Ocotillo Leaves!

8.1.2010 - 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:

Sept 3, 2010 - I have had a couple of emails about what to do with blown over ocotillos. This has happened to us a few times up on the mountain! If your ocotillo was blown over by the wind or is leaning there are a couple of things you can do. For starters, don't throw it out! It will be fine!

- Push it back up and set it back in place. If it is still leaning put a stake on the other side and pull it up a little with some rubber hose or plastic tubing, or green landscaping tape. Give it a little help and every few weeks loosen the tie to the stake a little until it holds itself back up.

- Trim off any dead branches. BE CAREFUL! By dead, this means when you cut into the branch it is grey throughout. If it is green inside, you just cut off a living branch. Dead ones will typically look drier and might have more of a rotted bottom end. By pulling off the dead canes you'll allow for wind to get through the ocotillo the next time a storm hits. The thin, white-ish branches are new growth - leave those guys alone!

- If your ocotillo is completely uprooted, carefully replant it. Do NOT water it afterward. Just pop it right back into the ground. Ocotillo are sold bare root at nursery centers, believe me, it will most likely reroot and grow right back. It could, however, take quite a while to grow those beautiful leaves again, but luckily for the ocotillo it still makes a striking garden accent even when it is dormant!