Every morning when I headed to the side garden to water the new veggies I noticed my pink ruellia was getting taller and taller. I figured it was just some sort of freak growth spurt from the heavy monsoon rains we had a few weeks ago. Today I went back there and the ruellia was 7 feet tall! This must be a world record, right?

Wrong! Upon further inspection I discovered it was actually a desert willow tree growing right up through the middle of the ruellia. There are some of these trees in a wash next door and the winds must have spread the seed. This monster grew 7 feet in under 2 months!

I am going to start shaping it up as a tree this weekend. What a cool surprise!

We have desert willow seeds for sale here.

A few times a month we head out and collect the seeds for the new season. Today happens to be palm seed time.

This is a bucket of mediterranean fan palm fruit. The fleshy pulp is a beast to remove! There's a coconut-like seed underneath. One plant yields literally hundreds of seeds.

It is going to be a long day!

Monsoon humidity and high temps (113 this week!) makes being outside almost impossible, yet hardy desert plants thrive. I hope this photo shows that with a little practice, a lot of patience and knowing how to take care of each plant - your desert backyard can burst with color, even in the worst of the summer! This photo was taken at 110 degrees, mid-day.

If your queen palms are fed and watered properly, they will tolerate the summer sun. Pink and yellow lantana are the show-offs of the summer. Aloe, yucca and cactus will do just fine. Adding stone or mulch can keep the ground a few degrees cooler, too.

I am working on a palm tree troubleshooting section for the site, to help get your palms in top shape, no matter how burned, bleached, singed or droopy they are!

The storm has cleared and it left behind some pretty amazing sunset scenery! Here are a few photos:

We are knee deep in monsoon season here in the Arizona desert and tonight it fired up again. 50MPH winds, cloud-to-ground lightning and a heavy, rumbling bass of thunder!

Here is a quick picture of the storm just as it was approaching from the east:

Hopefully it will bring the temps down, at least temporarily, it was 113 today *with* humidity!

-Sheri

Did you know saguaro seeds are actually rather easy to sprout? All it takes is a semi-sunny spot and a bit of soil. They will sprout in almost any condition, except super moist.

Here are a few I had leftover from a germination test. These were scrap seeds I was going to throw away (they didn't meet the minimum required standards for sale @ Sherizona.com) but decided I would plant them to see what happened.

I had a 95% germination rate on scrap seeds. Nature can sometimes surprise you!

This picture is of 2-week-old saguaros.

Saguaro seeds sprout in only a few days and grow quite rapidly before tapering off to very, very slow growth!

These little guys will make a unique miniature cactus garden someday.

One of the toughest things in gardening is waiting. We all plant things and cannot wait for them to do what they promise. That could be a magnificent flower display, lush tree growth or, in this case, fruit production.

This is a picture of one of my 4-year-old grapefruit trees. Notice it is possible to grow citrus in the desert without leaf curl, citrus leaf yellowing and pest invasion! A little patience and a lot of practice will achieve results!

This grapefruit will be ready in the winter!

After 3 hearty days of monsoon storms we discover some of the garden thanking Mother Nature for the drink! Here is one of the ocotillos that usually appear as dead sticks most of the year, just 2 days after the rain:

It seems as if every day the Rainbow Eucalyptus in my desert backyard changes. We have had a bit of rain and increased humidity the past few days and my rainbow is loving it! The bark is starting to peel again, leaving a new color every time. Here is a closeup:

A rubber dam at the Tempe Town Lake in Phoenix has burst, gushing most of the 220+ acre lake into the canal next to it.
The man-made lake was built in 1999.

I wonder what is going to happen to the lake now....

Update: They are going to fill it back up with fresh water from the water company. Damn. Cost to fill up again: $400,000. Why not just wait until the rains come? Doesn't this thing overflow after good rains anyway? What do I know, I'll just stick to gardening ;)

First, the wind arrived and then came the dust. It didn't rain until 2 a.m.

Finally, the first actual rain in the area in almost 5 months!

July in the Arizona desert doesn't have to mean dust devils and tumbleweeds. It is entirely possible to have a thriving desert garden.

Here is a pic of one area in my garden. This is where the agave, cactus and yucca all come together, sprinkled with a few palms and some heat-hearty lantana.

Get creative and you too can have color in July!

The peruvians in the garden are all blooming at once this morning, it is quite a sight! Here is a unique one, it has more of a pink tone to it than the usually yellow. As you know these guys bloom in the middle of the night and die off by lunch, so the best time to get a picture is right before the sun comes up.

I snapped this pic at 5:15 a.m.!

Monsoon season has hit the desert and while we haven't had any rain in my neck of the woods I did get a shot of this sassy little guy from end to end!

Say it ain't so, right? How can a tree native to the rainforest thrive in such a blazing hot, dry climate? Fairly easily! On a recent trip to Hawaii I discovered this incredible gem at a botanical garden in Honolulu:

This is a Mindanao Gum Tree, aka the Rainbow Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus deglupta).

The name hails from the spectacular array of colors the trunk develops over time. In nature it can grow to be 300 feet tall! The rainbow eucalyptus doesn't even get half that size planted in places like Florida and it's yet to be discovered just how tall they would get if they manage to survive in the desert, but I intend to find out.

After quite a bit of searching I found a young rainbow online and had it delivered. I planted it nearly 5 months ago. It gets about a gallon of water a day. Provided I do not let the roots get dried out it seems to be growing very well, even during 112 degree days! It is in full sun most of the day. Well-draining soil is a must for this amazing tree, other than that I haven't babied it much.

As you can see the little guy is already starting to peel its trunk, revealing the first layer of the rainbow. Every day this tree looks a bit larger, you can almost watch it grow. It has grown about 3 feet so far since it was planted in late winter.

I'll keep this up to date and post the growth of this beautiful plant. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

-Sheri

Today I planted two 2-foot tall plumeria in pots and put them on an upstairs covered patio. My goal is to get the little guys planted in the soil next spring, but for now they are going in pots.

I will post my progress. Growing plumeria in the desert isn't all that complicated provided you find a spot in your garden it enjoys and keep an eye on the water. Amazingly enough it is easier to kill a plumeria by overwatering than by underwatering. Who'd have thought?

Happy 4th everyone!

-Sheri

When it's hot outside moisture evaporates though the soil at an amazing rate. The best way to conquer this issue is with mulch around the root areas to help slow down the water loss.

Mulch can lower the soil temperature during the hot summer months.

Inorganic mulch (such as the crushed granite found all over desert gardens in AZ, CA, NV and NM) cools the soil and slows down the rate of evaporation. Many desert natives such as succulents thrive near large, rocky areas which provide the needed coolant for their root systems. Oftentimes it only takes a few degrees under those rocks to keep a plant thriving.

Organic mulch (such as old leaves, spent flowers and tree trimmings) cools the surface of the soil just as well as using inorganic mulch, but with an added benefit: this old plant material is rich in nutrients, which when broken down is like healthy compost for the plants growing around it.

If you are ever concerned about the longevity of certain plants in your garden surviving our brutal summers, think about adding a layer of mulch. It could be the last line of defense for your overheated landscape.

Photos:

If you live in a naturally dry environment harvesting rainwater is a great way to conserve and save a few pennies at the same time.

You'll need three things in order to collect rainwater: a collection area, a transportation method and a storage system.

The collection area can usually be something like the roof of your house. For example if you have a 40 x 25 foot roof, an hour of moderate rainfall can generate approx. 600 gallons of rainwater. Rather than have your gutters dump this water out into the gravel (or even worse, down the drain) you can develop a storage system and divert this precious resource to your garden!

Make sure your gutters have some sort of debris filter on them, you can buy these at your local hardware store or make your own from screens relatively inexpensively. You'll also want to make sure the opening of your collection bin has a similar screen to keep insects out of standing water.

Direct the downspouts into the storage bins. The bins should be held together via hose that connects from one barrel to another. Several places sell the collection bins or you could make your own with barrels, a hose, some connections and a spigot. Here's how to do it.

For overflow you can attach an overflow port near the top of the bin that can attach to a hose and direct overflow out into your garden.

Things to do in your desert garden in August:

Your desert backyard can thrive with the right low-water plants.

Plant:
- Heat-loving annuals such as portulaca and sunflowers.
- Palm trees thrive in hot, sandy soil.

Care:
- Pay particular attention to your trees this month, keep airways available as it's now middle of monsoon season.

Watering:
- Bulbs need to maintain a regular watering schedule while they are actively blooming. Water to a depth of 6 inches each time.
- Water annuals daily. Annuals in planters may require watering twice daily, depending on pot size, composition and sun exposure.

Fertilize:

To grow winter and spring wildflowers, plant in the fall (Oct - Dec). Wildflower seeds 'wake up' once the temps reach about 70 degrees F. Try to plant in a very sunny location with about 7 to 8 hours of sunlight per day. Make sure your soil is well-draining.

For better soil, follow our Rich Soil guide or at the very least, mix your existing soil with sand, perlite or even old potting soil.

Do not bury your seeds! The moisture in the soil will decompose them. The little guys need to breathe. Just leave a light dusting of soil on top and tap it down lightly with a rake.

Keep the soil moist until the seeds sprout. Once they begin to grow water periodically only if you notice the plants yellowing or wilting. They shouldn't need too much water.

A couple of weeks after your wildflowers have spent blooms, cut them back. They'll reseed fairly easily.