You’re Getting Warmer!

The season is beginning to transition here in the desert. The lows are hanging out around the mid 50s, and the highs are in the mid 70s to 80s. We’re about to get a heat wave where the temps will be in the 90s. I can only hope that my garden established itself enough for the summer, as this is just a preview of what is to come.

This is from a paddle found in the parking lot in the high desert. We tried planting it in the ground after it got established, but the cactus quickly “melted.” We saved a small part of it and started over. I’m glad to see it’s expanding now.

All the cacti have new arms and knobs, and the succulents are thriving. This is always so fascinating to me because they are such slow growers, and seem to store up all their energy for spring growth.

This elephant bush looks great and is filling in with new growth. The kids are pretty hard on this plant, unfortunately. I would like to take a stem and propagate it into one of those pots that are heads where the plant makes up the “hair.”

On the other hand, the veggies are coming and going…

Tomato transplant is doing well and seems to be growing before my very eyes. I was lazy and didn’t plant from seed this year.

The cilantro is unfortunately bolting and is done for the season. I’m not saving seeds from it this year because I have 10,000 from last year.

This is bed 1 in the secret garden. The Malabar spinach is languishing but managed to pop out a few new blooms. The turnips and bok choy are about ready to harvest. One sunflower has a bud in spite of its small stature. I’ve been snipping green onion shoots all season for my recipes. The beets and chard I planted here are doing a whole bunch of nothing.

And in bed 2, the garlic is coming along nicely. I planted a tomato and cilantro here, that are both being taken over by the oregano. I really should cut that back!

There are lots of signs that spring is coming. Around here, the smaller aloes with red flowers bud and bloom before my larger, yellow flowered ones do. My aloe plants send out towering stalks that will burst into yellow bell-like blooms that the birds love. It was a welcome surprise we discovered the first year living in this house. The tall spires have made an appearance, and I will have photos to share soon. Meanwhile, the citrus all seems to be healthy and adapting to being planted in the ground.

If I thought my snapdragons and annuals were winding down, I was wrong. The snappies, sweet William, and geraniums are all at their peak and going crazy. The petunias are also very pretty.

I noticed the luffa and cucumbers I planted aren’t doing a dang thing so I’m going to try again. I picked all my green peppers and am expecting them to push out new blooms any day now. I expect to spend the next week or so finishing up planting anything I wanted to try and get going, and removing anything that is done for the season to make room for new plants. I also saw what looks like powdery mildew in the secret garden so an evening spraying that is on the horizon.

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