Category Archives: General

Mesa Community College Rose Garden

Posted on April 9, 2007 by Susan

Friday, April 6, I had the good fortune to visit the Mesa Community College Rose Garden.  The Garden is sponsored by the Mesa-East Valley Rose Society, and was designed by LeRoy Brady, who has done much of the fabulous landscaping along Arizona highways.  A full history of the Garden can be found here.
In spite of [...]

Posted in General, Public Gardens, Roses | Leave a comment

Attention, Hummingbird Lovers

Posted on April 8, 2007 by Susan

The Desert Southwest is fortunate to be home, at least part of the year, to an amazing variety of birds. The low desert, especially southeastern Arizona and around Tucson, have hummers during the winter months. Here in the high desert we have them only during the warmer part of the year.
I generally put up the [...]

Posted in Desert Southwest, General, Hummingbirds | 1 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

Jackson and Perkins Sold

Posted on April 4, 2007 by Susan

On April 2, Harry and David announced the sale of Jackson and Perkins, major wholesaler and retailer of roses in the United States.
According to the announcement,
Jackson & Perkins was founded in 1872 and is the nation’s largest
marketer of premium rose plants, grown on approximately 3,200 acres and
harvesting over six million rose plants annually. Jackson & [...]

Posted in General, Roses | Leave a comment

Early Spring in the High Desert: Fruit Trees

Posted on April 1, 2007 by Susan

Here in Albuquerque, the first things to bloom in my yard in the spring are bulbs and the dwarf peach, Bonanza. I have grown this peach tree in a 3/4 whiskey barrel since the late 1980′s. No matter how cold or how warm the winter, it has never failed to bloom. This year, after the [...]

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Desert Southwest, Fruit Trees, General, Peach Trees, Pear Trees | Leave a comment

Why Prune?

Posted on March 18, 2007 by Susan

To prune or not to prune? When to prune? How much to prune? Rose growers could talk about this until the cows come home and still not agree on all details. I prune, for reasons to be explained below, but as I drive around Albuquerque in the spring and see huge bushes that have probably [...]

Posted in General, Pruning Roses, Roses | Leave a comment

The Winter of the Big Snow!

Posted on March 17, 2007 by Susan

Those of us who live in the Desert Southwest know how lucky we are. Those of us who live in New Mexico, “Land of Enchantment,” know that more people come here to vacation and to ski than actually live here. They come not only for the recreation, but for the clear blue skies and brilliance [...]

Posted in Challenges of Gardening, Desert Southwest, General, Roses | 1 Comment