Category Archives: Challenges of Gardening

Amazing Micro-Environments in the High Desert

Posted on November 26, 2010 by Susan

‘Gentle Giant’ in the garden of Lois Brandt
Yesterday I posted a photo of a rose in my yard, covered with snow from the night before.
My mom lives less than a mile from me, but her yard is much warmer than mine. I was quite surprised to see that she still had hybrid teas blooming [...]

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Desert Southwest, General, Hybrid tea, Private Gardens, Roses, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Rose ‘Bees Knees’ in the Thanksgiving Snow

Posted on November 25, 2010 by Susan

Miniature rose ‘Bees Knees’ under a Thanksgiving snow
Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted in Bees Knees, Challenges of Gardening, Miniature, New Mexico, Roses, Snow | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Mermaid 2009

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Susan

Rose ‘Mermaid’
This is the rose that was almost destroyed in Albuquerque’s “100-year Snow” in December of 2006. Although it is not yet as tall as before the storm, 2.5 years later, ‘Mermaid’ has returned to its full glory in terms of quality and quantity of blossoms!
Patience does pay.

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Roses, Snow | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

One Albuquerque Garden: A Private Oasis

Posted on May 4, 2007 by Susan

Thanks to the owner of this garden for allowing me to photograph it and use the photos here. All photographs were taken May 4, 2007. Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.
This is a very small city garden, but is artfully arranged to utilize a variety of plants. Roses are the featured plant throughout [...]

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Desert Southwest, Gardens, General, Private Gardens | Leave a comment

Large-Flowered Climber: Royal Sunset

Posted on May 4, 2007 by Susan

Royal Sunset is an oldie but goodie for the desert Southwest. It has dark green, leathery, disease-resistant leaves, large flowers that can have great form (especially for a climber!), a nice scent, and color to knock your socks off. To top it all off, it has long, shapely buds.

It takes about three years for this [...]

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Desert Southwest, Roses | Leave a comment

2007′s First Hybrid Tea

Posted on May 4, 2007 by Susan

The first hybrid tea bloom of the year is always exciting in the high desert. One never knows exactly when to expect it, nor what it will look like. What have the late cold spells and especially the prolonged high winds done to the buds? Have thrips already damaged the bloom (for those of us [...]

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Desert Southwest, General, Roses | Leave a comment

Death and Rebirth in the Desert

Posted on April 14, 2007 by Susan

The desert and the native plants growing there never cease to amaze me.
Prickly pear cactus is a native plant used in a lot of landscaping in Tucson and the Sonoran Desert in general.
Yesterday I saw this large piece of prickly pear that had been broken off its main stem and roots by a late freeze [...]

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Desert Southwest, General | Leave a comment

Another Challenge: Late Hard Freezes

Posted on April 14, 2007 by Susan

This weekend I am in Tucson, located in the Sonoran Desert of the southwest, rather than the high Chihuahuan Desert in which Albuquerque is located. Many years ago I lived here for seven years, and although many things about the city have changed, the plants have remained pretty much the same. Palm trees, which do [...]

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Desert Southwest, Trees | Leave a comment

Wind: Another Challenge in the Desert Southwest

Posted on April 12, 2007 by Susan

New Mexico is the only place I have ever lived where Spring is not my favorite season.  And that is because of the high winds that are a staple of Spring in the high desert.
Gardeners here learn very quickly to keep their plants well-hydrated, at this time of the year as much for the winds as [...]

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Desert Southwest, General | Leave a comment

Why Hope Springs Eternal for Gardeners

Posted on April 5, 2007 by Susan

In the first post of this blog, I bemoaned the effects of the freak snow storm in late December on Mermaid, the climbing hybrid bracteata that was the largest rose in my yard.
Spring 2006:

After The Big Snow of December 2006:

The cleanup was not completed until early March, and Mermaid had to be sawed off at [...]

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Desert Southwest, General, Roses | Leave a comment