05.12.2012 - Well the heat is back and now that a good chunk of the seed picking season is over it's time to upgrade the seed site. This is currently underway and ordering your favorite desert seeds will be super easy. You'll even be able to order with your amazon account for even faster processing. In addition, over two dozen new varieties are on the way so keep an eye out for a new and expanded Sherizona.com by May 20th. As always, happy planting.

03.20.2012 - During my semi-annual visit to the Desert Botanical Garden's massive plant sale I noticed a very familiar site:



The garden used some of Desert Plant Guide's plant information profiles. Nice to see the pros are enjoying my efforts!

If you haven't been to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix AZ it really is a must-see. Twice annually they hold their plant sale which literally has thousands of desert-adapted plants for sale. The prices are extremely reasonable and there are dozens of nursery owners and volunteers on-hand to answer any planting questions.

I've been to the plant sale several different times throughout the years and they really have plants for every type of desert garden. From bougainvillea to torch glow cactus to salvia and the unique boojum tree this is a must on every gardeners to-visit list!

For more info about this wonderful place be sure to visit DBG.org.

03.19.2012 - I've covered some of the desert's animals before but a recent string of coyote attacks here in Phoenix gave me the idea to cover this topic in a little more detail. I hope you find this information helpful and remember, being proactive just might save the life of your pet.

My 20 pound Shetland Sheepdog is no match for a coyote. Here are a few tips to keep your furry ones safe.

Many homeowners in the Vistancia area of North Peoria have been attacked by coyotes in their own backyards. One of the reasons this happens is our extremely dry winter. Typically when we have wet winters many of the desert animals can survive just fine with what's in their typical territory. When the land dries up, the coyotes (along with rabbits, javelina, snakes and rabbits) head to our yards to get the food they need to survive. While most of these attacks on residents happened in fenceless yards it is not uncommon for a hungry predator to jump your fence. We aren't talking about a little picket fence, either. That's right, a coyote can leap right over our huge concrete block walls in search of food. They do it all the time and usually the end result is an attack on the pets in the yard. One summer morning while having coffee in the backyard a bobcat scaled a 12 foot retaining wall. My dogs were sleeping beside me and didn't even notice her. In fact, she just sat on the wall, staring at me. I jumped up and screamed at her, which finally woke up the dogs! She was very frightened and immediately ran back down the wall and through the nearby wash. When you encounter a bobcat or coyote, make as much noise and possible. Stand up, the height will intimidate them as well. She never returned.

If a coyote can jump over your block wall then no where is safe, right? Not necessarily. There are several things you can do to protect your pets and small children. First things first: never, ever feed the wildlife. When a coyote gets fed by a human, the fear they have of people disintegrates. Would you be afraid of someone who gave you a meal? Not only does this break down their natural instinct to flee from humans, it can end up hurting our ecosystem in the long run. Coyotes who get food from humans put themselves at risk and it won't be long before that animal can't take care of himself in the wild anymore. Keep in mind pet food is also coyote food (and bobcat food and squirrel food and whatever else can make it into your yard), so never leave pet food outside.

Whenever possible keep your pets in a secure place, rather than out in the yard, especially when you aren't home. You could come home to find your beloved pooch severely injured.

Make sure your gates are firmly closed, an open gate is an open invitation for just about anything out in the desert.

If you live in an area where coyotes are frequently jumping over block walls you can do a few things to lessen the chances of having one end up in your backyard:

- Add an extra row or two of blocks to your wall. Most HOAs won't object provided you explain your case (living up next to a wash, backing to a mountain, etc.) and get permission ahead of time. Approval might be needed from your neighbors but in the end it is protecting their side as well! An extra 6 to 12 inches of wall could make all the difference in the world.

- Get creative with your gardening. The neat thing about the desert is many plants native to our region have already developed their own way to keep predators away. Thorny, sharp, spiny plants can act as a living wall to keep animals (and burglars for that matter) from entering your yard. Plant a row of ocotillos along your block wall, the sharp spines deter critters and they can get over 12 feet tall. Many types of thorny cactus can exceed the height of your wall as well, including prickly pear, organ pipe, saguaros and Argentine cactus. A row of tightly packed ficus or cypress can also be a barrier. Even things like oleanders and various native trees can act as an extended wall so coyotes can't leap over top. Bougainvilleas can be trained up a wall and their thorns are great for deterring fence-hopping. Yuccas tend to have super sharp tips and can take the reflective heat that comes from your block wall in the summer. Browse some local nurseries and ask the folks that work there for living wall ideas. Not only will you cover up those unsightly concrete walls and beautify your backyard, you'll be protecting your family as well.

03.09.2012 - I'm not typically a big buyer of annuals out here in the desert because they tend to require a lot more work than desert-adapted perennials. A couple of weeks ago I found some pretty sad looking snapdragons at a big box store in the clearance section. They were going for around a dollar for each six pack of flowers. I decided to give them a whirl so I bought a few packs and planted them in some tree planters.

Initially I wasn't thrilled with them, they required a lot of water to 'stand up'. After a few days of daily watering they finally settled in to their new spring home. I had no idea what color they would be, when I bought them there were a few pale yellow spent blooms but that was about it.

Here's what they look like now:

These will typically grow once the threat of frost has passed until it gets too hot for them, usually May, sometimes June if you can keep them moist and in filtered sun.

2.13.2012 - It is that time again...once per month all of the collected seeds for the past 4 weeks are cleaned, dried and tested for viability. The cactus seeds are up first. Less than two weeks ago in the first test a few dozen seeds are taken as samples for each type of cactus seed offered at Sherizona Seeds.

In this batch, we have 40 of each type of seed: saguaro, red barrel cactus, golden barrel cactus and Peruvian apple cactus. For this test I've used a tried and true seed germinating mix. It's one part cactus/palm soil, one part generic gardening soil and one part coarse sand (for excellent drainage). Cactus seeds need great drainage or they will disintegrate/get moldy in standing moisture.

Here is what the test box looks like after 13 days.
The pink seedlings are Golden Barrel cactus, they emerge in a light pink shade which makes them easy to tell apart from the others. After less than two weeks the seeds are at about a 95% germination rate. Many of these will die off over the next few weeks and after 2 months we average about an 80% survival rate. These are in prime conditions, so even if you neglect them slightly as long as the soil is mold-free you should expect a 40 to 50% survival rate. Once the little seed shells have fallen off the top of the growing seedling you can begin to introduce them to an indirect light source. I typically keep a plastic lid on the box and set it near a sunny window. This will work fine until the cactus seedlings are large enough to transfer to their own individual containers.

I will post their progress in a few weeks so you can see how the seeds are doing/should be growing. All of these seeds are available at our desert seed store and are freshly harvested. Stay tuned!

12.23.2011 - I've lived in the desert for over 8 years now and when I first started working in my arid garden I made mistakes. Lots of mistakes! Tired of having moments of silence for plants I've destroyed I hit the books and it wasn't long before I had this whole desert gardening thing down. To save winterers and desert garden novices oodles of time I've created the Ten Desert Gardening Commandments. By adhering to these simple rules you are sure to save yourself hours of unnecessary work and hundreds of dollars in destroyed plants.

Without further ado here it is, the Ten Desert Gardening Commandments:
1. Thou shalt not take gorgeous desert shrubs and butcher them into little balls or squares. In addition, do not over prune your palm trees, it makes them weak and more susceptible to rot.

2. Thou shalt not be succumbed to the promising beauty of delicate plants such as camellias and mandevilla sold at big box stores, for they are not meant to grow in our harsh desert conditions.

3. Digging shallow holes for plants only means you will most likely be replacing them after the first summer.

4. Thou shalt not place thy watering emitters up against the tree trunk, always follow the canopy of the tree.

5. Water is sacred to us and our plants. Water infrequently, but deep. Let the system run for several hours infrequently, rather than 30 minutes every day.

6. Thou shalt respect thy neighbor by pruning thick trees during monsoon so they don't blow over and land on top of their house.

7. Thou shalt never feed wildlife, no matter how cute they are, as it messes with their entire habitat and in the end will do more harm than good. Not to mention you don't want them to tell all their friends!

8. Thou shalt consider mature sizes of plants when planning out the garden. Canary Island Date Palms look ridiculous in 6,000 square foot lots.

9. Thou shalt not prune thy desert plants between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day. When you prune you are basically taking away another layer of frost protection for the plant.

10. Use caution when dust storm warnings are issued. Working in the garden during a dust storm is not only unpleasant, it is extremely dangerous. Breathing in the dust can cause valley fever which has no cure. Pets are even more affected and it can be lethal so keep your furry ones indoors until the storm has passed.

12.13.2011 - It's going on the 28th hour of rain out here in the desert and already people are complaining. Rather than get grumpy because you can't sip your latte out in the sunshine, let's remember that we desperately need this rain! Here are just a few examples of what this fantastic storm is doing for the valley:

- It cleans off your patio and driveway marks
- You can turn off your irrigation systems for at least a month now
- Remember how you wanted to wash the dust storm residue off those second floor windows? Done!
- In March, while you are driving around the desert, take a look at the mountain sides. See all that marvelous color? That's the wildflowers thanking you for this big, needed drink.
- Tomorrow when the rain clears you will finally be able to breathe again. No more dusty air.
- Dust storm, schmust storm.
- Those rabbits and other ground critters that have been digging around your cactus and palms for the last several months finally can go back to their old watering hole.

Make some hot chocolate, pull out your plant catalogs, sit by the fire and enjoy this rare desert event.

10.18.2011 - After one of the driest, hottest Southwest monsoon seasons on record it is so nice to enjoy the treat that is October in the desert. We have all endured brutal 110+ degree cloudless days, humidity-swept afternoons eagerly hoping for rain but nothing arrives and last but certainly not the least obnoxious...those pesky desert dust storms. October brings us cool, crisp mornings that are still nice enough to enjoy a 7 a.m. coffee outside in our flip flops, but not hot enough that we all take cover by 10 a.m.! The end of the day brings us amazing sunsets and near-perfect early evening temperatures that are so pleasant we all think about turning patios into our own private al fresco dining areas. And yes, those mosquitoes everyone back east complains about...they aren't even here yet either!

We aren't the only things out in the desert celebrating the beauty of October. Take a look around your garden. Suddenly, things that look like they were hiding over the summer have become the show-offs of your yard. Peruvian apple cactus are all in bloom now, with 7 inch wide glorious blooms that peek out in the early morning. Hibiscus blooms pop out much more than last month. Sage bushes are loaded with brilliant purple, pink or blue blooms. How about those citrus trees? The ones we all worry about in August. They tend to burn up, curl up and lose leaves in the hottest parts of the year, but these nice night time temperatures causes most of them to make up for all that leaf damage. I have six citrus trees in my backyard and they have all grown by a good 15-20% in the past few weeks.

Many agave and yucca that don't grow too much in the summer show impressive growth this month as well. Desert trees throw out a few blooms now too, thinking it is spring time. Ocotillo are green with fresh leaves. Almost everywhere we look things are celebrating one of the most beautiful times of year out here in the oftentimes unforgiving desert. No matter how busy you are, set aside some time to simply sit outdoors and enjoy the show.

09.26.2011 - Late September marks the end of monsoon season here in the Southwest and while the last few days looked promising, hardly any rain fell for most of the Valley. My handy rain gauge displayed 0.00 inches of rain which was a common occurrence for cities like Tempe, Avondale and North Phoenix. On the other hand, some parts of Arizona had incredible storms, including many flood warnings up in the high country. In addition, 2011 was a record for fire season. In this year alone over 1 million acres of forest in Arizona burned to a crisp. Any sort of measurable rainfall in the northeast portion of the state led to flooding and mudslides.

This was the first monsoon season in 7 years that didn't destroy at least part of our yard. In 2010 a microburst knocked over one of our palo verde trees and dropped 2 inches of rain in 40 minutes. The pool had to be partially pumped out, washes overflowed and we had a bit of minor flooding. This year, the best we had was a hearty 5 minute soak which quickly cleared out. A 55 mile per hour wind gust ripped a neighbor's large Chilean mesquite right from its trunk. It caught the wind like an umbrella and flew about 10 feet into our driveway. Thankfully there was no structural damage but we know how upsetting it can be to the homeowner that loses a beautiful, mature tree.

The big story this year was the dust. The enormous Phoenix dust storm in early July made world headlines, shut down the airport, closed streets and wreaked havoc for those of us with pools. Cleaning piles of sludge out of your swimming pool in 115 degree heat the day after is something most of us could live without.

As a result of the very dry monsoon season (which is when we typically get at least a third of our annual rainfall, sometimes more) the area never had a chance to enjoy some cool, post rain temps that we all look forward to so much! In August there is nothing better than a late afternoon soak that results in low 80s temperatures for the rest of the evening. That's patio weather!

08.1.2011 - Lantana can be found in almost every single desert landscape. They are one of the hardiest plants to grow in hot, dry, arid climates. Do you have an area with reflective heat? Need a plant that won't become a buffet for rabbits and squirrels? Are you looking for a plant that can survive on minimal water? If so, lantanas are the answer.

There are literally dozens of lantana varieties. You can get them for a couple of dollars at any home improvement store or garden center. They come in every color of the rainbow and some bushes have several colors on each flower.

We all know you can cut back your lantana to the ground once the threat of frost has passed, but how can you get your lantana to look their best in 110 degree temperatures? It's pretty easy!

Once your lantana bush has bloomed in the summer, go ahead and cut it back. Prune it to shape, remove any dried out or frizzled branches and that's it! When you prune, do not cut them back to the ground like you do in the winter. Lantana do not grow during the winter months and by pruning in late February or early March you are getting the plant ready for its spring season takeoff. Pruning to the ground in the summer will most likely lead to severe sunburn and possibly plant death.

How much do you prune? Cut back anywhere from 3 inches to 8 or 9 inches. As a rule of thumb it's safe to prune around a third of the plant. Water thoroughly and leave it alone. Too much water will cause the lantana plant to rot or fail to bloom again. By trimming the lantana in the summer within a couple of weeks you will see fresh new blooms. Pruning encourages plant growth and prevents the lantana from becoming too leggy.

Lastly, be careful when you are pruning lantana around your pets. Double check that you've discarded all parts of the plant, including the berries. They are poisonous to dogs. The berries are silver and over time they turn a dark blue black color.

08.04.2011 - It's about time! Finally, an antidote for scorpion stings has been approved by the FDA. It was developed in Mexico, where over a quarter of a million scorpion stings are reported every single year.

In most adults scorpion stings are terribly painful and the symptoms last about 24 hours. In children it can be deadly. Small children injured by scorpion stings can have pain, difficulty breathing and even temporary blindness. If your child is showing severe signs of trouble as a result of a scorpion sting take him or her to the hospital immediately. Currently only certain hospitals carried experimental antidotes. With this new approval, the antidote (called Anascorp) can soon be available everywhere. In the test studies when children were treated with the scorpion antidote their painful and dangerous symptoms usually disappeared within a few hours. This is wonderful news for those of us living in scorpion country!

Additional details can be found here.

It's great to see progress being made on treating something that almost all of us gardeners have had to deal with while living in the desert!

06.29.2011 - So I logged in to check the weather today and ta-da: the dew point is 56 degrees, one more than we need to start day one of monsoon here in Arizona.

We need three straight days with a dew point of 55 degrees or higher.

We shall see.

On an odd unrelated note, why do they allow fireworks to be purchased out of shady vans and in parking lots? You can't use fireworks in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Cave Creek, Peoria, Paradise Valley and nearly everywhere else (except Glendale on private property and Gilbert on certain holidays) so why is it legal to even sell them?

In a state that is still fighting the biggest fire in Arizona history (over half a million acres) why do we allow the use of fireworks? This seems completely nuts.

My rant is over. I'll blame it on the heat. ;)

06.26.2011 - As the temperatures creep into the 110+ range and we all head for the cool indoors remember there are a lot of your four legged neighbors who have to survive, too. Monsoon hasn't hit yet (yes, I know, official monsoon start is June 15, but us old-school weather nerds know it's not really here quite yet!) and water is very limited. Sure they try to get it from things like cactus, agaves and other desert plants but a lot of animals, from rabbits to javelina to lizards will go for things that look good in your garden.

I lost an entire crop of radishes to a very hungry (and enormous!) lizard. I hope he enjoyed them, they sure did look healthy before he snuck into the garden and chowed down. Rabbits will even eat through the thorny cactus. They seem to particularly enjoy cow's tongue cactus and other smooth prickly pear varieties. Lizards dig, dig, dig until they find a moist environment. Usually in my yard this is up against rocky areas, boulders and near shady walls. Snakes don't really have the ability to dig, they are more likely to 'steal' an already-dug hole left by a lizard, rodent or other critter.

I've almost convinced myself I spotted an ocelot one humid morning last summer, but it was probably just another bobcat. A girl can dream!

To me the most amazing creatures in the summer desert are the coyotes. I see them weekly, wandering up the mountainsides, through washes and even crossing the road to a less-developed area. They sure do look warn out this time of year and I can't help but think of them when we finally get our first good summer rainfall.

Remember, coyotes don't really want anything to do with humans, but they will get defensive if they feel they are being crowded, attacked or provoked. Leave them be and never, NEVER feed them. If you feed a coyote you will have a very hard time getting rid of him...and all of his pals. Trying to domesticate a coyote is very dangerous. If you feel a coyote is getting too close to your yard or your pets, try to leave their food indoors. Keep your animals in your sight. If a coyote tries to approach, make loud noises. Clapping, jumping, yelling and if needed tossing rocks in the coyote's direction usually sends it running the other way. A blast from the garden hose works too.

Use common sense and we can all enjoy living in this diverse desert together.

As the temperatures really start to heat up and our season changes from 'pretty warm' to 'scorching hot' you might think you missed the growing season for your veggie garden. That's not really the case. You can still plant cucumber, pumpkin (will be ready in the fall), eggplant, melons and herbs. As I type this in mid-June I have a very healthy raised garden that's doing quite well. Herbs such as basil, oregano, sage and rosemary are still as healthy as ever, growing like crazy in full sun. The important thing is to keep your bed hydrated. Many of these plants can tolerate the heat if the roots are kept cool.

Tomatoes are a bit fickle in super heat but all hope is not lost. One month ago I planted a tiny tomato plant and today it is 4 feet wide by 4 feet tall, loaded with blooms. Birds and insects are going to love those tomatoes so make sure you protect them, either by planting things that critters hate nearby or putting up a fence made of mesh or wire. Chicken wire works well. Again, remember to hydrate!

One of the most impressive specimen growing in the summer desert season are sunflowers. There are dozens of varieties and they perform incredibly in our strong desert sun. The sunflower seeds attract birds which in turn helps the rest of your garden. Birds eat many of the insects that partner up to destroy crops and flowers.

Grab a few seeds or tiny plants and give summer gardening in the desert a try. With ample water and afternoon shade (if possible although not mandatory) you will be pretty surprised by the results!