Sum' Fall stuff...

September 27, 2024

While maybe not quite as colorful as it could be, still plenty of color around the yhaads' this year.

Late season Kallstromia grandiflora

Backyard patch still going..

Senna wislizenii

S. wislizenii #2 with S. covesii in the foreground

Senna hirsuta v. glaberrima and " Torch Glow " friend..

Coral Vine / Queen's Wreath

Leucophylum l. " Lynn's Legacy " starting to light up..

Desert Willow w/ a few lingering blooms

Desert rose, the Yellow one..

Chromoleana gearing up... What looks like multiple plants is just 2.

Distimake aureus.. Tore out it's White- flowered cousin out back after it started looking like ...... and needed to go.

End of summer " How they're lookin despite this year's never ending heat " check- ins..

Plumeria Alley. Big Olive Trunk in the upper left corner.

FrMV infected Thornton Lemon

Celadine in a box..

Celadine in Plumeria Jail

Pink Singapore after regrowing new leaves ..twice this year..

Larger G. coulteri after her yearly autumn clean up..

Albizia sinaloensis ..finally starting to put on some size / get it's roots dug in...

October 3, 2024

Lynn's Legacy Final Hurrah

Gossypium thurberi

Gossypium davidsonii

Ruellia nudiflora

Ruellia californica / peninsularis

Turk's Cap

Kopsia arborea

Coral Vine

First " home grown " Devil's Claws ..Oak Flat collected P. parviflora in this case..

More to come..

It figures that as soon as i'd mentioned that the bigger " Devilish Blonde ( P. althaeifolia ) had started to bloom that something decided to take it out ..literally the next day.. ( Gopher, probably )

Luckily, her just as devilish blonde twin sister decided to fill the void ..err, appears it should soon. ..We'll see if the furry stalker roaming the yard leaves this blonde alone, lol.

Portulaca suffructescens still alive, despite the un-ending heat beat down.. Noticing these respond better when temps stay below about 104, which makes sense for a mid- elevation species.

We'll see if i can get these to flower / set seed before it gets cooler..

Pair of Sunflowers, ...of course..

Memorial Meadow sown...

...should lead to Plenty more to come, by the time a special birthday approaches around the holidays..

New bed in the works as well.. Figuring 3 Plumeria ..One where the shovel is, another in the corner behind the " Habitat Stump " ..and another near the " bone yard " ( ..Where the Peppers are currently.. )

...Specific Canna ..and possibly a couple specific Hedychiums should work here, though we'll see how well the Gingers can tolerate the sun....

October 4, 2024

Lynn's Legacy coming on a bit here now. Blooms multiple times per summer, although still hasn't hit it's stride yet I don't think. Tough plant

October 17, 2024

Now that the crazy heat we've been seeing is backing off ( -for now at least- ) seeing a nice post summer growth spurt and a little more color around the yards.

Kopsia arborea

..By day

..and after dark..

Citharexylum spinosum ( FL. Fiddlewood ) ..Never understood why it was assigned a species name that would allude to " spiny-ness " have never seen even a hint of spines on mine ..or those observed in habitat / other nurseries in FL. Held up surprisingly well thru our summer placed where it saw a little more sun ( as an experiment to see how it handled it )

Ruellia californica " out back plants " starting a fall flowering cycle

Senna wislizeni ..still going, oldest specimen at least.

Extended heat was not kind to the Morning Glories ( I. hederacea ) this year ..but there are still a few pops of blue out there.. Unfortunately, heat took out my attempt at banking home grown I. coccinea ( Trans Pecos M.G. ) seed this year. Glad i didn't plant all the seed i had collected in '21.

Tithonia routundifolia getting going a bit late.. Tried to start it's flowering cycle during the brief cool down back in Sept. and have been sitting still, waiting for cooler weather since the extended heatwave set in.

A sign at how un eventful this year's monsoon was? all but one of these are still upright / not blown over by wind while growing.

Direct - sown Devilish Blonde #2 flowering.. Still waiting to see if it avoids becoming a victim of the tunneling furry menace.. One of the older potted Devilish Blondes appears to be budding atm too.

A " blushing " Yellow Desert Rose.. Interesting that this bloom cycle is producing flowers that are blushed pink instead of solidly yellow. Tough color to capture correctly in photos too..

Aloysia gratissima w/ Xylocopa ( sonorina or californica or ... ) guard.

Coral Vine coming out of a heat induced slumber.. and attracting all the honeybees in tha hood..

Another one of those plants where it is hard to decide which scene is more appealing / alluring

...by day

..or when bathed in bright full moonlight..

Aside from the Plumeria container ranch looking better now that the heat is backing off, planted specimens are responding well too..

" Celadine in Jail ", looking good, now that the heat isn't trying to burn off new leaves.. Nice lil push of fresh growth too.

..Same w/ Dwf. Pink Singapore.. Stems w/ no white on em = amount of growth seen since the worst of the heat started to back down. Not too shabby, imo.

October 22, 2024

Devilish Blondes avoiding death by tunneling furry menace.. ...and forming seedpods.

..and flowering in a pot. Think this container will be moved somewhere where these can cook a bit more next year so they're not as stretched out ..If i don't decide to transplant to a spot out front.

October 23, 2024

Unexpected, late October flowering... Oddly enough, is the only specimen to do so this year..

October 31, 2024

Yellow-flowered Michelia alba? Hybrid with M. champaca or M. montana maybe, not sure. I don't know anything about these. Either way, I guess these are now lumped in with Magnolia.

I walked by this plant yesterday, first appreciating its large shiny leaves, then its amazing fragrance. Should've gotten more flower pics and a better photo capturing the whole plant, but it was in an awkward alleyway and I hadn't planned on posting it.

October 31, 2024

3 hours ago, Rivera said:

Yellow-flowered Michelia alba? Hybrid with M. champaca or M. montana maybe, not sure. I don't know anything about these. Either way, I guess these are now lumped in with Magnolia.

I walked by this plant yesterday, first appreciating its large shiny leaves, then its amazing fragrance. Should've gotten more flower pics and a better photo capturing the whole plant, but it was in an awkward alleyway and I hadn't planned on posting it.

That's a really nice find :greenthumb:

Thinking older flowers of M. alba.. ..but could be wrong. Fragrance is definitely amazing..

Not that it is where the specimen you observed came from but there Is a nursery in Gilroy ( South Pacific Orchids Inc. ) that sells these ( ...and some other unusual plants ) alongside their greenhouses full of Orchids.

Tried one at my grandparent's place in San Jose but it burned to death within a few weeks after i bought it, even situated under their covered patio.

November 3, 2024

Final inning of Autumn color:

TX sage, possibly Leucophyllum X " Green Cloud " .. Noticing a lot of these around town are flowering a touch later than usual this year.

Salvia farinacea

Berlandaria lyrata

Malvaviscus arboreus v. drummondii

Chromeolaena odorata ..Starting to flare.. It's amazing how a single plant can cover an area that measures 84" X about 115" esp. under our conditions, and when provided minimal irrigation. The observer looking at the area where just 2 were planted would assume i'd have planted -at least- 3.

Tithonia rotundifolia, nearing peak bloom a bit later than usu. due to the extended heat last month..

Ruellia peninsularis / californica.

On top of adding blue / violet to the fall color palette, found an interesting new ( ...to me at least ) use for these..

Echinopsis X " Sorceress " flowering wayy later in the fall than i'm used to ( For me, last bloom cycle of the year on these has been in late Sept. rather than right before Halloween )

Same w/ Echinopsis X " Napea "

" Winter " Sunflowers coming along nicely.. 🤞 but as of right now, timing looks right on schedule for when i expect them to start flowering..

November 21, 2024

Fall Finales ...And whats ahead for the year ahead..

Leucophyllum X Lynn's Legacy, final show..

Late Fall = showtime for Chromolaena odorata..

Tithonia rotundifolia, still providing some heat..

Warm enough that ..at least one of the Devil's Claws, P. parviflora, -i think- is still trying to put out a few flowers before it fades away.. Great coloring and scent ( Think Daffodil, with a touch of Musk ) on this particular plant.. Scent and size of the flowers - compared to other parviflora specimens i've encountered- are why i'm not fully settled on the species yet.

While tiny, what Portulaca suffrutescens i got to hang on after they germinated appear to be trying to set - at least- a flower ..on the bigger plants at least. How much longer can they stick around, let alone will they return from the roots come spring ( Listed as perennial by most sources ) if they do go dormant..

Not totally out of the question they might not go dormant at all before resuming growth as temps begin climbing in a couple months. Up in the hills, = done and dormant for the year ..2 months ago.. We'll see what happens here..

" Winter " Sunflowers ..getting there.. Half - dismantled Mulberry ..Goin away ..As soon as i buy a new hatchet. Broke the one i had, lol.

Nice color on the darker leaved seedlings

Cinder block edge going in along the new back beds.. Will be filled in w/ granite later.

Once i get the Mulberry down, taller Canna Lilies will be put here to hide the shed / provide something w/ wide leaves that will handle brutal, all day sun.

As mentioned elsewhere, specific, Dwf. Canna varieties / other easy summer color will be placed in the beds. Taller Canna + Hedychium variety will go behind the " Habitat Log " in this corner.

Front beds cleaned out ..Re-drawing the edge between the lawn / side bed and adding 18" depth root / weed barrier ( plus cinder block ) so the Bermuda can't re-enter.

Aside from adding another Baja Ruellia to this and the opposite side of the bed ( to balance out the 2 already planted ), specific Plumeria cultivars ( one on each side of the bed, same cultivar ), if i can find some, considering doing a couple groups of both Mammillaria / Cochemiea grahamii, and Thelocactus bicolor ( TX Glory ) on each side of the overall bed to add summer flowering cacti to it. ( Might look good in view of the Plumeria flowering at roughly the same time too )

Because the Bermuda had firmly entrenched itself where the bush to the right of the light pole is, Senna wislizenii planted there had to be removed -temporarily-.. May ..or may not.. survive being dug / replanted, but know where to find more ..if need be.

Not thrilled having to dig it out, but sometimes, what has to be done, has to be done to knock out the grass. Will likely be adding 18" depth barrier along the sidewalk- facing edge of the bed to keep the Bermuda from getting back in here as well.

We'll see if my handy work of digging out the clumps of Bermuda growing out from under the sidewalk / neighbor's driveway was enough to eradicate it from both where the city electrical box is, and along the back edge of the bed between our property and the neighbors driveway..

Another one of those " detailed / surgical " removal ( of the grass ) kinda' jhaabs..

November 27, 2024

Pre - Bird Day walk around the hood checking on thingzz.. Maybe another walk through another area on Friday ..to check on some other stuff i missed, this time..

Mex. Yellow Bird of Paradise, Erythrostemmon mexicanus..

Possibly the finest example of Lysiloma watsonii / thornberi in the immediate neighborhood.. This is what they can look like when provided a deep soaking and trimmed a little occasionally..

Ficus carica.. shedding some leaves but overall, still GREEN as can be..

Largest Plumeria rubra X specimen spotted in the neighborhood to date.. fully exposed to sun as well. Probably planted as one of the 15gal plants that show up in the local BBx'es from time to time but ..no one locally sells em' this big..

Trichocereus candicans w/ absolutely no damage from this summers hell spell..

Same w/ these Agave ( Possibly A. parryi v. truncata, ) near the apartments by the house. This particular group is planted on the southwest- facing side of one of the buildings whose west side is open to the sun, so they get blasted by it all summer.

...Tis the season for Cascalote, Tara cacalaco.. Getting going a touch later than usual this year

Some stuff used in the landscaping for the new apartments being completed across the street from the other fairly new apartments by the house..

" Regal Mist " Pink Muhly Grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris

Yucca ..Possibly " Color Guard " ..Will be interesting to see how these hold up next summer.. Seen them used in local landscapes in the past and ..just like most variegated things planted here, they're often no match for AZ full sun.

Chitalpa ..with seedpods.. About a dozen of the ..2 dozen or so specimens installed here w/ pods on them.. Collected a couple and found some of the seed has what appears to be viable embryos.. Since the prevailing thought is this cross is completely sterile, tossing the seed in a pot to see what happens. Would love to prove another horticultural assumption wrong.

Neighborhood Delonix Regia #1 check - in.. No worse for ware after this summer. " Junior ", to the right, quickly catching up.. 3rd specimen in this yard ( not pictured ) also looks pretty good atm.

" Junior " ..Grown quite a bit since i saw it last spring.

Neighborhood Canna, still flowering..

....And lastly, for now, Fall colors Bougainvillea..

November 28, 2024

Very nice! Cacalaco and mexicana look great!

November 28, 2024

21 minutes ago, Peter said:

Very nice! Cacalaco and mexicana look great!

:greenthumb:

Cascalote have been through a bit of an odd cycle this year.. In July / Aug, several had that " exhausted / cowering in the heat " look but as soon as the heat started backing off, all of them perked up. Sapling in the ground here at the house did the same thing.. Sat barely moving all summer -even with being soaked 2x a month- but has added about 13" of new growth since late September..

December 3, 2024

Still warm enough that some surprise Sacred Datura i'd sown last spring decided to pop ..in the fall, after i'd given up on the seed, and used the soil to pot up one of the newer Plumeria additions.. Should be fun trying to fish these out of the pot later.

Started more regardless, just to see if they follow the same cue.. Have had these sprout in winter in the past ..Sorta strange for a warm - season grower but, ..this is AZ ..Not exactly " cold " here, even this time of year.

Sophora tomentosa, seed collected on Treasure Island in FL years ago getting ready to flower..

NOID Composite collected at Oak Flat.. Flowers started yellow but started coming out Purple ..or shades between... thru the fall.

Stick one beastly Dyckia in a shadier corner after surviving a brutal summer in -what i thought- was too much direct sun and ..what is this ..It decides to flower.. First time flowering since i bought the plant ..8 -9 years ago.

Dry / warm winter = Light on any spring annual stuff this year -at best- ..That said, some Verbena / other stuff popping up in a few spots the sprinklers hit when they're on. Did put down the last ounce of Lupinus texanus and L. douglasii seed i had from last year so we'll see if they come up later.

Early Bottlebrush flowers.. Previous owner planted it a bit close to the house, so, it's fate has been up for debate. That said, it has behaved in the limited space it has so.. We'll see if i leave it.

For the most part, Plumeria are nekked and taking their much deserved nap.

Not a definite sign but sometimes when you notice a bit of a gap in the center of leafless growth tips this time of year, it can be a sign of flowers to come. We'll see. Marking the tips with the gap to confirm / deny my hunch regardless.

And so another journey down another rabbit hole begins.. Since i know they'll grow here, and the burrowing furry menace won't touch them, been planning on adding some Hippeastrum to the shade bed out front. First one in is one of the commonly sold cultivars offered this time of year for indoor forcing.

Others i've been eyeballing on various sites won't be as common..

Sayin buh bye to the last of the Mulberry ..Not sorry to see ya' go..

Looking at the remains after getting it down, glad i took it out ..Base it pretty much rotted all the way through...

With rot starting to work it's way up the trunk.

While exposing the base / roots, noticed that several larger anchor roots were totally rotted / in the process of rotting out from the center..

Again, glad it is gone.. Full crown + a good summer storm = smashed shed / damage to the roof / window on that side of the house.

I'll have someone cut up the trunk later..

Now to get as much of the base / root flare out so i can finish off this area / have it ready by mid Feb.

Hatchet + Hawksbill Saw in my hands.. Nothing is safe.. Already looking forward to the unobstructed view in this direction next summer ..and until the up and coming Albizia sinaloensis planted in the right corner fills in.

No power tools needed either. That's cheating.

December 8, 2024

Final check -in on some of the other neighborhood goodies of 2024...

Neighbor's largest Plumeria.. Green thing tucked between it and the defoliating Pomegranite on the far right = Possibly another Jaboticaba

And various things their fruit forest..

Bigger Jaboticaba ..one of two they're growing.. Other is hard to photograph due to being hidden among other stuff

..though i tried, lol...

Longan, i believe ..I'll have to ask again.

Sapodilla ..i believe

Smaller Fig ..Still green.. Have to check on the other, if they didn't yank it.. ..And one ( of several ) Guava...

** Not pictured, too far back to snap from the street ** Mangoes they're growing look pretty good atm also.

>>>>>>>>>>>>

December 8, 2024

" Cascalote Season" closing in on peak bloom ..Most of em' anyway...

Late season Coral Fountain ( Russelia equisetiformis )

..Another Green Fig..

Late Flowering Cereus

Plumeria specimen sighted earlier this year.. Will the developing inflo. ( Shot #2 ) win out against the elements this winter????

...And one of a few Figs in the hood just starting to shed their leaves next to this Plumeria specimen..

Interesting new planting of Pygmys .. Intrigued why they chose to plant them in this manner since, as big as the space is, there's plenty of room for a few Royal Poinciana, Guaiacum Coulteri, and Cascalote ..Perhaps squeezing in some other good stuff.. ( what i'd plant ) ..w/ the Pygmys positioned closer to the street - facing edge of the planter. Just me though.

It's not " Soccer " ..It's REAL Football...

Be interesting to see how the handle the coming summers w/ out a break from the sun.

..Yep, all that open space in this planter is irritating me, lol..

Ficus benghelensis after a brutal summer ..after being cut back hard the winter before..

>>>>>>>

December 8, 2024

Big Neighborhood Plumeria specimen #2 ..Looking real good after this past summer.. Note the yet -to- start -flowering Calla Lilies in the raised planter against the house ..w/ the red Geraniums in it.. ( Geraniums = 🤢)

2nd biggest / oldest Neighborhood Royal Poinciana ..Lookin Good..   Another ** Not pictured ** nearby that got beat up a bit last winter is growing ..but didn't seem to grow as much as it should have ..weird ..but bet the homeowner didn't water as much as they should have this past summer..

More pretty-much-still-green Figs    ..But, But, ....they're supposed to be fully nekked by now.... 🤣

Not to be outdone by the Cascalote, " Torch glow" Boug. Season ..Winter edition... in full swing..

Late Flowering Rush Milkweed, Asclepias subulata

.....And a few Agave desmetiana ~already~ gettin' ready for Spring Twenty - Five.

If all you see is one Flower stalk, you're not examining the photo close enough.      SYATNY....

December 13, 2024

" Winter " Sunflowers almost ready to pop...

Maybe its the cooler time of year but it seems the leaf color on the darker red sunflowers is more intense than what i remember seeing during the summer months.

..As " Mulberry remains " get the boot..

How to tackle a stump when you killed the hatchet and don't have a chain saw to hack 'er up?

Use the hatchet blade as a wedge to crack the stump into pieces ..5 to be exact for this conquest ...After using it to hack out the big anchor root above.. Was in fact the only large, intact ( well, mostly intact ...Center of it was starting to rot ) root on the entire stump. Rest of it's anchor roots were smaller.

As i'd peel away sections, noted that any roots that could be found below the stump itself were rotted. Any " live " roots down there were no bigger than about 3-5" in diameter. Most were no wider than an index finger.

Fact that the interior of this thing was rotted -all the way through- mighta' helped a bit too .. lol..

Bada..

Bing..

Bada...

Boom... Was there a tree here??...

Noting that a couple pieces of the stump had some interesting nooks n' cranies, decided to save em for later use ..after i clean em up a bit, sand down some edges, and let them cure in the sun for a couple weeks

Now comes the ? of what would look best in em' ..Orchids, ..or maybe a Hoya ( ...or maybe 1 of each?? ) Let alone how they're orientated

..Vertical, or horizontal..

Piece #1

Piece #2

December 17, 2024

Flowering ..by Christmas??

Because some hybrid Sunflowers can waste effort on producing too many blooms near the terminal end as they get close to flowering, time for some de-budding to even out where energy will go as showtime closes in..

..and taking a few moments to appreciate the wild variations in / intensity of leaf color in this winter's group..

...Who said Sunflowers were boring. Probably some irrelevant dink wad.

" Hippies " doing their thing too.. Added in another solid Red, and Red / White striped to this group,

Solid White i rescued and planted elsewhere that will be paired w/ something wilder later..

Because the flower stalk was already trying to escape the box it came in when rescued, we'll see if it hangs on, or i loose it.

Once they get back into their groove, flowering in April - May instead of this time of year, White + the other, more uniquely colored Hippeastrum i plan on adding in this spot should contrast nicely w/ the Plumeria planted in the same spot since these will be flowering around the same time as it starts.