This Easter brings with it memories of celebrations past and hopes of an extra special holiday this year.
Growing up, my entire extended family would gather together at my parent’s house and we would have a wonderful lunch. My mom was in charge of the food while my dad was in charge of the Easter egg hunt.
My dad had so much fun hiding the eggs and would cheer us on as we would frantically search for the eggs. Even as teenagers, we would still participate in the annual family Easter egg hunt.
When I grew up and had children, my dad would hide the eggs for them too.
I have also been blessed to spend Easter with my in-laws each year. My kids would also have fun having Easter egg hunts with them as well.
My two daughters and my son searching for the elusive Easter eggs.
The Easter, above, was especially memorable because it was my son’s first Easter celebration. We had just adopted him from China and he couldn’t really walk, so he crawled around to get his Easter eggs. (He has corrective surgery soon after).
The next Easter, he could not only walk, but run with his new braces helping him.
Each year, we spend the Saturday before Easter going on a huge Easter egg hunt, which is put on by the adult community where my in-laws live.
It is always crowded and crazy and the kids just love it – so do my in-laws.
The next day (Easter) is spent with my family, after church is over. The kids get to enjoy the annual Easter egg hunt, that my dad would organize.
The Easter celebration pictured below, is somewhat bittersweet to me.
You see, it is the last one that I got to spend with my dad.
He and my mother had just moved to Arizona from California one month earlier and they were so excited to host Easter at their new house.
It was fun to hang out with family and friends. My nephew was just 4 months old and my oldest daughter was newly engaged.
Sadly, my dad passed away suddenly just 5 weeks later from bacterial meningitis. This is one of the last photos that was taken of him.
Four years later, I still miss him and I always think of how special he made the Easter egg hunts. My husband and the other men of the family have picked up where he left off and hide the eggs for the new generation of kids on Easter Sunday.
This Saturday, I will spend Easter with my in-laws as usual and the kids are very excited about the huge Easter egg hunt at their community.
But this Easter brings sadness with it too. Some of you may remember me mentioning that my father-in-law is battling ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). I guess I shouldn’t say ‘battling’ because there is no cure and it is moving awfully fast.
He has lost his ability to speak, breathing is getting harder, muscle weakness and difficulty eating has made a feeding tube necessary.
I truly hate this horrible disease. But, it cannot take away the wonderful memories we have of our past Easter holidays with him and our ability to celebrate it with him this year.
My wish is that we will be grateful for the time we still have with him and that the memories that we will take from this special day will bring a smile to our face when he is gone.
A Chicken, Flowers and a Surprise….
AZ Plant LadyEarlier this week, I had a single day full of landscape consults. I enjoy helping people with their plants and landscapes.
My second consult of the day was with a couple who had just moved here from Ohio. They had questions about one of the Saguaro cactus, which was leaning a bit as well as other general gardening questions.
As I was walking up the driveway, the homeowner called out and told me to approach slowly and quietly. Then she pointed to her ceramic planter…
It was a colorful ceramic planter that was in the shape of a chicken.
But, the planter itself isn’t what she was talking about.
It was what was inside….
Can you see her?
Here is a closer look…
This little mama is a Gambel’s Quail, who was busy sitting on her eggs.
I just love it when I am able to see nesting birds in unusual spots, don’t you?
After I moved away and she flew away for a short while. So, I moved in and took a quick picture.
She will certainly be busy once her 13 chicks hatch.
The father was close by and kept a close eye on me until I moved on.
Gambel’s Quail are a quite abundant throughout the Sonoran desert. In the spring, both the male and female take care of the young, who look like little balls of fluff. They are very cute.
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I have been quite busy lately, trying to get all of my consults done and articles written.
Why?
Because I am headed out on a road trip in less then a week!
I plan to share my trip with you, (if you like) and will post more details soon 🙂
Does Your Tree Look Like This?
An Easter Wish…
az plant lady familyThis Easter brings with it memories of celebrations past and hopes of an extra special holiday this year.
Growing up, my entire extended family would gather together at my parent’s house and we would have a wonderful lunch. My mom was in charge of the food while my dad was in charge of the Easter egg hunt.
My dad had so much fun hiding the eggs and would cheer us on as we would frantically search for the eggs. Even as teenagers, we would still participate in the annual family Easter egg hunt.
When I grew up and had children, my dad would hide the eggs for them too.
I have also been blessed to spend Easter with my in-laws each year. My kids would also have fun having Easter egg hunts with them as well.
My two daughters and my son searching for the elusive Easter eggs.
The Easter, above, was especially memorable because it was my son’s first Easter celebration. We had just adopted him from China and he couldn’t really walk, so he crawled around to get his Easter eggs. (He has corrective surgery soon after).
The next Easter, he could not only walk, but run with his new braces helping him.
Each year, we spend the Saturday before Easter going on a huge Easter egg hunt, which is put on by the adult community where my in-laws live.
It is always crowded and crazy and the kids just love it – so do my in-laws.
The next day (Easter) is spent with my family, after church is over. The kids get to enjoy the annual Easter egg hunt, that my dad would organize.
The Easter celebration pictured below, is somewhat bittersweet to me.
You see, it is the last one that I got to spend with my dad.
He and my mother had just moved to Arizona from California one month earlier and they were so excited to host Easter at their new house.
It was fun to hang out with family and friends. My nephew was just 4 months old and my oldest daughter was newly engaged.
Sadly, my dad passed away suddenly just 5 weeks later from bacterial meningitis. This is one of the last photos that was taken of him.
Four years later, I still miss him and I always think of how special he made the Easter egg hunts. My husband and the other men of the family have picked up where he left off and hide the eggs for the new generation of kids on Easter Sunday.
This Saturday, I will spend Easter with my in-laws as usual and the kids are very excited about the huge Easter egg hunt at their community.
But this Easter brings sadness with it too. Some of you may remember me mentioning that my father-in-law is battling ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). I guess I shouldn’t say ‘battling’ because there is no cure and it is moving awfully fast.
He has lost his ability to speak, breathing is getting harder, muscle weakness and difficulty eating has made a feeding tube necessary.
I truly hate this horrible disease. But, it cannot take away the wonderful memories we have of our past Easter holidays with him and our ability to celebrate it with him this year.
My wish is that we will be grateful for the time we still have with him and that the memories that we will take from this special day will bring a smile to our face when he is gone.
April’s Monthly Bouquet
AZ Plant LadySpring seems to be rushing by so quickly. It seems it was just yesterday when I was protecting some of my more tender plants from frost.
Well, it is time for this month’s monthly bouquet. I had no problem figuring out what flowers I would use…
My daughter’s ‘Abraham Darby’ rose is just covered in beautiful blooms.
I only wish that you could smell their incredible fragrance through the computer 😉
Okay, so maybe some of you are wondering about this Monthly Garden Bouquet. Well, here are the details below…..
If you would like to participate in this month’s MGB, here are the guidelines:
1. MGB begins on the 21st of each month and runs until the end of each month. Bouquets can be submitted during this time (or even later 🙂
2. Create your own garden bouquet as fancy or simple as you like.
3. I would appreciate it if you would provide a link back to my post inside of your MGB post, but it is not required 🙂
4. Add your link to Mr. Linky below and that’s it!
It can be as simple or fancy as you like. Each month, I cannot wait to see what you all come up with.
A Boat Race…On a Farm
Double S FarmsYes, you heard me right….a boat race on a farm.
For those of you wonderful people who have stuck around, reading this blog for a while, you have heard me talk about Double S Farms quite a few times.
For those of you who may be newer readers, Double S Farms is the residence of my mother, my sister and her family. It is actually a mini-farm, or what some call a ‘ranchette’. Besides two little boys and dogs, there is a vegetable garden, fruit trees (apple, lemon, grapefruit, kumquat, peach and plum) and chickens.
Every Tuesday night, my husband and I load up our family into the minivan and head over to Double S Farms for dinner. I always look forward to Tuesdays because I don’t have to cook 😉
This past Tuesday, my brother-in-law took my son, Kai and my two nephews out to race boats.
Okay, you may be asking, where can you race boats on a farm?
In the canal, of course!
Double S Farms has an irrigation canal running along behind it.
The boys were so excited to race their boats.
It turns out that they weren’t the only ones excited about watching the race…
The neighbor’s horses came over to see the action.
So did the cattle next door…
Well, I wish that I could say that the race was close, but it wasn’t.
My nephew Finley’s boat lost, while my son’s won.
I must admit that I was kind of routing for Finley’s boat….because my husband made it for him a long time ago.
You know what?
I can’t think of a better way to spend an evening, can you?
Hummingbirds Perched Up High….
Hummingbird GardeningEarlier this week, my husband and I decided to get outdoors and enjoy our beautiful spring weather. So, we visited our local Riparian Preserve. We had a great time walking and talking, but we also brought our camera so that we could take pictures of some of the feathered creatures that congregate around the preserve.
As we were walking, I would look upwards at the trees to see if I could see any birds. Sometimes they weren’t always easy to spot.
Local Riparian Preserve
Can you see it?
There is a hummingbird at the very tip of the flowering Palo Verde tree.
As we walked, we noticed quite a few hummingbirds perched high above.
An Anna’s Hummingbird perched in a Mesquite tree.
An Ash tree is the perfect perch for this little hummer.
We were able to get some really great photos, but because of our location, could not always identify which species of hummingbird we were looking at.
But, we did get a great photo of this Costa’s Hummingbird. His sharp eyes never left us.
Costa’s Hummingbird in an Acacia tree.
As we were walking along the trail, I heard the distinctive sounds of a hummer nearby. But, it took me a little while to locate it.
Can you see it?
Anna’s hummingbirds do blend well with their surroundings, except when the sun reflects off of their bright pink throat…
As we were leaving, we saw a few more of our feathered friends…
Black-Chinned Hummingbird
We were fortunate enough to have seen 3 different hummingbird species. Anna’s and Costa’s are year round residents, but the Black Chinned hummingbirds are summer residents, so it was especially nice to see them as well.
You know what? I think the fact that hummingbirds are so tiny might account for their preference for perching up on the tallest branches of trees?
What do you think?
Signs of Spring All Around…..
AZ Plant LadyYou know what? I don’t think that I know anyone who doesn’t like spring. Do you?
This past week, I spent a some time capturing some of the signs of spring around me with my camera.
I hope you enjoy them…..
The beautiful vermilion colored flowers of the Ocotillo.
Hummingbirds think they are not only beautiful, but delicious as well….
There are signs of new life all around….
Canadian Goslings with their mother.
The desert is starting to bloom as well…..
Flowering Prickly Pear Cactus
I am starting to count down the weeks until the peaches are fully ripe….
I can almost taste the peach jam that I will be making with my mother next month 🙂
Yesterday evening, my daughter and I spent time harvesting carrots from our vegetable garden.
Anyone have a recipe for carrot soup?
How about you?
What signs of spring do you see where you live?
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Please stop by to read my latest Birds & Blooms blog
“Even Vegetables Need Friends”
Skies Full of Yellow Blossoms….
AZ Plant LadyBlue Palo Verde
This is one of my most favorite times of year.
Throughout the desert Southwest, our iconic Palo Verde trees are beginning to bloom.
Gorgeous display of yellow
Drive down any street and you will undoubtedly see a gorgeous display of yellow.
There are 4 different types of Palo Verde trees that are commonly planted, which include the Blue Palo Verde (Parkinsonia floridium), Palo Brea (Parkinsonia praecox), Foothills Palo Verde (Parkinsonia microphylla) and my personal favorite ‘Desert Museum’ Palo Verde (Parkinsonia hybrid ‘Desert Museum’).
Interestingly, not all Palo Verde species bloom at the same time. Right now, Blue Palo Verde trees are in full bloom, yet ‘Desert Museum’ Palo Verdes will begin to bloom in earnest in a few weeks.
I can hardly wait for mine to start, it looked so beautiful last year…..
Yesterday, my husband and I went to visit the Riparian Preserve in nearby Gilbert. I have visited a few times before and I am always struck by the beauty. We saw so many different types of birds and I took lots of photos, which I will be posting soon on my Birds & Blooms blog.
I hope you are all having a good week so far.
I love spring…..just not the allergies that come with it 😉
Flowers Raining Down….
WInter and Summer Vegetables….Oh My!
Vegetable GardeningI just love spring….and not just because everything is turning green and beginning to bloom in my garden.
I love this time of year because I have both winter and summer vegetables growing in my garden. I have harvested some of my winter vegetables already including my broccoli and lettuce. But, my spinach, garlic and carrots are still going strong.
I love how the leafy greens of my carrots look like ferns…
Winter and Summer Vegetables
My dog likes them too…
I must confess that my spinach has grown huge. I had been really good about picking it when the leaves were small and using them in salads, but life kind of got away from me and so did the spinach leaves 😉
I cannot wait to pick my garlic in May. It takes a long time to grow, (I planted it in September), but it will totally be worth it. I just need to wait for the green tops to start turning brown and then I can harvest them.
In early March, I planted my spring and summer vegetables. I went for less variety this year and concentrated on what we love to eat the most.
My San Marzano tomatoes are growing quickly and is flowering. I cannot wait to use the tomatoes for cooking.
My young cucumber plants are enjoying the protection that their friend, ‘Marigold’ provides.
I just love fresh corn, straight from the garden. In our area, we are fortunate to be able to not only plant a corn crop in the spring, but we can also plant corn in late summer for a fall harvest.
This year, I have planted 3 separate areas of corn and each area was planted 2 weeks apart from each other. That way, not all of my corn will be ready at once and I can extend my corn harvest.
Young corn seedlings.
While not a vegetable, Sunflowers are always present in my vegetable garden. I cannot wait for them to bloom…
I love to venture out into my vegetable garden to see how rapidly everything is growing.
The weather has been so nice and my garden has really responded.
Our spring weather has been rather crazy going from extremes. Last week we broke a record when we hit 100 degrees in Phoenix, which was 20 degrees above normal.
Tomorrow, we are expecting a storm that will bring temperatures down to 22 degrees below normal for this time of year.
So far, my garden doesn’t seem to be affected by the extremes.
So, how about you? How is your garden growing?
Have you experienced any crazy, spring weather?
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Please check out my latest Birds & Blooms blog
“Raising Butterflies Part 3”.
‘Friendly’ Plants in the Vegetable Garden
desert, Vegetable GardeningYou know what? I just love this time of year. The garden is full of colorful, blooming plants and all the brown, crispy frost-damaged growth has been pruned away.
That was what my husband and I did yesterday. We finished pruning off all of the frost damaged growth and everything now looks so much better.
I spent some time out in my vegetable garden, which has some winter vegetables still growing as well as summer vegetables. I will show you more about my vegetable garden soon.
Alyssum, Marigold and Bachelor’s Button growing in the vegetable garden.
What really caught my eye were my beautiful, flowering companion plants in the vegetable garden. What are companion plants you may wonder? Well, basically they are plants that attract beneficial insects to your garden and/or repel damaging insects, which decrease or even eliminate the need for pesticides.
Alyssum growing beneath a San Marzano tomato plant.
I just love the fragrance and delicate beauty of alyssum. It also attracts bees to my garden, which help to pollinate my summer vegetables.
Marigolds
Marigolds are a powerhouse in terms of repelling damaging insects. The fragrance of marigolds is just fine with me and I just love their bright flowers.
Finally, I have a new flowering plant in my vegetable garden, which is not listed on any companion plant list, but it is just beautiful and was given to me by my fellow blogger Grace, who lives in Oregon, and has a fabulous blog called Gardening With Grace. She was kind enough to send me some after I admired it in her garden.
I planted it in the corner of my vegetable garden last October and it started flowering just a few weeks ago.
Pink Oxalis
I just love how the little pink flowers are borne on top of clover-like leaves, don’t you? I’m not sure how it will do with the summer heat, but the unknown is something that has always attracted me to gardening. I do hope that it does well.
In the meantime, whenever I look at this beautiful little plant, I am so thankful for Grace’s generosity.
If you would like to learn more about companion plants, you can check out this earlier post, where I list quite a few beautiful, companion plants.
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I hope your week is going well. I had a bunch of consults earlier this week, but now I have a chance to catch my breath and have fun writing again 🙂
Please check out my latest blog post over at Birds & Blooms.
Journey Into My Backyard – The Sonoran Desert…
CaliforniaI apologize, but life is kind of crazy this week, so I promise that I will get to back to my ‘Tree Planting’ posts soon. In the meantime, I would like to share with you one of my favorite posts that I wrote about 1 1/2 years ago. I was rather new at blogging at the time so most of you probably have not read it. I hope you enjoy it 🙂
When people think of a desert, most envision a place of intense heat, sparse plants, snakes and lots of sand. Well, some of that is true, but there is much, much more which I have discovered. I am not a native desert dweller. In fact, I was born and raised near the beach in Southern California and I never thought that I would live in the desert. However, here I am, having lived in Arizona for over 23 years and I wouldn’t have it any other way….
All of the photos were taken in an area about 30 minutes northeast of Phoenix.
The desert that I live in is called the Sonoran Desert and it occupies over 120,000 sq. miles covering parts of Arizona, California and Mexico. Although deserts around the world do not receive much rainfall, the Sonoran Desert receives more then any other desert in the world. We have two seasons of rain. In the winter our storms come from the west from the Pacific coast and the rains are usually gentle. In the summer our rains come up from Mexico and are called “monsoons”, which means “wind shift”. These summer storms are sporadic and result in torrential rainfall and high winds. Often, when we receive these torrential downpours, my kids and I just stand inside our front door, just watching the rain.
By the way…..you know you are an ‘official’ desert dweller when you rejoice whenever it rains.
Because of our dual rainy seasons, the Sonoran Desert has the most animal and plant species of any North American desert. We have over 2,000 native plant species alone. In the spring, the desert is awash in wildflowers and cactus blooms. The rain brings out the distinct, yet pleasing, scent of the Creosote bush (if you rub the leaves in your fingers, it smells like the rain). I live in zone 8b and we do experience occasional freezing conditions during the winter.
Interestingly, the western part of the Sonoran Desert, located in California (Palm Springs and surrounding area), is regarded as a sub-desert called the Colorado Desert. It differs in appearance and in that the soils are sandy, there is less rainfall in the summer and as a result there is less plant density and native plant species. The Saguaro cactus does not grow naturally in the Colorado Desert. If you have a chance to drive across the California – Arizona border, you can see the difference as you cross over the Colorado River. This sub-desert has a beauty of it’s own and I enjoy visiting this part of the Sonoran Desert.
The Sonoran Desert is a fascinating place with cactus and snakes (I rarely see them), but is also filled with trees, shrubs, flowers and wildlife. Far from being a barren wasteland, this desert is full of life and beauty.
It is my home….
Two Iconic Sonoran Desert Plants: Saguaro and Ocotillo