“August is the month when harvest begins in many parts of the world, including here in the Southwest. You may have been harvesting vegetables and fruit from your garden for the last few months, but August is the time when there begins to be a bona fide bounty, maybe even […]
Borage is a beautiful flowering plant that likes the cooler months of Southwest winter – at least in the Low, Middle, and High Desert. On those Cool Plateau and Mountain elevations, sorry it’s too cold – but! But – this is a good cool season flower you can plant in […]
Anise in one of a number of herbs that grow well in the cool season or “winter” garden in much of the Southwest. Upper elevations like Reno, Santa Fe, and Flagstaff are the exception – sorry but you can’t grow them now, but the rest of us – in the […]
Basil is easy to grow for some folks – yet hard for others. The root of the problem is that much gardening knowledge is centered on 1- the past and 2 – growing in the eastern part of the USA, or in central Europe. We have all seen in recent […]
Arugula is also called “rocket” and it has rocketed into popularity in recent years as American palates demand more than plain iceberg lettuce in their salads, and even on their sandwiches. More about arugula nutrition. Tried arugula but didn’t like it? Too hot? In flavor arugula can be very mild […]
“Say “cilantro” here in the Southwest, and most folks think of salsa. And while cilantro can get along with the heat of chilies in salsa, it quickly dies with the heat of a hot Southwestern summer day.” I said this in an article over a decade ago, and it […]
The simple sunflower is a native Southwest plant, used for centuries by the Native peoples. If you plant the right varieties – and plant them in the spring – you will have a gorgeous garden full of bright sunflowers. Sunflower Origins Originally sunflowers grew only in North and Central […]
So just what is the big deal about an “heirloom?” What is the difference between that and an F1 hybrid? What about GMO? Seed packages often include terms such as “heirloom” or “F1 hybrid.” These terms are quite precise, but may be used incorrectly by gardeners. There are also a […]
August looms. And weather is the “hot” topic right now. But really – weather and climate do change. Just a few thousand years ago what is now the desert Southwest was a cool plains area with giant woolly mammoths roaming. There were people roaming as well – and hunting those […]
June is normally tough on plants and wildlife, but all bets are off this year. Normally I would remind you that all plants, even succulents, are stressed by this normally dry month, but weather has been erratic with below average temperatures and early rains in parts of the Southwest. Irrigation […]
