Las Aventuras: Birds and Blooms 2017

Pomegranate.  The most expensive fruit out there and yet it grows all over the city.  So many people let this fruit go to waste.  Why?  It's too messy and stains outfits. 

I sat down this past week and began reading one of my favorite blogs, Ragged Robin's Nature Notes. While I was reading about her fun at an English garden, I began to think....which is clearly a dangerous thing for me to be doing these days:) Basically, Caroline inspired me to get off my butt and do a little local arboretum fun of my own. 

So without further ado, here's Tucson's very own Birds and Blooms 2017 edition!  Here's a little preamble before I get started.  1. If you love plant collections and desert birds, there are three places you need to visit in Tucson. The Tucson Botanical Gardens, Tohono Chul Park and my favorite, the Desert Museum.  Today we visit Tohono Chul Park.  2. Since I'm still waiting for my 500 mm lens, I have chosen to use my 55 mm lens(which I've never used before).  And that was the challenge.  So here goes.....

One of the best times to visit Tucson and Southern Arizona is during our spring months.  April really is perfection. However this year, we've seemed to skip from winter straight into summer.  For people living in Tucson, our gardens can be a sanctuary for many of our living desert creatures.  If you come from the green belt of the US, you may feel helpless and frustrated by your desert landscaping skills.  Don't worry.  You can still have a lush and beautiful desert backyard sans the grass and high water bills!

First off, I recommend visiting the three places mentioned above as they give great ideas about planning your backyard.  AND!  Each of these places offers really fun courses on Tucson gardening!  So let me start with the first thing on my mind. Shade.  

A nest......

Creating shade in our desert community is a MUST.  It can save you money on that air conditioning bill, create a space to read and have coffee in the morning OR just make things 10-20 degrees cooler in your yard.  For wildlife, it's a sanctuary.  I looked up into the canopy of this Texas Ebony Tree and whom did I spy?

A Cooper's Nest

A very silent Cooper's Hawk.  Tip number 2.  Plant ONLY things that grow in the desert!  Here we live in the Sonoran Desert which means we have SO much to choose from!  I believe we are the lushest(is that a word?) desert of the world.  So, place plants that will attract butterflies and birds into your yard.  This Baja Fairy Duster below is attractive to both hummingbirds and butterflies.  Plant a Hackberry Tree and hope to discover one day a rare Rufous-backed Robin in your yard during the winter months!

Marine Blue butterfly on the Baja Fairy Duster

And for potted plants?  Go for it.  Buy crazy colored pots(or not) for your seasonal plants.  Many Tucsonans choose herbs like lavender and basil.  They do great in our hot summer climate. 

Lavender!

 Keep the pots close to the hose so that they are easy to water.  If you are on the outskirts of town, wire mesh is needed to keep Javelina, Deer and other critters from munching on your plants.....unless of course, you don't mind:)

Recently, I spoke with several birders who created a yard just for shade and the critters.  Cathy Skow, who recently had the rare Golden-crowned Sparrow in her yard, strategically placed several key plants in her viewing line.  How did she know what to plant?  As a birder who needed ideas, she went to the one place in town that has many birds, the Sweetwater Wetlands.  There she found several key plants like the saltbush that attracts a lot of smaller birds like sparrows and warblers.  She liked what she saw and put the plant into her yard. Brilliant!  And guess what?  That's where the Golden-crowned Sparrow liked to hang out with its White-crowned Sparrow friends.  

I love color and I love pots and I love bird baths and I love tile.  We live in Tucson.  Make it colorful.  So sure, we don't have grass and that's okay.  We also don't have to mow lawns!  Make  your gardens come alive with practical things that will add color and structure to your space.  I have wind chimes and a sun catcher.  I also am addicted to cobalt blue pots.  Have fun.  The more color you add; the better. And for carpeting the desert floor with green?  Why not try agaves and other succulents like aloe and put them in clusters?  They really make a space pop!

I use my pots for my tropical cacti and succulents.  Also note.  There's a Verdin on top of one of the plants.  This lens was challenging!!!

The more I travel to other habitats outside of the Sonoran desert; the more I realize how much I love cacti.  Also, cacti in the spring will add color.  But most of all, it adds structure and character.  

I like cacti because it also adds a security benefit around our home.  It keeps the meth addicts off our property.  When you live in the city, you always have to think about protecting your home.  A nice wall of prickly vegetation will do the job:)

Water features are also nice as they add sound and attract lots of birds!  Water features can be easy.  You can do electric or use solar panels!

In the pic below, two Lesser Goldfinches come in for a quick drink and then fly off. 

Many desert gardeners like to make an informal trail around their garden.  

You can build piles of rocks into areas for lizards to hide and live. In Tucson, we have lots of them during our warm and hot months.  

Desert Spiny Tail

Some still like the living Ocotillo fences.  This was popular many years ago.  Today, the fad has kind of faded:)  Instead, plant the entire Ocotillo and watch the blossoms attract various species of hummingbirds and bees. 

A forest of Cholla cactus can be deadly for trespassers or......

......a nesting ground for your Cactus Wrens and Curve-billed Thrashers. 

The beautiful Cactus Wren

It's amazing that these birds don't stab themselves in and out of their nests.  I guess it's another good reason why they have feathers:)

I thought about my own garden while I did this trek today.  My garden that I began 7 years ago continues evolving.  The large plants have grown and now must be pruned back from structures.  They have also created shade. 

The shade has changed what I can grow under the canopy of the trees.  I haven't done that part of my garden yet.  

Zebra-tailed Lizard

I hate watering plants now so it's all native stuff.  The vegetation that needs constant watering is gone.  

Our water fountains are great except that one needs to be constantly cleaned and maintained.  I don't like that anymore so I just maintain my solar run bird bath. 

I have made my yard a better place for lots of birds.

When I came home today after my trek to the Tohono Chul Park, I felt motivated to work in the 90+ degrees.  And interesting enough....

My female Broad-billed Hummingbird let me know that she was nesting once again in the same spot as last year.  She rebuilt the nest from last year and again has chosen my garden to be her home. It's an honor!

And when I started attracting new birds and critters into my yard, I knew I had done something right.  The only problem?  I'm older and lack the motivation to begin phase 2 of the project:)  But each year, I add something new and over time that adds up. 

A note about Ragged Robin's Nature Notes😉Caroline writes from England about so many things related to nature.  She's part birder, part historian, part garden explorer and a lover of all things wonderful.  She especially likes moths. At the end of many of her treks, she'll finish with a wonderful dessert.  Sometimes I imagine having dessert and tea with her.  And maybe someday we will! Anyhow, check her blog out.  It's a perfect way to get your morning going. Until next time.....

Native Seeds

Today my focus is on an organization based on sound thinking.   Just to say it exists, isn't enough.  Over the years, I've grown to really appreciate what Native Seeds does for our community.  This Non Profit Organization educates the public and has a lot of wonderful products for sale.  If you are in the Tucson area and you are a plant enthusiast, this is definitely a place to check out. 

Pics today are from the NATIVE SEED website

"Native Seeds/SEARCH is a non-profit conservation organization based in Tucson, Arizona. Since 1983, we have become a major regional seed bank and a leader in the heirloom seed movement. Our seed bank is a unique resource for both traditional and modern agriculture. It includes 1800 varieties of arid-land adapted agricultural crops, many of them rare or endangered. We promote the use of these ancient crops and their wild relatives by distributing seeds to traditional communities and to gardeners world wide. Currently we offer 350 varieties from the collection we steward, grown out at our Conservation Farm in Patagonia, Arizona, and associated products through our online store, annual seedlisting, and our retail store."

It started small and grew bigger.  I remember when it was just a small shop with others on 4th Avenue.  It was here that I learned we could use certain mesquite pods to make pancakes!  So not only do Tucson dogs love to eat the pods; so do the people:)  It's just that most people don't know this.  When your pods fall off of our native varieties here, collect them and take them into this place.  They'll ground them up for you at a small price.  They are really really tasty AND let's say you're diabetic or just want to try something new out.......how about Agave Syrup?!!  It's not for everybody but I know several diabetics here who swear by it and are happy for this alternative. Again everything in moderation:)

"Our mission took root when Native Americans on the Tohono O'odham reservation near Tucson wished to grow traditional crops, but could not locate seeds. Traditionally, southwestern Native American farmers produced a great variety of food despite the region's marginal growing conditions. After centuries of environmental destruction, cultural change, and land transfers, these farming systems have survived – but just barely. As late as 1925, the Tohono O'odham people cultivated 10,000 acres in Southern Arizona with traditional floodwater methods. Today, only a few scattered plots remain. For one tribe living near the Grand Canyon, the process has reached its logical and devastating conclusion: all crop varieties have been lost."

Okay that last statement is very sad and true.  BUT like all things lost, there is knowledge gained.  I am happy to say today that farming is coming back around the San Xavier Del Bac area and that makes me smile.   Let's say you live in Tucson, have friends visiting or you are a visitor.....and you're looking for some small souvenirs to bring back for the kids, grandkids, etc. etc.  Native Seeds sells unique treats like Prickly Pear fruit squares.  I think they're good.  Some don't, but I've purchased several items here and handed them out to the kiddos.  They loved them. But obviously there is a lot here for your plant friends who love to read, grow, etc.  

"Crop loss, in human terms, is equally severe. Traditional farmers are a stabilizing force in many Native American communities. They conserve historic seeds adapted to local conditions, keep traditional agricultural and culinary practices alive, donate crops for ceremonies and feast days, and feed extended families from their fields. We are as concerned about the loss of ecological relationships, the traditions of humans and plants evolving together, as we are about the extinction of a single species. When peoples once sustained by agriculture lose their agricultural traditions, their survival as a culture may also be at risk. For many Native American tribes in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, these relationships are endangered. The good news is that a tide is sweeping through Native American communities, traditional crops and foods are again sought for their power to nourish body and soul. Native Seeds/SEARCH is grateful for the opportunity to return the seeds of grandparents to people who seek them, and to make available to everyone this wondrous gift, the delicious joy of seeds." Check out their website at Native Seeds.   For more on Ethnobotany, click here.  It's a post I wrote almost 2 years ago!!  Where does the time go? Wishing you all my best and hoping your spring season gets off to a good start.....I think I am just as excited as all of you. 

Frost Protection and Recovery for Tucson

Great information from one of our Tucson gems, Tohono Chul Park in Tucson near Ina and La Cañada. Pictures and information are courtesy of the Tohono Chul Park.

 Article begins here.
"Now is not the time to begin pruning plants damaged during the last frost, as the dead and damaged parts help to protect the parts still alive underneath.  This is good news for most Sonoran Desert native plants, which are fairly cold-hardy and able to withstand temperatures as low as 24°.

Less robust plants need some protection once the mercury dips to below 30°. Cover plants with old sheets or lightweight blankets. Use styrofoam cups to protect the growing tips of columnar or other small cacti, especially the more tropical varieties. Place a string of old-fashioned Christmas tree lights (the kind that use a 7-watt bulb) in a tree or shrub under the cloth cover, being sure that the bulbs are not too close to any part of the plant.

Patience key for frost-damaged plants

We have received numerous calls about what to do with the plants that have been damaged by the recent hard freezes. The first thing we say to everyone is to have patience to figure out just what the damage has been and whether the plants will recover or need to be replaced. The following are some thoughts about what to do:

Wait and see just how severe the damage is. Many of the citrus that lost all their leaves are already producing new growth with virtually no twig damage. Just how bad your plants were hurt depends upon several factors including location, wind damage, and whether your plants were covered. Tucson's night temperatures can vary by 10 or more degrees depending upon your location.

Have patience. Most of the damaged plants will recover in time. Wait until after the last frost (usually between March 10 and 31) to cut back your plants that you wish to keep. The dead/damaged parts help to protect the parts still alive below. Another frost can still come and damage your plants further.

Take stock. It is more accurate to say that the freeze was visually devastating rather than physically devastating. Although the frost-damaged plants may not look nice, try to leave them alone for the time being.


Step back and think. Some of the best fall/winter/spring bloomers are half-hardy or frost-sensitive plants that bloom right up until frost, or all winter in a mild year. Try to limit the number of frost sensitive plants in visually prominent locations.

Consider the opportunities. This is a great time to update or revamp your landscape. Tohono Chul's greenhouse propogates many native, arid-adapted and cold-hardy plants that would enhance your landscape. The Plant Sale, scheduled for March 16 (members) and March 19-20 (public) provides the ideal opportunity for you to replenish your landscaping. Plus seasoned staff will be on hand to answer questions and offer advice"  End of article.