The warm season vegetable gardening season is starting, and many readers are ‘rarin’ to get growing. Here are my top ten tips for success. Number 1 Tip – Plant What You Eat Plant something that you like to eat or will use, like maybe gourds. Want tomatoes? Tomatoes are the hardest to grow in our hot dry climate – so what’s you next choice? Have you ever had salsa verde … Read more
This weekend April will begin, so here are some garden tasks you can think about getting out and doing. Check your last frost date before some of these April tasks. Prune Check your last frost date – and if it is past then go ahead and prune frost damage off bougainvillea, lantana, autumn sage, and other summer flowering frost tender perennials. Avoid pruning spring-flowering shrubs until bloom period is through. … Read more
Spring flowers are beginning to bloom and hummingbirds are zipping around, collecting nectar and a few insects while they are at it. Entice the Hummingbirds Hummingbirds need more than just sugar-water feeders. Like most animal life, they need a balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. This means that they do need some flower nectar. More than Just Food Every living thing on earth needs food, water, and a place … Read more
Cover image – Male phainopepla, a silky flycatcher native to the Southwest deserts and mountains. February is National Bird Feeding Month. The birds are really hoping you will celebrate. But Don’t Just Feed the Birds – While it is nice to add feeders to your garden, it seems like cheating somehow. Plus you may attract the non-native birds that crowd out our desert adapted species. So, instead of actively feeding … Read more
When it comes to pollinators, the American Southwest is one of the most species diverse habitats in the world, with native species of bees, butterflies, moths, bats, and hummingbirds all busy pollinating our plants. This massive diversity makes sense – because much of the region has plants that bloom in every month of the year. Pollinators in the Southwest We have a plethora of pretty pollinators here! We are the … Read more
