. I would say your neighborhood has a bit of everything. It would be nicer if everyone would take care of their lawn and property and the druggies would disappear. You do have some gorgeous neighboring lawns. The plants and trees look beautiful. The bougainvillea is one of my favorites. Cool seeing the quail. Great post, it shows how much you care about your heighborhood.

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  4. Nice tour of the neighborhood. Nice to see some still work at having gardens there which I know has to be a challenge.

    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  5. Quote:

    "Part of the problem is the Salvation Army being on the corner."
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    The problem is not just Salvation Army, but most charities and even most of this world's government welfare system exacerbate the problem by feeding people handouts which creates an Entitlement mentality. The EU is loaded with this. Take a clue also from City Wildlife problems and the numbers game. There are huge numbers of critters that in nature are not so great. They are considered pests, but yet it is human idocy and sloppiness not the animals which have created the environment for which they thrive.

    I've often wanted to post something on my blog about Swedish government idiocy which has created their own Homeless situation if for no other reason than to expose the hypocracy of the propaganda promoted that nothing bad happens within Socialist Perfect Sweden. The healthcare system continues to spiral in quality down hill. The freedom mentality to live your life as you see fit creates a burden on the healthcare system where if you want to be a drunk, we'll pay for it. If you want to smoke like a train or suck on Swedish Snus, why Taxpayer healthcare will take care of that lip or lung cancer. The idiocy is endless here.

    Over there with all of the natural disasters and conservation rehabilitation that could be accomplished, why not bring back the CCC like during the depression era where massive amounts of natural conservation programs were done. It not only fed & housed many folks but gave them a sense of purpose and accomplishment.


    Okay I'm finished with this social debate, but you started it Chris --> *smile*


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    1. I kinda agree with you on this:) Feed them and they will come. But the bigger revelation is seeing the line of people out during the holidays! You would think that there wasn't much poverty around and a good chunk of our city is full of it! Getting up, going to feed the birds:), get my coffee and head to my office. I'll see you in a little bit after I get my lectures done this morning:)

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  6. On a possitive note, I rather like the older neighbourhoods especially the homes with the older gardens. I also like many of your Volunteer plant photos. We now now where the public restroom for birds is located on that street.

    I wish cactus plants volunteered here. Or at least I wished I lived somewehere on the planet where they do grow like weeds.

    I also love the Mesquite woodland examples in the gardens. What a treasure those are.

    I also like the imperfect state of the not so manicured yards and streets in those neighbourhoods. Here in Sweden they tear down older building in favour of this boring futuristic garbage which has ZERO artistic personality woven into it. Even landscaping for the most part shows little or no ambition or creative intuitiveness.

    Any type of spanish architecture is made enhanced by southwestern natives or their look alike cousins. Very nice sunday drive thru.


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    1. Glad you liked the Sunday drive:) There are two more posts waiting for down the road when I get to them that require another neighborhood jaunt:)

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  7. Dobrze, że u nas nie ma obecnie upałów i bez problemu byłam z Tobą na spacerze po mieście. U Was są trudne warunki klimatyczne i nie wszyscy potrafią posadzić koło swoich domów rośliny, które będą piękne i mogą żyć. Innym się po prostu nie chce i nie dbają o to. Pozdrawiam.
    Well, that here there are no heat and no problem was with you on a walk around the city. You do climatic conditions are difficult and not everyone can sit around their homes, crops that are beautiful and can live with. Others simply do not want and do not care about it. Yours.

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  8. This is a very interesting and educational post about your neighborhood and the plants that live there. Was fun to see it all.

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  9. What an interesting post. I need to see more of Tucson. I don't know it very well.

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  10. Oh yes i love this post, i love wide angle shots of gardens, as one photographer says a camera always lie. Wide angles lessen the lies, haha! I still remember your old post saying you're angry with people climbing the fences, now i learned there's already a property beyond the fence. I always appreciate US residence areas as they are not fenced like here. So i am surprised when there are also unruly people doing things in some spaces.

    I love most that fence of cacti. I wonder why our cacti doesn't flower! Maybe they also need some period of cold to induce flowering, do they?

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    1. Hi there:) No cold required for these plants....but some moisture and sun are needed. And they only open at night or on cloudy days. The bloom last one or two days and then wrinkles up and falls off.

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  11. i am glad that there are still newer developments coming in - like those eco condos - that help beautify, protect and care about surroundings and wildlife. even in the country, we battle with meth and theft and terrible junkpiles all around...

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  12. AWESOME shots and thoughts! Another re-read...you only need to apologize for not making this even longer!!!

    For now, I appreciate seeing Texas Sage unpruned later on, as opposed to the shot of it sheared with less blooms (in the agave planting). As well as your view of the front of El Presidio - now I get the whiskey barrels with the wood arbor entering it's central space. Thanks for the streetside context.

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  13. Truly interesting. And you have presented the surroundings well through your expressive pictures.

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  14. as I read this I wonder what was wrong with Wisconsin

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  15. Great post! I can sympathize with your "third world" comment early on. I get so frustrated with my neighborhood and wish more people cared.

    Yay for what you've done (and are still doing) making your little corner of Tucson better for the residents and wildlife. No doubt you've inspired others, even if you can't see the evidence.

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  16. The whole thing Chris is a masterpiece. I think that seeing the creative side of what we see is the key to happiness and keeps us moving forward. And you found the exact words to describe it: "Love,Time and Patience" + occasionally a little bit of money...

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  17. You have such an eye for detail and balance. I agree with your guess that the ground cover was vinca. My brother had a terrible time getting it out of an area when it took over. I also got to see the momma/pappa dove on its nest in that same picture. Lots of little surprises. I'm glad that you and your neighbors are doing your part to improve your neighborhood.

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  18. I enjoyed this post, very interesting and the photos are beautiful!

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  19. That was pretty interesting, I feel like I have been for a walk in your neighborhood. The work you've don in your garden is amazing.

    Something funny happened in blogger though. When I click on the pictures it looks like they are being displayed in IE and I have to hit the back button to get to the next one. Anyone else having that problem?

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    1. Yes! I don't know if it's a blogger thing right now but it drove me nuts trying to review the photo shots. Plus I have tried reading several blogs today who don't have pics on their posts....so hopefully they'll get it stamped out soon.

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    2. I have to tell you, I viewed this post on my iPad and I was able to look at the pictures in succession, Chris, this is an amazing post, the plants, your knowledge and the care you took to show others this stuff is really something else. Good work!

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  20. Really interesting to see the different landscaping styles. Your place is beautiful, I love the trees!

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  21. Chris, your have every right to be proud of your lovely neighborhood and your own handy accomplishments.
    I enjoyed the tour, and every town has areas that could use some improvements.
    Thanks for your time and efforts on this wonderful post.

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  22. I enjoyed this post and now have a much clearer picture of where you live, or as clear as the internet can give me 1500+ miles away. My own part of the world is very hodge-podgey also, and you can go from fine homes and landscaping to these people are lucky to have a roof over their heads in a matter of blocks.

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  23. I really enjoyed this post Chris and walking round your neighbourhood with you. Its interesting to see the "good" and the "bad" bits. Loved the quail photo :) and its wonderful to see again the great work you are doing at your gardens :)

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  24. I know it has been hard work, but your results, put into their neighbourhood context, are so inspiring! One of our immediate neighbours is a house that has been unoccupied for the 6 years we have lived here. The house is quietly falling down, the lemon tree is huge and covered with fruit - and the owners come every few months to spray the back 'garden' with 'Agent Orange'. No green allowed!

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  25. It only takes one person to change a neighbourhood, and looks like you are that person.

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  26. great sequence, lots of nice landscapes

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Thanks for stopping by!