Gardening on the Moon ( GOTM )

Written by Jeff
Non-GOTM pictures credited by hover notes – move cursor over image

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  GreenhouseGrower.com – This site has many short clips of Allan Armitage talking about some of your favorite plants: Hardy Geraniums, Euphorbias, Fuseables, Favorite Winners, Heucheras, etc.

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  A Fallen Beauty – Noelle is a “horticultural” professional who lives and works in the Sonoran Desert. She shares her sad story of how one of her favorite trees had to be taken down. I agree with her that it is more cost-efficient to do it yourself if you know how. A landscape or tree company will charge between $300-$500 dollars to do the job. That will pay for a lot of equipment to do it yourself. I took down a Palo Verde earlier this year. I bought a new saw for $100 +/- and did it myself. Not only did I save a bundle, I was sure the job was done correctly (and if not, I knew who to blame.)

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  Calling All Butterflies – Amy from GO AWAY, I’M GARDENING, explains how she uses specific plants to attract butterflies to your garden. We get butterflies in the desert as well and some of the same plants provide the same enticement for the winged beauties. If you like butterflies, this post is for you.

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  One Mighty Sunflower -I am always amazed how such a big plant can grow from such a relatively small seed. This picture will highlight that point.

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  Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

  
  

  
  
  

Written by Jeff

Follow Jeff on Twitter for daily garden tips and news!

One of the wonderful benefits of living in the current era is the sense of “community” that has developed among those who are life-long learners and enjoy learning new things. My wife and I often hike through the Sonoran Desert where we currently reside, but in the summer we seek relief by going to the “high country.”

High country is the term used for the mountain region of Arizona such as Payson, the Mogollan Rim, Prescott, etc. We recently headed for the mountains of Prescott which offer a 10-20 degree cool down from our desert home. We had heard about the Watershed Trail near Goldwater Lake and we were interested in seeing that area. We were off to a late start and we weren’t sure if we would get to finish the entire trail, but we would do what we could.

As we were ascending the mountain, I looked at some of the dying Alligator Junipers. They get the name from their alligator-like bark (see picture below).

On one of the trees I noticed this large black and yellow beetle. While I find some bugs creepy, this one was rather attractive. I took a couple – of pictures so I could try to identify it once I returned home.

Listed below are a few of the websites I used to try and I.D. the beetle!

What’s That Bug – http://www.whatsthatbug.com/
BugGuide.Net – http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740
What’s Bugging You – http://arthurevans.wordpress.com/

I looked and looked, but couldn’t quite narrow it down. Luckily, What’s That Bug has a request form for those who would like to have a positive ID of a certain insect. Of course there is the customary proviso that they cannot answer all requests which is quite understandable. Since I wasn’t getting anywhere with my personal quest, I decided to submit a query. Here is the email:

Beetle Identification
Location: Prescott, Arizona
August 20, 2010 1:28 pm

Dear Sir (or Madam): We were hiking in Prescott, Arizona and saw several of these beetles on the bark of Alligator Junipers/Pines. Would you be able to identify them for me? I found similar looking beetles (on the web site) that were solid black, but none with the yellow-stripped sides. Thank you for your consideration.

Signature: Jeff Ross

AND low and behold, here is the response:

Hi Jeff,

We do not know why Chalcolepidius apachianus, which we identified on BugGuide, does not have the common name Apache Click Beetle. Bugguide has no information on the species, but indicates it has been photographed in Arizona and Utah. Since there is not much information to be found online for the beautiful Chalcolepidius apachianus, we will propose a second name: Skunk Stripe Click Beetle.

So… Chalcolepidius apachianus! Of course! I don’t know if I like Skunk Stripe Click Beetle though. How about you? Isn’t it wonderful that we can find this wonderful information? Now I can update my photographic tags to include the correct name. I encourage everyone to write to experts in the field when presented with a situation like this. More often than not, I have had success.

I will write about another incident in the North Country of Minnesota in my next post. Until then, keep observing those living things around you and enjoy learning about them. Have you had any similar experiences in finding people to help ID bugs or plants?

When we returned to the parking area we were greeted by a field of orange Globe Mallow and Sunflowers. They were a bit wilted, but still a heart-warming site after a long trek up hill!

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

Written by Jeff

Follow Jeff on Twitter for daily garden tips and news!

We continue our series of personalized (vanity) license plates in Arizona. To maintain individual privacy, we try to show as little information about particular cars as possible as long as we can reveal the license plate.

NOTE – License plate photos may have been archived for quite some time. The years indicated on the registration stickers DO NOT necessarily reflect the current status of any given plate!

We hope you enjoy these PL8 A TUDES!

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

Written by Jeff
Non-GOTM pictures credited by hover notes – move cursor over image

Follow Jeff on Twitter for daily garden tips and news!

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  Before and After – Garden Transformations – Take those UGLY before pictures to amaze everyone after the transformation. It is always exciting and often amazing how a landscape project changes the views and terrain. Even small landscape projects can make a big difference. Take photos throughout the project to help remember how things have changed. Use the pictures to share and amaze your friends and other interested parties!

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  Add a vertical element to your garden in a hurry with a simple tuteur and some vines (I never heard this term before either. A tuteur is a four-sided trellis.) The tuteur pictured above is not the one from the post!

http://www.finegardening.com/item/16223/a-simple-tuteur-for-annual-vines

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  What elements help make Japanese Gardens so serene? Whenever I visit a Japanese Garden I am always impressed with the simplicity of design and the mood it creates. Usually there are not a lot of flowers, but the water features, sculptures and greenery all add up to a special experience. The Washington Post has an article that might help those who want to bring peace, serenity and calm to their garden designs. Be sure to check the picture gallery to see how these elements work together.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/12/AR2010081207241.html

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  Mr. Brown Thumb shows off his Venus Fly Trap, Francis, and gives some pointers about growing this interesting carnivorous plant. He even went out of his way to provide food for his pet plant!

http://mrbrownthumb.blogspot.com/2010/08/venus-flytrap-catches-fly.html

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  Curb gardens can be a big problem because of the proximity to the street and all that brings with it such as automobile emissions and salt damage from winter road de-icing. Homestead Gardens explains how to make the best use of the curbside space for plantings.

http://homesteadgardens.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/super-tougstainable-plants-for-curb-gardens/

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

Written by Jeff

Follow Jeff on Twitter for daily garden tips and news!

Long before we moved to the Sonoran Desert, I had visited Cave Creek and Carfree a number of times. Cave Creek and parts of Carefree are “touristy” cowboy-style towns.

Hollywood just finished filming a movie in Cave Creek which is tentatively called “Queens of Country.” If you visit the Valley of the Sun (Phoenix, AZ area), take time to visit Cave Creek/Carefree! I think the “Sundial Park (shopping center)” is a very good place to start.

As you enter the outskirts of Cave Creek, heading for the center of town you will see magnificent houses built into the sides of the mountains. Many of these are breathtaking and blend well with the terrain. There is an interesting house on one of the side streets that was constructed among a group of boulders (see below).

When you arrive at the Sundial Shopping Center, you will of course notice one of the largest sundials in the world.

There are also several statues like this one to remind visitors they are in cowboy territory.

There is a playground with a large Gila Monster slide which is fun when the weather is appropriate.

As you stroll the shops, notice the funky street names such as

and

Many of the stores will have interesting sidewalk displays.

There is a water feature that has real flowers in the spring. I think these are Irises, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Not only is there a large sundial, there is also an easier-to-use smaller sundial.

There is much more to like about Cave Creek and I am sure if you start at the Sundial shops/park, you will launch your visit in style!

Here is some more information about the area if you are planning a trip!

http://www.carefreecavecreek.org/attractions.php

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

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