Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

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Cactus in Pots

Cactus in Pots

For several years, I have had a collection of cacti in pots in and behind the patio. This week, I moved several of them into the courtyard where we will be able to enjoy them more than out back.

The potted cacti include some recently acquired ones courtesy of Crotalus, our friend in the California desert. Thanks to him for those. Several of these will await next spring to display their flowers, while others will continue to grow to the point where We will need to re-pot them or put them in the rock and cactus garden.

24 Nov 2015 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography

Dark Backed Goldfinch

Goldfinch

I was in the courtyard today with my camera intending to take some photos of Bob planting a couple of new xeriscape acquisitions when I noticed this little goldfinch taking seeds from the front feeder. He was not startled by my appearance in the courtyard and just stayed perched on the feeder taking the Nyjer seeds. I approached him and got several shots like the one above before he finally took off.

I looked up goldfinch on Wikipedia and found that there are several varieties of them. The ones that come around here are called the Dark Backed “Lesser” Goldfinch. They are a very small songbird according to the Wikipedia Article:

The lesser goldfinch or dark-backed goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American goldfinch and Lawrence’s goldfinch, it forms the American goldfinches clade in the genus Spinus sensu stricto.

The American goldfinches can be distinguished by the males having a black (rarely green) forehead, whereas the latter is (like the rest of the face) red or yellow in the European goldfinch and its relatives. North American males are markedly polymorphic and 5 subspecies are often named; at least 2 of them seem to represent a less-progressed stage in evolution however.

16 Nov 2015 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

Fall Weather

Fall Weather

The second spring seems to have come to an end since the lows are now in the mid-forties and the highs rarely get above 70. Fall is upon us, I’m afraid.

The porch thermometer was at 48° after nine this morning when we took the dogs for their first morning walk. With the little breeze blowing, it felt more like 38°.

The forecast is for warmer on the weekend when we will be attending our annual Bluegrass Days festival up at the rodeo grounds. More on that later. Meanwhile, enjoy the image of a nice cool afternoon in our corner of the desert. Click on the image to enlarge.

11 Nov 2015 by Arizona Environment Home & Garden

Sacred Datura

Sacred Datura

When we walk the dogs for their daily trip up the road, we pass a neighbor’s property which is still unimproved/unmaintained natural desert, complete with creosote, mesquite, cat’s paw and a host of native cacti. There is this one little shrub that we have been passing and not paying much mind to it. Recently, seed pods resembling blowfish have appeared. Out of curiosity, I went to our desert guide to see if I could find a match. I found Sacred Datura to be a match for what we were seeing.

I looked up sacred datura on Wikipedia and found that the binomial name was Datura Wrightii which is a hallucinogenic herb used by some native American tribes.

Datura wrightii or sacred datura is the name of a poisonous perennial plant and ornamental flower of southwestern North America. It is sometimes used as a hallucinogen. D. wrightii is classified as a deliriant and an anticholinergic.

It is a vigorous herbaceous perennial that grows 30 cm to 1.5 m tall and wide. The leaves are broad and rounded at the base, tapering to a point, often with wavy margins. The flowers are the most striking feature, being sweetly fragrant white trumpets up to 20 cm (7.9 in) long, often tinted purple, especially at the margin. Five narrow points are spaced symmetrically around the rim. It can bloom from April to October. In clear weather, flowers open at nearly full dark and wither a few hours after sunrise the following morning; in cloudy weather, they may open earlier and last longer.

The seeds are borne in a spiny, globular capsule 3 to 4 cm in diameter, which opens when fully ripe.

D. wrightii is found in northern Mexico and the adjoining U. S. states, as far north as southern Utah, in open land with well-drained soils. It is also commonly planted as an ornamental, especially in xeriscapes.

The name commemorates the botanist Charles Wright.

Given that it is used in xeriscapes, we might try and obtain some of the seeds to cultivate new plants we can use for the rock and cactus garden.

10 Nov 2015 by Arizona Environment Home & Garden

A Beautiful Yellow Rosebud

A Beautiful Yellow Rosebud

Today was a busy day for us. Actually, the whole week has been an entire disruption to our peaceful little retirement routine. Monday, I went to the dentist for my regular cleaning and check-up and the exam showed I had a broken molar that should be crowned. Wasting no time, I went back in on Tuesday to get that work done. Wednesday, we took a trip down to the northwest Phoenix metro area to do some shopping and what not. All the while under stormy skies. I think this might be a record-setting October for rainfall in recent years.

Back to today – we went grocery shopping for our coming weekend meal preparation (the whole week, actually) and afterward, we both had appointments with the dermatologist. The “derm” eradicated several skin lesions on each of us with oversized Q-tips dipped in liquid nitrogen. He did not find anything that could be considered a health risk like skin cancer, but he did say to come back every six months or so for a check-up. Too many years in the desert sun without sunscreen (not available in our youth) takes its toll.

The stormy weather cleared up today and we got considerable sunshine as we went about our business. The yellow roses in the flower concession were beautiful and I now have a dozen in the vase on the sofa table. Click on the image to enlarge.

22 Oct 2015 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Work Day

Ready to Transplant In the Ground

Now that the temperatures have cooled (only 90° today), we started some of the chores we have been putting off. My first order of business was to put Damsel’s Prickly Pear cactus in the ground in the rock and cactus garden. She grew this cactus in a pot from a single paddle over the last year or so and it is now ready to make it on it’s own. The two images above are of the cactus in the pot transported to the spot we picked for it and the cactus in the ground taken later in the day. Click either image to enlarge.

There was another prickly pear cactus we planted in the yard that needed to be moved since it was in close proximity to the new RV drive. This variety spreads like crazy and we didn’t want to chance it growing over the concrete. Since it was still small enough, I dug it up in one piece and moved it thirty feet or so over to the west property line fence.

Meanwhile, Damsel was doing her thing inside the house and on the patio; she mopped the tile floors and started draining the patio spa, the latter needing the water changed for the fall season when we heat the spa (it is at ambient temperature when we use it during the summer).

We decided to remove some other invasive cacti, also in close proximity of the RV drive. These were Beavertail cactus that we rescued from the back of the lot and that we no longer wanted by the drive not only for the proximity issue, but they had some sort of malady that was eating holes in the paddles. I took out one on each side of the RV drive and, with Damsel’s assistance, transported via wheelbarrow and put in the dumpster.

At this point, we called it a day for the yard work. Perhaps over the weekend we will refill the spa and get the heater started. We might also remove a couple more Beavertails that are close to the RV drive. Or we might postpone all of it until next week.

09 Oct 2015 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

A Landscape Waterfall

Waterfall

We took a little detour today along the street just to the north of our little road. We have lived here for almost five years and had not driven through this segment of our very local neighborhood. We were stunned to see several beautiful homes and landscapes, but none of them compared to this one where the homeowner installed a water feature on the front of the lot.

This working waterfall must have been ten to twelve feet in height from source to the pond below. This property is similar to our situation where the house is on a berm above the road, but the similarity ends there. This place had giant boulders stacked in front with embedded cacti, trees and this waterfall. I looked at some of the photos that I took and there appeared to be accent lighting on the property. It will be interesting to take the short walk some evening this fall and see if they’re all lit up. Click on the image to enlarge.

08 Oct 2015 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography

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