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• 
  
  

  

  Here are some very helpful tips for designing a garden. No time like now!

• 
  

  Designing a garden with color in mind; hints, tips and guidelines

http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/2012/01/13/garden-design-using-conrasting-colors/

• 
  

  Garden Design using cool colors

http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/2012/01/11/garden-design-cool-colors/

• 
  

  

  The Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. Pollinators need you to grow these plants!

http://allthedirtongardening.blogspot.com/2012/01/pollinators-need-you-to-grow-these.html




• Garden Design using warm colors

http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/2012/01/09/garden-design-warm-colors/

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

Written by Jeff

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© Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com, 2000-2075. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts of 50 words or less and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

As I have mentioned in prior posts and tweets, this has been a relatively mild winter our corner of the Sonoran Desert and all around the United States from what I can tell by watching the national weather forecasts.

This has produced some interesting results. We have plants in flower and bud at least two weeks ahead of previous years. Although I don’t think it has anything to do with the weather, we were excited to see our Agave murpheyi send out its floral spike (panicle) which should produce yellow-green flowers followed by bulbils.

Interestingly enough we didn’t notice the panicle until it was 45 inches tall as in the picture above

The picture below was taken approximately one week later. It grew more than 11 inches (to nearly 56 inches in height) in that week. I can’t wait to see how tall it gets. I will continue to post pictures as the “spike” continues to grow and mature.

Agave spikes can become very large. Here is a photo of a mature spike getting ready to bloom at the Mariott Hotel near the Desert Ridge Mall in Phoenix.

To get a sense of the size, here is the same plant with a car in the foreground.

They are very impressive and some people leave the spikes on the dead or dying plant for a long time to add interest and drama to their landscape. I know the birds appreciate having such a nice elevated perch!

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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!

 

****************************************

!

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• 
  
  

  

  Seed Starting 101 – Start with Part II and if you want to learn about selecting seeds and the difference between Heirlooms and Hybrids, look at Part I

• 
  

  Many elementary school students learn the importance of trees in helping to provide more oxygen and clean air. This post provides an interesting look, via NASA Map, of those areas of the US with the greatest density of trees. It was a bit surprising to see how relatively few areas have a great quantity of trees. Check the link supplied in the article for a better look!

http://inthegarden.marthastewart.com/2012/01/17/seeing-the-forests-for-the-trees/

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  Cold-Weather Compost. Keeping the compost cooking through winter in any region. When living in New Jersey, this was a problem I had to confront. Make sure to check out all parts via link at the bottom of each page!

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/cold-weather-compost

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  Find out where Fine Gardening (Magazine/Web Site) and staff will be visiting this January, February and March. Some topics are listed for your consideration as well.

http://www.finegardening.com/item/18242/fine-gardening-on-the-road-2012-edition

• 
  

  The folks at rodale.com recommend several foods to avoid. Click the link in the upper-right side of the page to go to the next tip. While I can’t say “never” eat these foods, some very good questions are raised and I am sure most of us do eat some of these apparently less-than-healthy foods as explained in the article (some of the time it is the packaging and not the product).

http://www.rodale.com/7-foods-you-should-never-eat

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

Written by Jeff

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© Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com, 2000-2075. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts of 50 words or less and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

I am continuing my discussion to the winter garden in the Sonoran Desert. I began the discussion here.

One of the plants that does very well in this area is the Pansy. They enjoy the cooler weather and because we will most likely receive only a light frost or none at all, they should do well until next spring.

Another winter winner in this area is the decorative kale. In the picture below, we use a green bottle as a sun catcher to help add color to the garden.

Here we use the pot-on-pot technique to keep the kale out of the reach of rabbits and javelinas.

The Desert Botanical Garden (DBG) uses kale in their winter displays too. Here is a picture of a lacy variety against a wall.

Kale also does well in a planter arrangement as seen at the DBG.

Pansies can be used quite effectively with kale as long as the colors coordinate.

For the holidays, appropriate ornaments can be used in conjunction with kale to add to the festive atmosphere.

Some of our “garden standards” continue to do well because of the higher than normal temperatures. The double purple Datura continues to produce flowers, but they are not as robust as the summer blooms. I think we will remove the plant and rejuvenate the soil for next year’s plantings.

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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!

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• 
  
  

  

  An Appropriate New Year Wish from Water When Dry

• 
  

  2011 Garden Photo Contest Winners. Some real beauties. Click on the small pictures to enlarge them. [ Picture shown above was NOT from the contest and NOT a winner.]

http://www.hortmag.com/gardens-and-gardeners/2011-garden-photo-contest-winners

• 
  
  

  Happy New Years Rehash 2011 – Some interesting garden ideas from former posts that may have been missed. This post is definitely worth another look.

http://www.faroutflora.com/2011/12/31/happy-new-years-rehash-2011/

• 
  

  

  An interesting hummingbird camera. Mostly they sit and preen, but still interesting. Mom visits nest. Ignore the chat in sidebar which often has nothing to do with the streaming pictures. [ Link via http://birdsandbloomsblog.com ]

http://phoebeallens.com/

• 
  

  From Chiot’s Run – Good looking and good tasting popcorn. Who knew growing your own could look this good?

http://chiotsrun.com/2011/12/31/enjoying-the-fruits-of-our-labor-2

http://www.finegardening.com/item/21712/the-one-essential-thing-to-know-when-pruning-climbing-roses

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

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© Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com, 2000-2075. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts of 50 words or less and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Happy New Year – A New Post Next Week!

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

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© Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com, 2000-2075. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts of 50 words or less and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

As deserts go, the Sonoran desert may have a bit of an identity problem. It is one of the more moderate deserts in the world. It does get approximately 10-12 inches of rain a year and the temperatures, at times, are quite moderate. As a matter of fact, the Sonoran Desert does get snow and frost from time-to-time.

As you can imagine, we plant heat-loving plants in the desert because of irrigation concerns during the hot, hot summer. Unfortunately, those heat-loving plants don’t like the cold. Take our long-flowering summer, 2011 favorite, morning glory bush.

Here it is after a few cold evenings. Not necessarily freezing, but in the low 30′s.

You might recall what it looked like from an earlier post HERE!

We flirted with freezing temperatures a couple of evenings where it may have dipped to 32.

Our potato vines didn’t fare much better

This is our fifth winter in the desert and for three of those winters, we didn’t have any hard freezes. When the weather turns in December, we try to plant some frost-tolerant plants that help us maintain season-long color in our garden areas.

One cool weather star is decorative Kale. Of course we also have to deal with the Javelina who don’t read the labels that say DECORATIVE Kale and will enjoy it if they can get to it; ditto for the rabbits.

We removed the morning glory bush and planted the Kale in that large, raised planter. We also put some pansies in the planter to add additional colors. I did most of the digging, root removal and soil refresh while my wife, Mary, performed the detail work of restoring the mulch and watering the newly planted treasures!

When we were finished we had replaced the dead plant with a very pleasant, frost-tolerant arrangement.

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

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© Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com, 2000-2075. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts of 50 words or less and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Happy Holidays a New Post Will be Published Shortly!

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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

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• 
  
  

  

  Is Aquarium Water Liquid Gold for Your Garden? Apparently there are groups of people who think so and if the Native Americans used fish to fertilize their plants perhaps there is something wonderful about this by-product!

• 
  

  Hedge your bets by letting shrubs grow together if they were initially planted too close. BONUS – Snickerdoodle recipe included in the post!

http://www.azplantlady.com/2011/12/crowded-shrubs-and-pizza-night-at.html

• 
  
  

  A compendium of organic gardening resources. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is really the way to go to avoid chemical residue and help our people and our planet remain healthy. Scroll down to see the list of resources and ideas!

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/11644/collection-of-successful-organic-controls

• 
  

  

  
  Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Center Glow’ from Monrovia (not pictured above). This is a lovely performer in the correct zones during the Fall.

  “A mounded, vase-shaped, Ninebark cultivar that typically matures to 6-8’ tall and as wide, and is most noted for its attractive foliage.” Also highlighted is the more shrub-like ‘Seward’ Summer Wine and ‘Mindia’ Coppertina for zones 3 – 8. Appears to be especially well suited to erosion control!

http://allthedirtongardening.blogspot.com/2011/12/ninebark-physocarpus-opulifolius.html

• 
  

  8 ways to make a small garden look big. A few tricks can help make a small area look big. Using paths and other techniques, the garden can offer a number of “areas” to increase the feel of depth.

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The first two frosts have hit our garden (more about that in a later post). It didn’t freeze by much, but my heat loving, sensitive desert plants have suffered.

Before the frost, the spring-like weather rejuvenated many of the garden specimens.

Here is the Madagascar Palm, one of my favorites.

Of course it really isn’t a palm tree at all, it just looks like one and the animals don’t bother it.

The green potato vine also “took off” once the cooler weather hit the scene. It enjoyed the sun and cooler evening temperatures.

We also purchased a purple potato vine to sit on top of our Chimera (outdoor fireplace) and it too is doing very well.

A follow up post about after-the-frost conditions to follow in a couple fo weeks!

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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!

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• 
  
  

  

  “…time to join Donna at Garden Walk, Garden Talk with a Word 4 Wednesday post. This week’s words are Texture and Pattern and Donna’s post is full of great garden design information with fantastic photos to illustrate that information.”

• 
  

  Great Native Shrubs: Fothergilla ‘Mt Airy and ‘Blue Shadow’ for consideration for those living in Zones 5-8 +/- (please do some further investigation for your planting zone if interested).

http://serenityinthegarden.blogspot.com/2011/11/great-native-shrubs-fothergilla-mt-airy.html

• 
  
  

  A San Francisco garden with removal of an agave Americana and pictures of other interesting plants. Highlighted are the Gilia tricolor “Birds Eyes” which are stand outs and Erysimum franciscanum var. crassifolium. Removing a mature Agave is not for the faint of heart. Wear goggles and gloves!

• 
  

  

  Green roofs have gained in popularity for the aesthetics and the energy savings they provide. This entry provides reflections in building a green roof.

• 
  

  Torchglow Bougainvillea – Too bad the rabbits and/or javelinas seem to think it is food. They ate the leaves off of the plant pictured above in two weeks.

http://gardeningandthespanishway-rohrerbot.blogspot.com/2011/11/lighting-torches.html

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

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© Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com, 2000-2075. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts of 50 words or less and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed our orange Justicia had “thrown in the towel.” This was a problem plant from the day I brought it home and I should have left this particular pot at the garden center. The roots were never completely below the soil line. They were slightly above the level of the soil almost like a “walking” tree, but I thought I could remedy this by burying it deeper over time. It never seemed to work and this bush, that should be sturdy, needed constant staking.

It was beautiful when in full bloom and the humming birds enjoyed it.

Our experience with the Morning Glory Bush ((Ipomea Fistulosa Carnea) has been a positive one. As long as it is given enough water, it continues to bloom throughout the summer and is relatively problem free. Having a bouquet of medium-sized pink flowers to look at every day in the searing desert heat is no small feat and is much welcomed!

We grew one in a large pot and it received sun in the morning and filtered sun the rest of the day. This specimen grew large; over six feet tall. It also flowered earlier than the full-sun plants. The reasons for this large growth could be the lack of competition from other plants, the more than ample water supply or the partial shade. I must say that the size of the plants grown in full sun is more preferable.

We were finally able to solve the problem of the birds destroying the coconut fiber mats we used in our hanging baskets. I will try to prepare a post about this next planting season. Here are a couple of pictures of our purple potato vines on a double shepherds hook with the Bush Morning Glory in front.

The double purple datura has survived a bout of white fly to flourish in the cooler weather of our Sonoran Desert autumn!

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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!

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• 
  
  

  

  Putting the garden away for winter – For an avid gardener, taking care of the garden in the Fall in preparation for winter may be an involved task, but here are some hints that might prove useful.

• 
  

  Succulent Bar - Succulents are so much fun. While they don’t always bring an abundance of flowers, their leaf forms and color varieties certainly add to the “textures” in the garden. In return, they don’t ask for much care. One garden center is capitalizing on the increasing popularity of succulents.

http://www.faroutflora.com/2011/10/29/diy-succulent-bar/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=diy-succulent-bar

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  Seed Savers Exchange Part I – Chiot’s Run website provides a visit to Seed Savers Exchange while describing their mission of saving heirloom seeds. We often use vegetable seeds that may have been hybridized from heirloom plants. Where will we be if we need to “strengthen” the genetic pool and these strong heirloom plants are gone?

  Don’t forget to click on the link for part II on the bottom of the post.

http://chiotsrun.com/2011/09/22/visiting-seed-savers-exchange-part-i/

• 
  

  

  Many of us choose several plants that have spent the summer outdoors to bring inside to hold over for next year or to brighten the home during the off-season months. Fern Richardson offers some quick hints to get those plants ready to go on vacation for winter.

http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Gardening/Articles/Container-Gardening/Prepping-Potted-Plants-for-an-Indoor-Winter-Vacation

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  Looking for Roses? Roses continue to be very popular plants. If you have any interest in selecting a rose for a garden, this is your chance to find the best choice. Here’s an article about a website that currently catalogues over 41,000 roses and has more than 130,000 photographs. Read about it by clicking on the link below!

http://www.finegardening.com/item/21240/help-me-find-roses-the-single-greatest-rose-resource-we-have-and-need-to-support

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  Ginny’s Garden reminds us that we should enjoy each season. Many would rather not have winter and be outside all of the time, but Fall and Winter have their personal charms. During the non-gardening months, it is time to recharge and to read books and CATALOGS!

  There is a nice quote by Thoreau to start the post!

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

Written by Jeff

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© Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com, 2000-2075. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts of 50 words or less and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

You have probably heard the formula for a successful container garden: The Thrill, the Spill and the Fill. The objective is that you have some spectacular plants which usually are in the center or in the back of the container (Thrill), some plants flowing over the edge (Spill) and others that just fill in the blank spots to complement the composition.

I must confess, that even in the landscape, I love the spill. There is something about a vine trailing across the hardscape or dangling gracefully over planters that I truly love as long as they don’t overwhelm the space.

Here is a recently planted Agave with Snail Vine trailing around the raised planter:

Another shot from a higher angle

Sorry for the lighting, but the sun was very bright and caused some exposure problems.

We had some succulents in that particular planter, but the Javelina would visit our courtyard to dig them out and eat them so we decided to put in an Agave pup that was growing from one of our existing plants. The Javelina don’t like them at all!

Here is another “spill” type setting with our yellow and purple Lantana and the thrill is the large Saguaro in the background. There are times when there are no blooms on the Lantana and within a week, it is covered.

Now that the cooler weather is here, our Snail Vine has really picked up the pace and has begun to flower more. It is graceful as an individual specimen and provides plenty of the “spill” on its own.

Unfortunately, not everything is thriving in our desert garden. Do you remember those old Westerns where there seemed like they had fields of Golden Barrel cactus baking in the sun? Well, we have discovered that not all of the Golden Barrel cactus like to have full exposure. Here is one of our specimens that is dying from the bottom up even though I have given it supplemental water; too bad!

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

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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

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• 
  
  

  

  Leaf Magazine – Apparently a new offering with inspiration about gardening and outdoor design. The first issue is free to review online. I am not sure about the following issues. There are some interesting ideas within these pages and I think it is worth a look. Click the “Expand” button to see a readable view of the magazine!

• 
  

  The New York Times addresses the manageable fantasy of growing a tree indoors to make an oasis of spring in a Minnesota home. I think readers will find this an interesting and amusing article. What tree would you select to grow under these circumstances?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/garden/the-indoor-tree-a-tall-green-slip-of-summer.html

• 
  
  

  Martha Stewart offers some ideas for container gardening to keep the growing spirit all year long!

http://inthegarden.marthastewart.com/2011/10/19/container-strategies-for-any-time-of-year/

• 
  

  

  In the Sonoran Desert area, almost everyone has a strong opinion when it comes to Bougainvillea. Gardeners either love them or hate them. I do like them, but so do my critters and I have already gone through three. I don’t know if I will try another, but I think they offer great beauty for the money and the amount of gardening energy they require.

http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/2011/10/18/bright-colorful-bougainvillea/

• 
  

  Why a lack of perfection in the garden may not be a bad thing or how to avoid burn out and keep your gardening mojo!

http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=18899

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

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© Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com, 2000-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts of 50 words or less and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

One of the more pleasant events in the life of a gardener is going out to the garden early in the morning which is much like every other morning in the garden except there is a SURPRISE!

So there it was. Can you see it in the photo above? Well, here is a better picture once I moved some leaves out of the way. This might be the sister plant to the one above, but it was still a surprise.

They are flowers on my dark sweet potato vine. Although these plants are grown primarily for their leaves, it is nice to see a flower and a pretty flower at that!

I first wrote about my Madagascar Palm in September of 2008 so I thought I would bring the readers up to date. It has done well. It spends the winter in the garage with very sparse watering. During the hottest part of the summer, it gets watered twice a week, but will soon be curtailed at once per week.

I was visiting a gardening friend a couple of weeks ago and she had a five foot tall Madagascar Palm with three heads. When I exclaimed that I had never seen one with three heads, she indicated that it was due to frost damage. The growing tip died and acted like a pinching back!

The weather has moderated a bit so I planted some Angelonia in with the coral bells which really do sufer during the hot part of the summer. It hangs in there, but struggles. Now the Angelonia shades the croal bells from the sun and provides a nice splash of color.

Sorry for the dust on the blue bottle. We use colored bottles to add additional color. When the sun hits, it provides a nice color profile on the patio!

I recently saw Agave Confederate Rose which reminded my much of my favorite; Agave parryi var (pictured here). truncata. It is a “miniature” or at least small agave and I wanted to get one. My friend allowed me to take some immature pups. Here they are and it has been nearly three weeks and they seem to be doing fine! I will follow up as they grow.

I hope your garden is doing well. We will be back in the triple digits as this is posted, but the major heat has gone and the second gardening season is under way. I send my wish for sunny and mild weather (at least for a while)!

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

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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

*******************

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• 
  
  

  

  Earth Kind Roses – The next big step. Read about them here – http://www.finegardening.com/item/20960/beyond-knockout-the-next-generation-of-garden-roses and at the Texas AgriLife Extension Service – http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/roses/

• 
  

  Water When Dry talks about some triumphs and some tribulations in the Phoenix garden. My heart goes out to her since I live in the same area. What a summer even by desert standards!

http://waterwhendry.blogspot.com/2011/09/summers-almost-gone.html

• 
  
  

  They’ve got to be nuts – The World’s 10 Most Unusual Nuts!

http://webecoist.com/2011/10/04/crunch-time-the-worlds-10-most-unusual-nuts/

• 
  

  

  Low light houseplants – This might be a reprise for some readers; sorry!

http://www.hortmag.com/weekly-tips/qa/houseplants-for-low-light

• 
  

  Carrots can be a bit tricky to grow. Here are some hints for next year’s crop.

http://chiotsrun.com/2011/10/04/tips-for-growing-great-carrots/

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

Written by Jeff
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One of the joys of gardening is trying new techniques and cultivating new plants. These are always learning experiences. I have spoken about the Morning Glory Bush (Ipomea Fistulosa Carnea) and although the packet directions indicated that it liked water, it didn’t say three to four gallons a day!

Anyway, this plant has produced flowers every day throughout the heat of the desert summer which is quite a feat even with those water demands. I did keep the seed pods clipped, but will now let a few develop so I can harvest new seeds for next year.

Here are a few other lessons I learned from my Sonoran Desert Gardening Experience during the summer months which had more than 30 days above 110 degrees; that’s hot!

Lesson 1 – Whiteflies can become quite a problem

Almost every year our Lantana attract some whiteflies. Until this year, they stayed in their own neighborhood and didn’t bother any of the other plants. This year, this year they exploded on to the Double Purple Datura. Look at the leaf above. This picture was taken several days after the systemic was applied and the carcases of the whiteflies can still be seen

The plant has now recovered and is in full bloom with the arrival of the below 100 degree weather. I used a Bayer systemic that was specifically formulated for whiteflies. Because we don’t receive much rain, I chose to use a liquid. Our poor verbena did not like the whiteflies or the systemic and are probably going to be replaced.

Lesson 2 – Agaves don’t mind the heat and pups are abundantly produced.

We have a number of agaves and they all need to be de-pupped if that is a word. Our Agave Murpheyi (above) has produced a good number of pups which you can see in the foreground of the picture. They are small, but numerous. They go around the entire plant and I would estimate that we have at least 20 on this one plant. Get the protective eye wear ready!

We also have a beautiful variegated agave (above) [ when we purchased it, the name given was Agave angustifolia 'Marginata' ] that was damaged during last winter’s frost and it too has created a number of pups. If they are not removed, they will destroy the form of the mother plant and become unsightly. If that happens, one could just yank out the mother plant and nurture one of the pups. In the second photo, the pups are enclosed in the yellow rectangle and the orange circle.

More lessons from our Sonoran Desert Garden to follow. Happy Fall gardening!

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