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“Why would you want to live in the desert? It’s so brown!”
“There’s no color in the desert.”
“Nothing blooms in the summer in Phoenix – it’s too hot!”
Yeah, yeah, yeah, what a bunch of baloney! The Sonoran Desert is alive with color all summer long, despite temps that can reach above 115 degrees. All sorts of trees, shrubs and cactus have showy flowers throughout June, July and August.
That’s true of any summer in Phoenix. But this summer, the summer of 2021, we’ve had the healthiest monsoon season in years. Awesome amounts of rain all through July and so far through August as well. Shrubs that have been sparse in their flowering (for example, ones that are not on irrigation), have exploded with fresh color.
I thought those of you in other parts of the country (and world) would get a kick out of seeing what a desert city in bloom looks like, so I’ve been snapping pics for the past few weeks. Some of the cactus bloomed right before the rains first started, but the rest of the plants had the benefits of the monsoons. You’ll see flowering cactus, annuals, perennials, and shrubs in the photos below. If you have specific questions about what a certain plant is, just let me know and I’ll ID it for ya.
I hope you enjoy this photo journey of rain-happy flowers in Phoenix.
Here we are at the “look at that purple shrub!” section of the post. These fall under the umbrella of the generic term “sage,” but they’re not Salvias – these are Leucophyllums. And they have been spectacular!
The sages loooove monsoon rains. For a few weeks, everywhere you looked around the city there were pops of purple, or rows of royalty, haha! Definitely a nice addition to any landscape.
The monsoons cleared out temporarily as of last night. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when we have a few days of sunshine again. I’ll be keeping an eye out for what’s blooming and take pics whenever I can.
On an unrelated note, there is a certain one of our very own Experts, a lady of charm and distinction, with superior intelligence and unmatched compassion, known far and wide as a National Treasure, aka Dottie Correll, who is turning a whopping 95 years old on Saturday. 95! She’s doing great. If you’d like to wish her a happy birthday, please do so in the comments and I’ll happily pass them along for you.
Luffa. Loofa. Loofah. However you spell it, it amazes me that I’ve lived all these years without realizing that a luffa comes from a luffa PLANT! I thought they came from the ocean. They’re a gourd! I never knew.
This past summer, I began volunteering in our little neighborhood garden (Coronado neighborhood, in downtown Phoenix) and was delighted to learn that they were growing luffas. Back then, I thought it would never be time to harvest them – they wouldn’t be ready for months – but that day has finally arrived.
I snapped some photos:
The inside of each luffa is filled with seeds. I gently tapped the luffa and they spilled out (there are still lots more inside in the above photo).
I’m excited to plant them in the spring!
Pretty neat, isn’t it? I think they are so much fun.
This past summer has been brutal in Phoenix! It shows in my patio garden. Here are a few photos of the carnage:
What a mess! Overgrown yellow bells. Almost dead Morning Glories. Summer annuals limping along.
I could gloss over the ugly garden and pretend like it doesn’t exist. But this isn’t Instagram. I think it’s important for people to know that no matter what your skill level is, gardens sometimes look like this. Especially at the end of a very hot, very dry summer. There’s no shame in that.
Still, it’s time to clean it up and plant for the new season. The weather is finally beginning to cool down. I can be outside for more than two minutes without being overcome by the oppressive heat. In the evenings, it’s lovely! My first task was to clear out the summer growth to make room for my fall plantings.
I cleared away the remains of the Morning Glories, and cut the Tecoma bells way back. Then I added a layer of soil to the bed.
I also cleared the summer annuals:
(I left the sunflower because I want to collect the seeds.)
Once the beds were cleared, the plan shifted to veggies. I decided to dedicate the big bed on the patio to only vegetables, with the side ones having both herbs and flowers. In a few weeks, I’ll add new annuals to my containers in front of the house.
For now, it’s beets, carrots and radishes, all from seeds. I’m also trying red onions, which may not have time to mature before it gets cold, but I’m giving it a shot.
I like to use string to help me “stay in the lines.” It’s not an exact science, haha! Besides the seeds, I also added one small tomato plant, an early ripening variety, and a strawberry plant.
It’s not much, but this garden makes me very happy.
What about you? Have you planted a fall/winter garden yet?
Who remembers The Great Chayote Growing Experiment of 2012? 2013? 2014? 2016? What about 2017? No? Don’t remember any of them?
Perhaps that’s because they all FAILED! I’ve tried to grow chayotes almost 10 times and have not once been successful. In 2017, I wrote, “I’ll never quit you, chayotes,” and then not long after, I quit them. Because all that rejection gets a person down!
But now they’re back. I saw one at the grocery store at the beginning of February and bought it on impulse. For the uninitiated, chayote is commonly called Mexican squash, and they’re loaded with vitamins and flavor. You can’t grow them from seed – they only germinate from within. My germination rate is great – they open their ugly mugs and spit out sprouts no problem. It’s after they get in the ground that I tend to lose them. Even though they should grow practically effortlessly here in the desert.
I figure we could all use a good distraction from Covid-19, so here for your viewing pleasure is a photo journey of the windowsill life of my chayote. Prepare to be mesmerized!
Please note, to get the full effect, it helps to scroll really, really fast.
Fasten your seat belts – he’s really going to get growing now!
Ok, I possibly oversold that a tad.
But I’ll bet for the last 20 seconds you didn’t think about the virus once! And therein lies the power of growing experiments. Chayotes don’t give a shit about Covid-19.
I put the ugly little guy in the ground a couple of weeks ago. It’ll either be the beginning of his new happy life in my garden, or his death spiral. As with everything else, we’ll have to wait and see. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for him.
Helloooooo! My goodness, I suppose it’s been awhile since I posted anything! I didn’t mean to let so much time pass between posts…I put the blog on the back burner, then over time, it got moved to the back 40 burner, haha.
How are you? Doing well, I hope.
I’m fine, thanks for asking. Life in Phoenix is ok. Although we’re supposed to hit triple digits later this week and it’s only April. That has me concerned. But otherwise, things are good!
I’ve driven through the mountains east of Phoenix twice in the last six weeks, and each time I didn’t have my camera with me. Which was a shame, as the wildflowers looked gorgeous in the foothills. So yesterday I packed up my camera and took off in search of color in the desert.
I found lots! Look at all the beauties I found blooming, like these Desert Marigolds:
Such cuties!
I love, love, love the color of Globe Mallow:
Even the Prickly Pears were blooming:
I saw lots of cactus flowers that were hot pink but I couldn’t get close to them with my camera. (Translation – if they weren’t by the side of the road, they weren’t photographed, haha – I wasn’t going to go trekking through the dirt!)
I think this is Thistle, but I have no idea what kind. The bees and I love it though:
I don’t know what these purple pretties are but I’m a big fan:
On one of my drives, I saw some pink flowers that I think were Penstemons. I didn’t see any yesterday – I think they were at a higher elevation than I was willing to go on a Sunday drive.
Besides the wildflowers, the mountains were home to a Saguaro Cactus forest:
None of my photos do the mountains any justice – they are so beautiful!
Happy Earth Day everyone!
I have much affection for this container at work:
I took this photo this morning. The blanca portulaca is so pretty.
It hasn’t minded Phoenix’s triple-digit temperatures. The container gets unrelenting full sun against that hot wall.
That’s amazing, isn’t it?
For Nancy, in particular. The flowers are doing great!
The Portulaca have sailed beautifully through this Phoenix summer, which has been brutal. Triple digit temperatures for all of July and so far in August, including plenty of humidity (so you can throw that “it’s a dry heat” saying in the trash – it’s bunk during monsoon season).
My beloved Portulaca flowers have been shining stars all along. They are in containers at work that I water every other day. Unceremoniously, I might add, haha, with water in a bucket because the hose doesn’t reach.
All that color! Swoon!
The new Lemon Twist Portulaca have also done well, although the stripes aren’t quite as distinct as they were.
They’re still adorable!
I planted this little cutie at work today and it made me happy for multiple reasons.
For one, I’m planting flowers in late October, because that’s life in Phoenix, Arizona. Another reason is that it’s such a cheerful flower – I love Gazanias! So cute!
Also, most importantly, Gazanias remind me of mr_subjunctive at Plants Are the Strangest People, because they are the official celebratory flower of that blog. I like thinking about mr_s, and I realized it’s been too long since I blogged myself or read other people’s blogs.
So thanks, little flower, for reminding me that it feels good to share the plant love.
…hear it for baby leaves. They’re amazing, right?
Grow, baby, grow!
You’re the most adorable thing I’ve seen all day! (Even cuter than the baby quails I saw today. Although it was close – baby quails are super sweet.)
Hello plant lovers and friends!
I apologize for taking so long between posts. It’s been a busy time, but also a rewarding time.
Most recently, I got to hang out with two of my favorite people – my Mom, and Dottie, our much beloved nonagenarian Expert in Life.
Our visits were way too brief, but no less lovely. I love you both very much!
Good To Grow 