Desert Nature Can Surprise You

9.2.2010 - Every morning when I headed to the side garden to water the new veggies I noticed my dwarf 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.