Did you have the opportunity to get away for awhile this summer?
Our summer has been a bit tough this year. The reason is that my son, Kai, had hip surgery (his 5th) and was confined to a wheelchair this summer. He was in quite a lot of pain for the first few weeks, which thankfully subsided in July.
We were blessed to go on a family vacation toward the end of July before school started. Every year, we go on a trip with my mother, my siblings and their families. This year, we decided to go to Pinetop, Arizona.
We got on the road and started heading east from Phoenix. The mountains of the high desert were beautiful along Salt River Canyon and we could see swimmers below.
Believe it or not, I have never been to the Eastern part of our state even though I have lived here for over 27 years.
Parts of the highway wound back and forth.
As we neared our destination, I began to see the pine trees that promised cooler weather.
Pinetop, Arizona
We finally arrived at the cabin that my mother had rented for us all to stay in.
It was quite big – 7 bedrooms and plenty of bathrooms to go around for 5 individual families.
We stayed on the bottom floor so that Kai could get around easily.
Pinetop, Arizona
A few of our mornings were spent going for walks.
Pinetop, Arizona
We love to walk outdoors, but in the summer it is tough because of the heat. So this was a real treat for us.
If I were at home, I would be busy writing, gardening, managing the kids and/or consulting instead of taking a walk outdoors on a beautiful morning. Pure heaven!
There were some beautiful gardens in the surrounding neighborhood.
This was my favorite garden.
Did you know that you can grow these flowering perennials in the desert? It’s true. The only difference is that they will bloom in spring rather then in summer.
We didn’t see any wild animals, but did pet a friendly cat and saw a horse getting new shoes.
This kids favorite house had a model train track set up throughout the entire front yard.
The kids were interested in the model trains and small buildings while I like to observe the miniature landscape plants.
This is one vine that you probably will not find growing in the low desert. This is a lovely Clematis vine and I have grown one before years ago when we lived in Phoenix. The problem was – it never flowered because it was too hot.
I haven’t grown one since.
We passed this bountiful vegetable garden.
I love this terraced garden, don’t you?
You don’t have to rely solely on flowers for color in the landscape. I love the trailing ivy underneath these oak trees.
Besides our walks, there was fun to be had back at the cabin…
The kids had fun racing monster trucks down the driveway every evening after dinner.
It was nice for Kai to be able to participate in racing without having to run.
Gracie enjoyed sitting on the porch and reading her favorite book.
On rainy afternoons, grandma kept the kids busy with art projects.
During the week, each family was responsible for making dinner for everyone. It was nice only having to cook once the entire week.
After dinner, the big kids would carry Kai and his wheelchair upstairs to play.
They would ‘charge’ the bad guy armed with a plastic gun and a cushion for a shield.
They usually triumphed over the villain.
Of course, we made sure to spend time fishing.
My husband kept our fishing line untangled and our hooks baited.
We spent quite a bit of time enjoying the peace and quiet of fishing.
Unfortunately, there was a little too much peace and quiet since we didn’t catch any. Not even a nibble.
On our last day, we hiked around the lake enjoying the beauty of the woods.
We had a wonderful trip and 2 days after we returned home, it was time for the kids to start school.
**Thank you for letting me take you along on our summer vacation.**
Salt River Canyon
Family Vacation Getaway…
Trees and Shrubs for a Neglected Desert Garden Area
Arizona garden, desert gardening, Landscape Design, Landscape Problems, Shrubs, TreesTrees and Shrubs for a Neglected Area
In my last post “A Long Forgotten Area Ready for Transformation”, I told you that I would share what plants I was going to have put in this neglected area.
Criteria for Plant Selection
The selection of these plants has been guided by specific criteria:
Trees for the Area
So are you ready to see what I chose?
Let’s start with the trees…
Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)
The area has two large Foothills Palo Verde trees along with a Wolfberry tree, so I chose one other type of tree to add.
Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) is one of my favorite desert trees. It is not a true willow, but is named for the fact that its leaves are willow-shaped.
Colorful flowers appear throughout the summer that add a vibrant punch of color to the landscape.
Hardy to zone 6, Desert Willow requires well-drained soil and full sun or filtered shade.
Shrubs for the Area
Now for the shrubs…
Valentine Bush (Eremophila maculata ‘Valentine’)
Valentine Bush (Eremophila maculata ‘Valentine’) is my favorite shrub of all time. I will never forget the day when I was first introduced to this red-flowering shrub, by Mountain States Wholesale Nursery. It was 1999 and I was a horticulturist fresh out of college.
I was given 2 Valentine shrubs from Mountain States to plant in the landscape area I managed. Ever since then, I have been hooked.
Red flowers appear on this shrub, beginning in January and lasting until April. If you haven’t noticed it before, there isn’t much blooming in winter, which is one of the reasons I love Valentine.
The foliage is evergreen and Valentine are hardy to zone 8. Better yet, they only need to be pruned once a year – in spring after flowering.
Plant in full sun and well-drained soil.
For more information about Valentine, check out my post about this great plant.
Baja Ruellia (Ruellia peninsularis)
My second choice for shrubs is Baja Ruellia (Ruellia peninsularis).
Now, this isn’t its rather invasive cousin Ruellia (Ruellia brittoniana), pictured below…
Baja Ruellia is what I like to think of as a smaller version of Texas Sage species (Leucophyllum sp). It doesn’t get as large and has a longer flowering season then Leucophyllum.
The flowers of Baja Ruellia are tubular and appear spring through fall, with the heaviest bloom occurring in spring.
The foliage is light green and rarely suffers frost damage in our zone 9b climate. Hardy to zone 9, Baja Ruellia should be planted in full sun and well-drained soil.
Silvery Cassia (Senna phyllodenia)
The third shrub for this area will be Silvery Cassia (Senna phyllodenia). This Australian native does very well in arid landscapes.
The silvery foliage will provide contrast to the darker greens present in the landscape. Evergreen to 20 degrees, this shrub flourishes in zone 9 landscapes.
Yellow flowers appear in late winter and into spring. Pruning is needed after flowering, to remove seed pods in managed landscapes.
Like the other shrubs, Silvery Cassia enjoys full sun and well-drained soil.
Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii)
The smallest shrub for this area will be Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii). This plant is hard to zone 7, so remains evergreen during winter here.
Flowers appear fall through spring in the low desert. The most common colors are red or pink, although there are other colors such as white, lavender and peach.
I like to use Autumn Sage around trees like Palo Verde, where the filtered shade shelters it from the intense summer sun. I first saw them planted around a tree at the Desert Botanical Garden and I really liked the way it looked, so I have repeated this design in many of my landscapes.
The Autumn Sage above, was planted by me around a Foothills Palo Verde about 12 years ago and they are still going strong.
I still have perennials and accent plants to show you that I have included in the design and I’ll share them with you next time.
*********************************
An Update on my Family
Life around our household has been busy lately….
School is back in session (for which I am extremely grateful for 😉
My son Kai, has ditched his wheelchair for a walker and will soon be able to walk without it.
AND
My daughter, will soon come home after leaving 5 months ago for the Navy. She is graduating from her Equipment Operator School next week and will be an official ‘SeaBee’. She will be on leave for 2 weeks before she reports for combat training in Mississippi, where she will be stationed for a month.
The BEST news is that her permanent base will be in Port Hueneme, which is where she wanted to be. What is even better for us, is that it is in Southern California, just 7 hours from home!!!
We are getting ready to celebrate her homecoming, which I will share with all of you 🙂
Got Herbs? Make Your Own Herb Butter
AZ Plant LadyIf someone asked you what your favorite food was, what would you tell them?
My daughter, Gracie, would answer by saying “anything chocolate”.
My husband would say “pizza”.
But my favorite food is a warm slice of sourdough bread with melted butter. My idea of heaven is being surrounded with loaves of French bread and plenty of Irish butter without the carbs or calories 😉
Because I like to make things using produce from my garden, I decided to try making herb butter using the herbs that I grew and dried earlier this summer.
Just for fun, I decided to make my own butter using some leftover heavy whipping cream (did you know that if you beat heavy whipping cream long enough that you will get butter)?
When we were kids, my mom would teach us how to make butter this way using her antique butter churn. It was a lot of work, but it was fun.
Most of the time, I just use regular butter to make herb butter.
I beat the whip cream until it became thick and continued until it looked like this…
Your butter will start to solidify with a little buttermilk liquid left.
Drain the buttermilk and you are left with butter! You can salt it to your taste at this point.
1. You will need a 1/2 cup of softened butter. (Store bought works just as well as butter you made yourself).
2. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite herb. Dried basil, chives, dill, oregano, rosemary, sage or thyme work well for herb butter. You can also use a 1/2 teaspoon of poultry or Italian seasoning instead if you like.
3. I also added 2 cloves of minced garlic, also from my garden, to the herb butter.
4. Mix it all together using a rubber spatula.
5. Place your butter mixture onto wax paper and begin to form it into a roll by folding over the wax paper and using your hands to mold the herb butter.
6. Twist the ends of the wax paper and place your herb butter into a plastic freezer bag.
7. Freeze until 2 hours before using. You don’t have to use it all at once. Simply cut off a few sections at a time.
You can freeze herb butter up to 6 months.
So, get started now and preserve the taste of your summer herbs by making your own herb butter.
Make some for yourself and give some away to friends.
I must say, that I was going to take a picture of my herb butter melting over a hot slice of sourdough bread.
But, I ate it before I remembered to take the picture…
**You can use your own herbs that you have dried or you can use herbs from the grocery store.
To learn how to dry herbs, check out my earlier post – “How to Grow and Dry Your Own Herbs”
What herb(s) would you add to herb butter?
From Humble Beginnings To A Sweet Finish
desertLast year, my mother gave me a blackberry plant.
She had planned on using it herself, but then gave it to me instead.
To be honest, I hadn’t really thought seriously about growing berries in my garden. But, as a child, we had quite a few blackberry bushes in our backyard and I remember eating blackberries over vanilla ice cream.
So, I planted my single blackberry bush in my edible side garden where one of my vegetable gardens is located along with my fruit tree.
This spring, I was delighted to find the beginnings of little blackberry flowers…
Soon, I had tiny, green berries covering my blackberry bush…
Blackberry plant
I could hardly wait until they ripened.
Every few days, my son, Kai, would run outside to check on how they were ripening. He would always come in with a few ripe ones.
I froze the berries in batches since they did not all ripen at the same time.
Then I stored them away in the freezer until a special occasion in which to serve them.
BUT, you know what happened?
I forgot about them until the other day when I was rummaging about in my freezer.
So I brought them out and prepared to make a blackberry topping for my homemade angel food cake.
I added sugar to the berries, which helps them to release their delicious juices.
A couple of hours later, I mashed them and served them over cake…
They were so sweet and delicious.
It was fun to surprise my family with this truly homemade dessert.
**Last winter, I planted 6 additional blackberry bushes. I can’t wait to harvest berries next year!
What is your favorite type of berry to eat?
Do you grow any berries?
What kinds?
Getting Away From It All
ArizonaDid you have the opportunity to get away for awhile this summer?
Our summer has been a bit tough this year. The reason is that my son, Kai, had hip surgery (his 5th) and was confined to a wheelchair this summer. He was in quite a lot of pain for the first few weeks, which thankfully subsided in July.
We were blessed to go on a family vacation toward the end of July before school started. Every year, we go on a trip with my mother, my siblings and their families. This year, we decided to go to Pinetop, Arizona.
We got on the road and started heading east from Phoenix. The mountains of the high desert were beautiful along Salt River Canyon and we could see swimmers below.
Believe it or not, I have never been to the Eastern part of our state even though I have lived here for over 27 years.
Parts of the highway wound back and forth.
As we neared our destination, I began to see the pine trees that promised cooler weather.
Pinetop, Arizona
We finally arrived at the cabin that my mother had rented for us all to stay in.
It was quite big – 7 bedrooms and plenty of bathrooms to go around for 5 individual families.
We stayed on the bottom floor so that Kai could get around easily.
Pinetop, Arizona
A few of our mornings were spent going for walks.
Pinetop, Arizona
We love to walk outdoors, but in the summer it is tough because of the heat. So this was a real treat for us.
If I were at home, I would be busy writing, gardening, managing the kids and/or consulting instead of taking a walk outdoors on a beautiful morning. Pure heaven!
There were some beautiful gardens in the surrounding neighborhood.
This was my favorite garden.
Did you know that you can grow these flowering perennials in the desert? It’s true. The only difference is that they will bloom in spring rather then in summer.
We didn’t see any wild animals, but did pet a friendly cat and saw a horse getting new shoes.
This kids favorite house had a model train track set up throughout the entire front yard.
The kids were interested in the model trains and small buildings while I like to observe the miniature landscape plants.
This is one vine that you probably will not find growing in the low desert. This is a lovely Clematis vine and I have grown one before years ago when we lived in Phoenix. The problem was – it never flowered because it was too hot.
I haven’t grown one since.
We passed this bountiful vegetable garden.
I love this terraced garden, don’t you?
You don’t have to rely solely on flowers for color in the landscape. I love the trailing ivy underneath these oak trees.
Besides our walks, there was fun to be had back at the cabin…
The kids had fun racing monster trucks down the driveway every evening after dinner.
It was nice for Kai to be able to participate in racing without having to run.
Gracie enjoyed sitting on the porch and reading her favorite book.
On rainy afternoons, grandma kept the kids busy with art projects.
During the week, each family was responsible for making dinner for everyone. It was nice only having to cook once the entire week.
After dinner, the big kids would carry Kai and his wheelchair upstairs to play.
They would ‘charge’ the bad guy armed with a plastic gun and a cushion for a shield.
They usually triumphed over the villain.
Of course, we made sure to spend time fishing.
My husband kept our fishing line untangled and our hooks baited.
We spent quite a bit of time enjoying the peace and quiet of fishing.
Unfortunately, there was a little too much peace and quiet since we didn’t catch any. Not even a nibble.
On our last day, we hiked around the lake enjoying the beauty of the woods.
We had a wonderful trip and 2 days after we returned home, it was time for the kids to start school.
**Thank you for letting me take you along on our summer vacation.**
Salt River Canyon
Family Vacation Getaway…
What To Do In The Garden: August Edition
azplantladyAugust has arrived, which means that my kids have started school and peace has descended on my house 🙂
Soon fall will be here, which is a very busy time in the Southwest garden because it is the best time of year to add new plants to the garden.
But in the meantime, there are still tasks that need to be done this month in the garden.
Here is my latest Southwest To Do List from Houzz.com
Hire residential landscape architects to help with all aspects of landscape design, from selecting or designing patio furniture, to siting a detached garage or pergola.
Highlight your home”s architecture with the expert advice of interior design specialists and top home decorators.
hope your week is off to a good start.
There is still time to enter my giveaway for the newest book from Timber Press –
“Miniature Garden Giveaway – Create Your Own Living World”
Do You Prefer Pretty Flowers or Dead Stems?
AZ Plant Lady, WildflowersFor those of you who have read my blog for a while, you have probably heard me talk about the epidemic of over-pruning. But, that doesn’t mean that you should never prune. The other day, I was driving down a street in our neighborhood when I saw one of my favorite perennials, Angelita Daisies.
The problem was, that they didn’t look very attractive…
They looked like tufts of green grass with dead sticks.
This is what Angelita Daisies should look like…
So, what went wrong with my neighbor’s Angelitas?
They didn’t remove the dead flowers.
Dead-heading doesn’t have to be done to them all the time, but once every 4 – 8 weeks will make a huge difference in their appearance.
In general, dead-heading spent flowers stimulates the plant to produce more flowers. The reason for this is that the goal of flowers is to produce seed. So, if dead flowers are allowed to remain on your plants, they figure that they have done their job and will stop flowering.
Of course, if you want to collect seeds from some of your favorite plants, then allow the flowers to dry and then collect the seeds (this doesn’t work that well with hybrids).
But, if you want colorful flowers – then take a couple of minutes a month and clip off the dead flowers.
Would you like to know why Angelita Daisies are one of my favorite perennials? Check out my post about this wonderful plant…
“A Bright, Sunny, Lesser-Known Plant”
Miniature Gardens – Creating Your Own Little World
azplantlady*This blog post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). Thanks for your support in this way.*
Have you ever seen a miniature garden? They are becoming very popular and are sometimes called ‘fairy gardens’. I must admit that I’ve been quite intrigued by them and so I was very excited with the publishers of “Gardening in Miniature” sent me a book, free of charge, for my honest review.
If you aren’t familiar with miniature gardens, it is helpful to think of them as large gardens shrunk down in size into a tiny world that fits into a single container.
If you like to peruse Pinterest, you have undoubtedly seen some great examples of miniature or fairy gardens.
I came upon a collection of miniature gardens for sale at an antique shop in upstate New York a couple of years ago.
They were planted in old enamelware pots and bowls.
As you can see, there is a pathway delineated by the larger pebbles, small fiber optic grasses, and a yellow viola in this garden.
This garden has a tiny shovel and watering can in it.
For some people, the accessories are the most enjoyable part of creating a miniature garden. I would probably be stuck in my local Michael’s or Hobby Lobby trying to decide what small accessories to include in my little garden.
I must admit that I have been thinking of creating my own miniature garden. Imagine a tiny world neatly contained inside of a pot. For those of you who experience cold winters, you can enjoy having a little garden indoors all winter long.
Have you considered trying to create a miniature garden?
Well, if you have – then I have a great book for you to read…
Gardening in Miniature by Janit Calvo is a visual feast of beautiful and unique little gardens.
Of course, there is much more than miniature garden photos. The book has all the information you will need to create your own tiny garden. From container selection, a list of plants, soil type and how to care for your little garden – this book covers it all.
A beautiful garden is well-designed and small gardens are no different. Gardening in Miniature offers helpful advice on how to design your tiny garden using plants, pebbles, water features and adding small furniture or figurines. Have you ever created your own miniature garden?
*I was given this book, free of charge, for my honest review.
Preserve Fresh Herbs By Freezing Into Ice Cubes
AZ Plant Lady, herb gardeningI love growing herbs in my garden and one of the reasons is that they thrive in our hot, dry summers with minimal fuss.
I must admit that I sometimes forget to make use of my fresh herbs, or sometimes I have more than I need. Some frost-tender herbs like basil don’t grow in winter in my garden – so either I have too much in the summer and almost none at all in winter.
Well, no more! Did you know that you could freeze your fresh herbs so you could use them during the winter months?
I tried this with my chives earlier this summer and it was so easy to do.
Here is how to do it:
Choose your favorite herb…
Wash them.
Chop them into the desired size.
I just love chives.
Place your chopped herbs into an ice cube tray, filling up each one about 3/4 of the way full.
Fill up with water, taking care to allow a little room for expansion since water expands when it freezes.
Put in your freezer for a few hours.
Freezing herbs
Once frozen, pop out your ‘herb cubes’ and put them in a freezer container or plastic container and store in your freezer.
Freezing herbs
Now, whenever you need fresh herbs when you cook, add a few ice cubes to your favorite sauce.
**You can also freeze herbs into ice cubes using olive oil instead of water, if desired.
Another great way to preserve herbs is to dry them.I talked about how to do this in an earlier post – “How to Grow and Dry Herbs”
A Tale of a Street and Two Trees…
AZ Plant Lady, TreesLast month as I was leaving from a landscape consultation, I took some time to drive by a few of the landscapes in the neighborhood.
I immediately noticed that quite a few people had Olive trees growing in their front yards.
Olive tree
There was a large difference in how some of the homeowners pruned their Olive trees…
Believe it or not, both of the trees pictured above are the same type of Olive tree.
Some people like to formally prune their Olive trees while others like theirs to grow naturally.
Which one would you prefer?
OR
I know which look I prefer and it is much healthier for the tree and much less maintenance.
How about you?
Which style of pruning do you like – formal or natural?
A Lapful of Apples and Caramel Apple Jam
AZ Plant Lady, Fruit TreesLast week, I shared with you our latest apple harvest.
My kitchen was filled with bags and bags of delicious, crisp, apples from my mother’s apple trees.
(I don’t have any apples from my trees yet because they are too young).
admit that I didn’t get to my apples right away. So, they sat in my kitchen. My granddaughter, Lily, had other ideas for the apples.
She would pick out a couple of apples from the bags.
Lily then brought them over to me.
And, proceeded to put them in my lap.
By the time she was done, I got the message she was trying to tell me….
It was time to start making some treats with my apples.
In the past, I would make homemade applesauce. Once you have tasted homemade, the store-bought just doesn’t cut it.
This year, I was inspired to make something new.
How does Caramel Apple Jam sound?
I found this wonderful magazine at the checkout lane (after I had glanced over the tabloids to get my weekly update on celebrity happenings 😉
The magazine is a Better Homes & Gardens special publication devoted to preserving fruits and vegetables (I have seen it at Walmart and Barnes & Noble). It is filled with jams, jellies, sauces and so much more. I dog-eared half the magazine with recipes that I want to try.
Well, I decided the Caramel Apple Jam would be my first recipe to try.
The hardest part of making fruit jams is peeling and chopping fruit. So, I finally got smart and asked my 15-year old daughter to help me.
Chopping apples went so much more quickly with two people.
Like applesauce, we cooked the apples and then put them through a fruit mill, which removed the peels and ‘mushed’ up the apples to the consistency of applesauce.
At the same time the apples were cooking, I made the caramel from white sugar.
Then combined the two, put it in jars and processed them with my boiling water canner.
The Caramel Apple Jam tasted so good that I made two more batches that are now sitting in my pantry. It tastes great on toast or served warm over vanilla ice cream. My husband likes eating it plain out of the jar 😉
With my leftover apples, I sliced them up and added flour, sugar, cinnamon and lemon and froze them. I’ll use them later for apple pies, this fall.
How about you?
What are enjoying eating from your garden this summer?