freeze dried

This is what happens when the redbud blossoms (Cercis canadensis) gets frozen at their peak. The magenta blooms are a couple of little buds that made it. The rest, well, freeze-dried.

it's too late

Stayed in bed all morning just to pass the time
There's something wrong here
There can be no denying
The weather it is changing
Or maybe I'm tired of trying

And it's too late baby, now it's too late
Though we really did try to make it
Something outside has died and I can't hide
And I just can't replace it

Frozen amaryllis


tulips (will make it)

Euphorbia (will make it)


Too bad there's so many things that might not make it: agapanthus, salvia 'Indigo Spires'. For these, it's too late to try to protect them... fortunately I brought the olive tree and the lemon tree indoors a few days ago.

reading list

When I moved to New Mexico I was entranced by the beauty of the plants and landscape. I did what I always do when challenged by something new. I turned to books. What I discovered was that there are very few books on gardening in New Mexico, though I noticed immediately that the native flora was very different from other places that I’d lived, from coast to coast. Most of the books that did exist were extremely basic, and I was dismayed to find mostly detailed descriptions of very common “diehard” plants such as lilac and juniper. What I wanted to know was what to expect from New Mexico weather and soil, and how to deal with the unique climate here. I also wanted to know (in fact, most of all I wanted to know) what unique plants I could grow here, and what plants are characteristic of the area. Of course, no book is perfect for everything, so I began putting together my library. Here are the books that I use the most, which certainly does not include all the books out there. Although the main purpose of mail-order catalogs is to sell product, they can also give good information and an idea of what can grow. High Country Gardens, based in Santa Fe, is a glossy catalog of plant porn, and decidedly more regionally appropriate than the big east-coast company. Years before I moved to New Mexico, I poured over the Plants of the Southwest catalog, longing to grow the exotic native plants listed. There is also a good vegetable seed offering (check out the chile varieties, and the Anasazi beans).

General books:

New Mexico Gardener’s Guide, Judith Phillips
This is a good general guide to gardening in New Mexico. Judith is a font of knowledge and enthusiastic about native plants. I took one of her classes at UNM and it was a pleasure to hear her speak. Although there are a few places in the book that I don’t agree with, overall it is a great basic resource to the area.

Plants for Natural Gardens: Southwestern Native & Adaptive Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers and Grasses, Judith Phillips
I’ve returned to this book so many times that I’ve been asked why I haven’t memorized it yet. For the most part I have, but it is still a pleasure to read Judith’s prose.

Southwestern Landscaping With Native Plants, Judith Phillips
This is the first book that I bought about gardening in New Mexico. It is the precursor to Plants for Natural Gardens, and Natural by Design: Beauty and Balance in Southwest Gardens, Judith Phillips, but still useful.

The Undaunted Garden, Lauren Springer
Although based in Colorado, many of the plants and advice described by Lauren Springer (before she married) are appropriate in New Mexico. Denver gets colder winters, cooler summers and much more precipitation than Albuquerque, so keep this in mind. Some plants will turn crispy if you try them here.

Passionate Gardening, Lauren Springer & Rob Proctor
This is a collection of essays written by Springer and Proctor, which I find most useful for pleasurable winter reading accompanied by a mug of hot chocolate. The plant choices are largely adaptable to New Mexico, but the same warning applies as to the book above.

Xeriscape Plant Guide: 100 Water-Wise Plants for Gardens and Landscapes, Denver Water
Another book based in Colorado, but with most of the plants appropriate also for Albuquerque. There are lovely illustrations, and most useful, are the four season photos, which is an important thing when designing a garden.

Native Plants for Southwestern Landscapes, Judy Mielke
This book is primarily for the low desert, but there are a few plants that are appropriate for Albuquerque. Read carefully, and you can find some low desert plants to experiment with (such as Acacia greggii).

The Sunset Western Garden Book
Although there are some things in this book that are remarkably and consistently incorrect regarding an individual plant’s hardiness (e.g. Trachelospermum is not hardy here), it is still a useful general book and can give you an idea of the requirements of specific plants.

Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden: Drought resistant planting through the year, Beth Chatto
Chatto’s garden is in England, with much cooler temperatures and warmer winters. Although Chatto comments on the lack of rainfall in her area, it is still more than double the precipitation of Albuquerque. Still, the ideas and plant descriptions are luscious, and can be adapted to Albuquerque.


Plant Specific Books:

Agaves, Yuccas and Related Plants: A Gardener’s Guide, Mary and Gary Irish
Gardening in New Mexico, you must know about these plants.

The New Book of Salvias: Sages for Every Garden, Betsy Clebsch
Salvias are grown everywhere in the country, and are particularly useful here.

Growing Penstemons: Species, Cultivars and Hybrids, Ellen Wilde
Although the epicenter of Penstemon is Utah (by some accounts), these gorgeous plants are certainly are an important presence here in New Mexico. This book has few illustrations, so other Penstemon books will be necessary.

Grasses: Versatile Partners for Uncommon Garden Design, Nancy J. Ondra
Albuquerque is on the edge of high plains, so grasses are particularly appropriate. Get familiar with them. This is a general book on grasses.

The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses, Rick Darke
This is a book to dream on, and also to refer to. When considering grasses, I refer to this book frequently.

Lavender: The Grower’s Guide, Virginia McNaughton
If you want to know about the hundreds of varieties of lavender, this is the book to turn to. I have other books on lavender, but this is the one I use.

The Rose Bible, Rayford Clayton Reddell
Reddell grows roses in Southern California, so the book is useful here, understanding that there will be differences.

Palms Won’t Grow Here and other myths: Warm-Climate Plants for Cooler Areas, David A. Francko.
A book to dream on when there is a desire to get out of town or to plant an exotic and climate inappropriate small courtyard.

I haven’t read the following books, but they look interesting and appropriate:
High and Dry: Gardening with Cold-Hardy Dryland Plants, Robert Nold
Cutting Edge Gardening in the Intermountain West, Marcia Tatroe
Plant-Driven Design: Creating Gardens that honor Plants, Place, and Spirit, Scott Ogden and Lauren Springer Ogden
High Altitude Western Gardening, Marilyn Quinn
Best Perennials for the Rocky Mountains and High Plains, Celia Tannehill

persian pearl

A dozen Tulip 'Persian Pearl' were planted last fall. The flowers first opened when the stem was nearly nonexistent and the bloom was down in the leaves. Now that a couple of days have passed, the stem has stretched a bit and from ground level to the tips of the petals is 3-1/2". It is cute how the flowers close at night (above photographed this morning), and open when the sun hits them (below).
It's hard to know what to expect when purchasing the bulbs. After seeing the photographs on the web and catalog, I had expected a larger plant and a cluster of blooms. Nevertheless, the plants are charming, and I expect that they will cluster with time. I should have planted at least 3 dozen. With a name like 'Persian Pearl' this species (T. humilis) comes from Iran, and I expect that since the climate here in Albuquerque is similar, they should live much as they do in their native country.

Blue Spires

This is the reason that Rosemary 'Blue Spires' has its name.

muscari

"Muscari" sounds like the Italian plural for "mascara" to me, and it is appropriate for the rim of white (instead of black) around the edge of the bell. It's a much more melodic name than "Grape Hyacinth." As a child, I used to hate them for their ease of growth. Now I love them. Mine (above) just started to bloom, although the plants down the street began blooming a week earlier. I need to plant more. Then again, I say that about anything that is in bloom.

genius, not

Photographing sempervivums always makes me feel like a genius. Even the bad photos look great. Click for more detail.

eremurus progress

I love every stage of growth that Eremurus goes through, from its emergence from the soil, to the spires of beads the seed pods make. The leaves have a sculptural appearance and a subtle depth of color. During the night and in cool spells, the leaves bunch together more tightly in vase form, and during warmer spells, the leaves splay a bit, in a slightly more star-shaped form. Either way, I find them entrancing.

like water for chocolate

Living in New Mexico sometimes feels to me that I've married Rosaura instead of Tita (click for bad English dubbing of the movie - go to 1:50. I recommend seeing the movie if you haven't, but in Spanish with subtitles). Some of these plants, while certainly worthwhile and deserving of appreciation, are only substitutes for my true love. These are plants that are beautiful and would not grow well (if at all) in a climate more to my choosing, but they can be only reminders of my very first passion which does not exist in the place where I am now. Although Rosaura has her qualities, sometimes I look into my heart and see that I just want Tita.

Fortunately, plants are not like people...and the heart can be fickle.

indoors

Not a huge amount happening in my orchid world, but I'm always happy to see Phalaenopsis equestris (above). My friend Stephen gave me this Dendrobium 'Sweet Dawn' (below) about nine or 10 years ago, and I've never been able to get it to bloom more than a few flowers at a time. The flowers are very sweetly scented of violets and it is noticeable from a few feet away.

This noid Phalaenopsis came from Whole Foods, when I noticed they were getting rid of cold-damaged plants. One year later, and it is blooming again.

The funny thing about orchids in the grocery store (like WF, TJ's, etc.) is that I'm always amazed at how small they are. I don't think that people realize that when you grow them on for a few years, that some (especially the catts, dens, and oncs) get big and bushy, and put out a lot more flowers than what is first seen. It is sad that many of those plants never get a chance to show their full potential, but get tossed into the trash when they are done. This 'Little Mermaid' had three leaves and three little flowers when I bought it at TJ's. Here it is, not even a year later, and the photo doesn't even show all the flowers.

rolf

Ipheion 'Rolf Fiedler' is blooming now. I'm always surprised at how early it blooms - just after the earliest crocuses and reticulata irises. The leaves have been green all winter, although now that the weather has warmed a bit, they are starting to fade a bit, with brown tips. The flowers are indeed this bright chalky blue, a color so intense and mat that it looks almost artificial. If you put your nose close to them, there is a light hyacinth fragrance, but if you push your nose into them, the light bruisng of the flowers will release an oniony scent. Because the bulbs are very small (about a quarter-inch long) and plants are small, when you plant them in the fall, plant by the hundreds for a spectacular show. This patch was about 10 bulbs planted about four years ago.

rosemary time

Almost all of the rosemaries are blooming right now. The only one that isn't is 'Salem'. Although 'Salem' seems to be hardier than 'Arp' or 'Tuscan Blue' were in the same spot, it hasn't bloomed in the two years that I've had it. At least there are no burnt leaf tips, but some flowers would be nice.

'Blue Spires' has bright violet-blue flowers. Although the plants are very upright, they don't look like miniature Italian cypresses as they are described in the Sunset article on rosemaries. Nevertheless, it does have nice sculptural form, and the flowers are striking.


This is an unnamed rosemary from Home Depot, that my partner planted in his yard. It was pathetically small, about one inch tall in a four inch, waterlogged pot. Over the next several years, however, it grew incredibly quickly, and bloomed so heavily that the leaves could hardly be seen. I had to have one. This cutting in my yard is in its second year, and isn't blooming as heavily as his. Yet (I hope). It has soft dusty blue flowers.

'Frimley Blue' is still going strong, and has been blooming since November. That's quite a haul, even considering that I have it growing in a pot protected by the roof of my south facing entry. Flowers are bluer than the photo shows.


'Gorizia' is a plant I love, even though the flowers are more lavender-pink than the blue I get excited about (compare this photo to those above, the color being fairly accurate). The flowers are also scattered among the long thick leaves so that they are not as prominent as in other rosemaries, but the bloom time is long. It also reblooms in late summer. The foliage is lightly ginger scented, and not as strongly flavored as most culinary rosemaries. This is a good thing if you tend to have a heavy hand with seasonings, or just want a lighter flavor. The main reason I value this plant is the plant form. Unlike the typical bushy mounds of most rosemaries, this one has grown into a sculptural form, with upright yet slightly spreading branches that are thick and not heavily branched, so you can see the form of each branch. I hear that it spreads widely with time, but I am pruning the spreading branches when I harvest leaves for cooking.

clean-up time

Before

After

There are so many plants in my garden that need an annual pruning or cutting back. The lavender needs a trim after flowering, likewise the penstemon, oreganos, salvia, lamb's ears, dianthus...just about everything that blooms. In the late winter to early spring, the grasses need an annual haircut, the agastache gets cut back to the basal growth, the artemesias get cut back nearly to the ground, the ballota needs a trim back to the basal growth; it's a lot to do.

The dilemma I always face is when to do the trimming. It's not that it's so important to the plant - any time after the growth has died back is about fine. But cut back too early, and there is the loss of winter character. I once removed the old grey-brown leaves on the Artemesia versicolor in the middle of winter and was left with a bunch of brown stems with tips of tiny grey leaves. It lasted for months. I also trimmed back the Artemesia 'Powis Castle' in February, leaving what looked like a collection of chopsticks in the garden that lasted for almost 2 months. The agastache are supposed to survive the winter better if the old growth is left in place (I think it collects organic debris which insulates the crown), but I've never noticed a difference.

Trimming too late in the spring after new growth has begun is too late for this work: the soft new growth is easily damaged by the job, and any bulbs emerging under the subshrubs are easily trod upon (and the spring bulbs are exactly what I want to reveal by pruning, just as I want the plants to grow and camoflauge the dying bulb foliage). It seems also that pruning back too late, once the new growth is well underway and the plant has already devoted its resources to the part pruned off, and it recovers more slowly.

So the balance is to cut back at a time that optimizes the winter beauty, yet allows the plants the best growth in the spring. In short, it is the exact moment when the down time in the garden is the shortest. This moment in time is influenced by the vagaries of the weather. The year that I cut back the Powis Castle, there were a couple of late snowfalls which froze back the stubble even more and prolonged the ugly stage. I cut back the grasses late one year, and the grasses had a crewcut look for a couple of weeks. There is also the factor of when I have the time to do the work. I have to go to work, after all.

eremurus returns

One of the most exciting plants in my garden is the dramatic Eremurus (foxtail lily). I posted about this plant extensively last year. This year promises to be even more exciting, as my photo from last year showed this plant with two stems, and this year there are six. We'll see what the other 5 plants do as they emerge (one plant had five stems last year). The emergence of the plants from dormancy is as exciting as the opening of the first buds, as they appear suddenly, literally overnight. Last year, the first signs of growth appeared March 12. So like the other plants, they seem to be about 2 weeks early.