Termites and bees

Gulf Fritallary. Food: Passion Vine
Giant Swallowtail Food:Citrus Trees

Southern AZ Hummingbirds
Smoke Bush Red Baron Peach Tree Brown Turkey Fig/Afghan Pine that started from a tiny Christmas Tree Buddha's Belly Bamboo Chitalpa and Jacaranda Tropical Oasis Tropical Oasis
Bees in the wall.
This week started off hot and warm. We hit our first 100 degrees which means we need to be watering our plants every several days compared to the once a week schedule. I planted several things....Mexican bird of paradise and a creeping fig. I have more plants to add but I am taking my time. It's brutally hot out there and mornings or early evenings are the only time to be working on digging holes.....everything seems to be growing and doing well. The shocker this week was the discovery of termites and bees. I have a video showing the bees making one of the units home between the walls....that is very scary. Hopefully we'll have a bee company out that will be able to take care of the situation. The termites were found in the adjacent building to mine. I actually found them in the wood and collected several in a zip lock bag. The company will have to come out and spray the window ledge. We have a lot of rotten wood around our property but no movement to replace that old wood so I fear that more and more, the wood is going to continue to be eaten and be a danger for residents. Other than that, there wasn't much going on. I have noticed the mosquitos....they are back.
Hummingbirds are all over the place nesting....several pics have been included as to what kinds of birds we see around here. Tucson really is a neat place....and I know that I'm creating a haven for our wildlife. Here are some pics from some of the critters that live around here....I don't have the lizards, but here are the hummers and butterflies. Happy Gardening!!!

Final Spring Clean Up

Greetings, Today I finished up the leaves and pollen clean up with several of the other home owners. It is a great feeling to be done with that major stuff and work on the other things. I did some shopping today and am looking forward to putting some more plants into the ground and working on putting in new bamboo groves, fruit trees and of course the vines.....I like to obsess about where I will put them....so I have two snail vines sitting there waiting for me to plant them.....and I am not sure where to begin as there is a lot of fence and trellis to be covered all over.....so I'll look at it tomorrow and make a decision. I also have to jubilee bushes with yellow flowers to replace the juniper bushes. They weren't getting enough sun and look terrible....one was dead.....so I am putting something in their spots that I know will grow. I always like when a plan comes together. So right now...things are looking well around the property. We did more trimming today and we are ready for summer:) Bring on the heat!!! The pool is looking better and better every day.

Beautiful Sunny and Hot Day

Greetings, It has been a couple weeks since my last blog. Things have been busy with school coming to an end. I have one more week before summer starts!!! The summer is fast approaching and things are starting to explode all around the garden.....I will be taking A LOT of pics as everything gets taller. The garden is just that....at the beginning of its' journey. Therefore, things are still being moved around until I see a happy plant. Today I moved the lilacs to pots as they seem happier there. So what's been going on? Since the last post, caladiums and elephant ears have all surfaced from the ground and it will be quite a show. The jacaranda tree has purple flowers!!! It took two years for it to happen, but it happened:) The chitalpa tree has nice pink flowers and the castor plants are meeting various success in different areas of the garden. Overall, I am currently VERY happy with the progress around the property. A lot of good things are happening and it's exciting to watch. On the negative side, I am still battling palm seedlings by the hundreds...they seem to keep popping up daily. The last of the oak leaves and pollen will be cleaned up next week. And I pulled up the dead persimmons tree from the ground. The roots were all twisted and matted. It was replaced with another persimmons tree but this one was NOT bare root. Weeds seem to be drying out. Plums have been struggling a bit, but they are green and growing so I will not touch them unless I see a major die back. Overall, it is encouraging to see that things are beginning to pay off.....stay tuned for more garden posts. Chris