So, not much today. I'm glad evergreen bones dominate, since the seasonal plants are just starting to grow!
How is your foliage coming along? Some of mine as follows -
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| When leaving my house for my Saturday AM ritual, I'm reminded of the clean-up work and lighting repairs to do, etc. But jonesing on breakfast tacos must be satisfied. No 8 AM photos; the warmer noon light must suffice! Winter colors rule, but closer in... |
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| The sound of water, but still no new green shoots on Deergrass / Muhlenbergia rigens. My becoming better at hand-watering this dry, dry year, these plants are moist enough and ready to roll with some warming, even if not the consistent warming that Abq used to start seeing soon. That pattern moved east of us... |
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| Autumn Joy Sedum about 2 weeks behind 2012 and most other years |
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| I think Winter Jasmine / Jasminum nudiflorum is waiting until spring. There might be a few blooms on mine before March 1, but the peak flowering looks to be after March 1...spring in Abq...most years..... On the bright side, I have plenty of time to really water those plants in, while watering in my new, establishing Oxblood Lily / Rhodophiala bifida, just over the tan courtyard wall. The cool outlook for the next few weeks will also allow me to transplant some of the trailing stems on these jasmines to the inside of that same tan wall, since 2/3 I added there were neglected that fall of planting, and they dried up and died. Established winter jasmines in Abq often survive on rainfall, at least in cooler, shadier microclimates. |
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| Big Bend Agave / Agave havardiana and its powdery-blue color. The center spear is just waiting to unfurl and grow! |
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| Moss - there's a surprising amount of moss patches on our gritty, granitic alluvium in the foothills - note my soil. Mine is like most of that in the wild - growing out of direct, drying sun, in the shelter of plants and/or on north-facing aspects. That area along my patio, inside the purple wall, awoke minutes after my |
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| Damianita / Chrysactinia mexicana greener than two weeks ago - stem ends softening, buds for new leaves about to form beyond the slightly more verdant, semi-evergreen foliage. |
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| And finally, Mexican Blue Sage / Salvia chamaedryoides is putting on new, light green foliage. Results - I've been faithful to hand water these in since July, when elevated humidity and monsoon rains failed to materialize...again. I guess most plants, even desert natives, benefit from not being kept to a crisp, unlike what some imply. Mis-info, even from some of the best...
Thanks for stopping by; not too bad for the end of winter!
You'll really enjoy others' foliage posts at Pam/Digging's blog - here
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Spring is on the way! That moss is surprising. Silver plants against the purple wall = awesome.
ReplyDeleteI was so surprised one rainy winter a decade ago, and all of a sudden, there was moss all over! That cool-color garden area - glad I stuck to it, refreshing even in summer to look out at.
DeleteInteresting that our Sedum and Jasmine both look to be at exactly the same stage. And oh that Agave harvardiana...amazing! As I paged down I at first though you'd stuck a black and white photo in there.
ReplyDeleteThat's a surprise on similar progress on those plants, since I thought you mentioned having a mild winter? Yes, the agave does look B&W!
DeleteThat moss is surprising. But then, surprising things happen in desert settings, after a good rain.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the silver plants against the purple wall. Beautiful.
To me, the surprise is how desert to forest plants meet where you are! Thanks - a nice, refreshing contrast. I always thank my friend whose idea it was.
DeleteYour plants all look very nice. My sedum also looks the same as yours, which worries me a bit, because we have at least one more cold snap coming. I may dig through your archives about that wall - is it just painted over cement block, or is it succoed? It looks gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks - on that sedum, should be OK, as they are really tough and grow very little until hard freezes are past...my last hard freeze usually 3/20 and last frost 4/10, and they make it every year.
DeleteWall - Dunn Edwards for "Eff Stop" sealer over plain concrete block, then paint ("Purple Pride", 2 coats). In Palmdale, Victorville, and LA basin - http://www.dunnedwards.com/
As always, love the Deergrass against that dark wall...pure poetry!
ReplyDeleteThanks, even nice when bleached before it greens up! (I predict you adding deergrass to your palette:)
DeleteThe pale deergrass with the brilliant white spines of the cholla-looking cactus behind them is a great winter combo. Living in a dry climate makes you appreciate the moss, doesn't it? I like your little patches of it. To think some in wetter places think moss is a problem.
ReplyDeleteThanks - I think you're right, since moss just clumps here and stays in it's bounds?
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