02/27/15

Snow and Ice

Ice after Snow – Not So Good for the Garden!

Ice this afternoon followed the snow this morning. I was happy to wake up to five inches of snow. We have needed precipitation for so long, that even I was delighted to see snow. Some images from this morning can be seen at my photography blog.

Although the temperature did not warm to above freezing at my house today, some of the snow on the roof began to melt, and icicles formed at the edge. They began to drip droplets onto some of my roses, where that water immediately formed ice. This is not something you want to see happening.

Some of you who have followed this blog from its beginning may recall the damage done to my old garden rose, ‘Mermaid,’ when a 22 inch snow began to melt, refreeze, melt, refreeze, until ‘Mermaid,’ was pulled off the wall and laid out across my patio by the weight of the ice. It is why I now do something that most people would say I should not do – I prune ‘Mermaid’ back in late fall. It has proven to be a good strategy for this particular rose in this one particular spot.

(Some images of ‘Mermaid’ and the damage may be seen at the following links. Those images were taken with an old Nikon Coolpix, the first digital camera I owned. Thus, the odd settings that those of you who know your way around cameras will note.

Saga of Mermaid, Part 3
Saga of Mermaid, Part 4
Saga of Mermaid, Part 5
Saga of Mermaid, Part 6
Saga of Mermaid, Part 7
Saga of Mermaid, Part 9 )

Here in the high desert, Albuquerque, we do not prune until late March and preferably early April. That is because of the threat of late freezes. When I do prune this year, I will have damage from today to remove. At the time of this writing, it appears that ‘St. Patrick’ will have the most damage.

‘St. Patrick’ with ice and icicles

You see two different ice formations on ‘St. Patrick.’ The icicles are clear, and are not that big of a threat at that size. But, you can also see in this image a branch that was bent by the weight of the ice, and then droplets continued to drip from the icicles on the roof, weighing down the branch even more. Here’s a hint – you cannot shake ice off a branch like that, in the way you can shake snow off. That branch is broken by the weight of the ice. Those of you who are rosarians will understand that I had really wanted ‘St. Patrick’ to have a really good year in 2015. It may yet; it is far too early to tell for sure. But this ice is potentially a major setback for this rose bush.

Icicles on Veterans’ Honor

The icicles at this size are not a major problem for ‘Veterans’ Honor.’ However, this image shows why we do not prune until later. The leaves you see are last year’s leaves. But, if you look closely, you see new growth (red) appearing along the cane. This new growth will not survive the freezing temperatures. That is okay; there are still a lot of places for new growth when spring does arrive. Many places for new growth would have been removed had this hybrid tea been pruned. I’m not a bit worried about this rose, at least as of today. Who knows what weather lies ahead? But, for today, it is okay.

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02/14/15

Summer Flowers

It Is Not Too Early to Dream of Summer Flowers

Summer Flowers – such a wide range of vivid colors with which to paint a landscape – or a container or two. These flowers are a reminder of summer. Here in the Southwest, we have had an exceptionally mild winter. This collection is especially for my friends in the Northeast, caught in the seemingly Winter of Endless Snow! Although the winter here has been mild, I’m ready for some summer flowers, too! 🙂

The flowers of summer shown here are easy to grow, and most attract butterflies and bees. Some are annuals, some are perennials, but all bring beauty. I always grow some of these, even though I grow more roses than anything else. Variety is good! Some of these are from my yard, some are from the home of friends Tim and Laurie, and some are from the Albuquerque BioPark.

Cosmos, Fibonacci Sequence

Fibonacci Sequence, Dahlia

Ranunculus, Fibonacci Sequence

Sunflower, Fibonacci Sequence

Mexican Sunflower

Brown-eyed Susan

Echinacea

02/9/15

Spring Too Early?

Spring Too Early? We Won’t Know until Summer

Spring. Can it ever be too early? As the Northeast is buried under record total snowfall for a winter, Albuquerque has been enjoying a stretch of warm, sunny, windless days, with highs hovering around 70°F. It is glorious just to be out and enjoying what many – including me – would describe as “perfect weather.”

Clematis putting on growth in early February

Early growth on my clematis vine, growing as a companion plant with my rose ‘Mermaid.’

The question for a gardener, though, here in the High Desert, is, “can spring be too early?” That is a question that cannot be answered until late May! Why? The average last frost-free date here is in mid-April. If plants have already sprung forth with new growth, the tender new growth can die. One year we have a very late freeze in mid-May, and by that time the roses already had much new growth, buds, and some were actually blooming. That freeze killed back much of the new growth, and the Spring Rose Show of the Albuquerque Rose Society was pretty small that year. Along with the show, we had an Arrangement Judging School (taught by Lew Shupe and Gary Barlow!) attended by rose lovers from all over the Pacific Southwest District. The only roses that year I had to donate to the school for practice arrangements was ‘Betty Boop.’ Although that is the latest killing freeze I have experienced in my part of Albuquerque, I have not forgotten it!

Then there are the fruit trees. I have the dwarf peach ‘Bonanza,’ a fruit tree I truly love for many reasons. But, it is an early bloomer, and some years we get a freeze after the bloom and no peaches will be harvested that year. I grow it for many reasons besides the peaches, but I still prefer the years when peaches form. 🙂 I also have two pear trees: one that produces pears people like to eat, and the pollinator pear that produces pears the birds like to eat. Win-win for all! In years with late freezes, after the pears trees have bloomed, the tree with the fruit for people will not produce. I have to say, the pollinator pear is tough – the birds nearly always have their fruit produced.

: The grandiflora ‘Queen Elizabeth’ beginning to sprout out in early February

: Rose ‘Betty Boop’ spontaneously producing growth in early February

: Swelling buds on dwarf peach ‘Bonanza’ in early February

: Honeysuckle with early spring growth

: Clematis putting on growth in early February

Today and tomorrow are also supposed to be glorious days with highs around 70. I will be out enjoying the weather, and working in the garden to dig weeds and to do general clean-up. I could not ask for better weather. But behind all of that is just a bit of worry that the plants that are responding to the glorious weather now may also respond to cold weather and late freezes that can be part of life in the Southwest Desert. We won’t know if spring is too early until summer has arrived.

03/6/14

Daylight Savings Time Returns March 9

Daylight Savings Time returns to this coming Sunday, March 9, 2014. “Officially” the clocks at 2:00 am move to 3:00 am, but I certainly change mine the night before (well, usually).

Remember, it is “Spring forward. Fall back.”

Read a history of Daylight Savings Time here.

Some people prefer Standard Time. I am not one of them. I love having the longer afternoon/evening time, whether for working in the yard, photographing flowers, or photographing birds, insects, or sunsets.

I think I began to fully understand the effects of Daylight Savings Time when I began cooking with a simple solar oven. (Use the Search box for “solar” to find related posts on this blog). I generally use it from May through September. Mine is very low tech, but quite functional when used as a slow cooker for many things. If I start it heating at 9:00 am, it is warm enough to cook by 10:00 am. At 4:00 pm, regardless of outside ambient temperature, the heat in the oven drops rapidly because of the drop in UV rays from the sum. So, I basically have 6 hours to cook, from 10:00 – 4:00. This is Daylight Savings Time because it is summer. If it were Standard Time, it would be 9:00 – 3:00, or the three hours before and after Noon. Just a bit of trivia…

Preheated solar oven

Love it or hate it, remember to “spring forward” this Sunday.

07/28/13

An Ingenious Deer Fence to Protect Your Roses

“Almost Invisible Deer Fence” developed by Tom Mayhew

Master Consulting Rosarian Tom Mayhew has developed a really ingenious way to protect his rose garden from deer. He likes the deer as well as the roses, and did not want to harm the deer in any way. He learned that deer were “spooked” when they came into contact with “nearly invisible” fishing line. He built a fence using green stakes and fishing line, which he puts up in the spring and takes down in the fall.

Tom Mayhew lives in Pennsylvania.

But many gardeners in the deserts of the Southwest have problems with the deer eating their gardens.

Tom has graciously shared this article, written initially for his local rose society, but subsequently published in other newsletters, with readers here at Southwest Desert Gardening.

You may download the attached pdf, but if you post it elsewhere, be sure to give credit to Tom Mayhew, author and creator of “The Almost Invisible Deer Fence.”

Thanks again, Tom!

Almost Invisible Deer Fence

06/5/13

Rose ‘Mermaid’

Rose ‘Mermaid,’ Part 15, the Saga Continues

The Old Garden Rose, ‘Mermaid,’ has long been one of my favorites. Regular readers here are aware of my love for this hybrid bracteata, introduced in 1918, which was also the year of my father’s birth. I planted the rose in his memory after he died.

Although known for being somewhat tender, the rose grew huge, climbing up the fireplace within a couple of years. After the 22 inch snow that fell in late December 2006, with thawing, freezing, thawing, freezing, etc., the weight of the ice tore ‘Mermaid’ and its trellis off the wall of the house, and it had to be cut off at ground level. I was sure it would not recover.

Recovery was very slow, but ‘Mermaid’ did recover to virtually her old self by the spring of 2010.

This spring, 2013, has been an exceptional year for ‘Mermaid,’ as the following images demonstrate:

Buds on ‘Mermaid’ in early spring

Spray of ‘Mermaid’

‘Mermaid’

Old Garden Rose, ‘Mermaid’

Is it any wonder that the Old Garden Rose, ‘Mermaid,’ is one of my very favorite roses? 🙂

06/30/12

Cooking with a Solar Oven

Cooking with a solar oven…a new experience for me this week. I have the Sport Solar Oven, but there are many different brands of solar ovens on the market at all different prices. My solar oven had been sitting in the box in which it came for a couple of years, and I finally found some time to unpack it and try it out. I will also credit a friend in Arkansas, Dr. Robert Allen, who had begun to use his solar oven, as an inspiration for me to get mine out and try it.

I decided to start with a recipe that was totally different from the things I usually cook, so that I would not be tempted, at least initially, to compare the solar oven results with recipes I had been cooking for years. I’ll move to my familiar recipes later, over the course of the summer. I looked over the recipes that came with the solar oven, and when I went to the store I found some beautiful pork chops that were on special this week. So, I decided to try this recipe first.

I started by preheating the oven in the sun while I was doing the food preparation. The temp in the oven was 250 F when I put the food in at 10:00 am. The temp in the solar oven quickly dropped to 150 F, then slowly climbed back up to around 250 F. Between 4:00 and 4:30 pm, the temp in the oven dropped rapidly back to around 210 F, even though there was plenty of sun and the ambient temp was 100 F in the shade of my back porch. The solar ovens stress the importance of the angle of the sun, and I became a believer with my first use of the solar oven. Some of the solar ovens come with reflectors. For my oven, reflectors can be purchased separately. I plan to buy reflectors for use in the winter when the angle of the sun is very low on the horizon, even on the bright and sunny winter days here in the desert southwest.

First layer – pork chops

Second layer – cabbage, onions, apple

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06/29/12

Another Nice Photography Award

Another nice photography award has come my way this month. I photograph to please myself, but knowing that other people appreciate an image is like icing on the cake.

My image, “Lily,” was awarded a Bronze Medal at the 2012 PX3, Prix De La Photographie Paris. It will be exhibited in Paris in July.

This is the official press release from PX3:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WINNER OF PX3, Prix de la Photographie Paris
Susan Brandt Graham of United States was Awarded Third Prize in the PX3 2012 Competition.

Paris, France
Prix de la Photographie Paris (Px3) announces winners of PX3 2012 competition.

Susan Brandt Graham of United States was Awarded: Third Prize in category Nature for the entry entitled, ” Lily .” The jury selected PX3 2012’s winners from thousands of photography entries from over 85 countries.

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06/27/12

The Tough Daylily

The tough daylily- yes, you can water it, fertilize it, and otherwise care for it, but it seems to be one of those plants that does well in Albuquerque, cared for or not.

Daylilies freely blooming at abandoned adobe

The entire Southwest has abandoned adobe buildings, and especially houses, all over. At one time the mud construction was very practical here in the desert. But, adobe requires a lot of maintenance. It made sense when people lived on and worked the land, but for people going to jobs elsewhere, adobe maintenance simply is not worth the time, effort, and expense.
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12/31/10

Looking Back at the Year in Skies

To regular readers here, it is no surprise that I love the skies of New Mexico. As we get ready to say good-bye to 2010 and ring in 2011, I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the skies, mainly from 2010 but with two from 2009.

Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

Prints of the skies in the slideshow are available in a variety of sizes and prices here.