It Rained!...

We FINALLY had some rain.

Six inches of rain!

We really, really needed it.

It made everybody happy.

The planter we made in this old fountain,

was happy.  

The Periwinkle loved the rain.

It loves the heat, too.

The Plumbago is beginning to really bloom.

They love the heat, too.

And, a little water from heaven doesn't hurt.

Even the Prickly Pear loved the rain.

We're heating back up,

and we have a whole lot of sun.

But, it was nice while it lasted.

Hope you're having good weather,

wherever you are.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

The Saga of the Drive Bed...

You've heard the story of the

Drive Bed,

many times.

I did a long history blog about it 

last year.

Well...it changed again.

I thought maybe I could save this big Prickly Pear.

The Cactus Bugs had done a real job on it.

I began trimming back and cleaning up the ruined pads.

That's when I began to see even more of the awful bugs.

Why do all that work, just to have it continue to fall apart?

So, I started hacking it out.

Not an easy job, with such a big mess.

I finally got it hacked down, and the trunk dug up.

I hauled it out and piled it all in the Grove, where it began years ago.

Maybe some of the pads will root, and grow again.

By the way...these can be vicious plants.

Long spines are not the biggest problem.

Those mean little stickers...glochids....are.

They were even in the soil.

They worked their way into my gloves,

and since I sit on my behind, while I garden...

Well...you get the picture.

NO FUN!!

Anyway...here is the new incarnation...

So far, I like it.

These Golden Barrel Cacti needed to have more sun, anyway.

And, the little Bunny Cactus fit in, nicely.

It looks especially nice, in the morning light.

I'm sorry to lose such a beautiful plant.

But, the bugs won this one.

That's the thing about gardening...

it's never DONE.

Hope you're enjoying your ever-changing gardens.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

The More Things Change....

Doesn't it seem like,

the more things change,

the more they stay the same.

The Drive Bed, for instance.

The above is the second...or was it third...incarnation.

The first had a Yucca in the middle.

And, an agave on the far right.

Beetles destroyed the yucca, 

and the deer took care of the agave.

Oh...and that Powis Castle artemisia died.

So, we moved a Prickly Pear to the center,

and, a Yucca Rostrata to the right.

The Prickly Pear had lived in the Rock Bed, 

where I had moved it from the Deer Grove.

It liked it there, and did very well.

In fact, we cut it in two, and used it in two places.

And, it did well.

And, then the bugs struck.

And now, it's slowly falling apart.

And, doing strange things like this.

A new pad ON the fruit.

So now, we have to figure out what will replace it.

It's a large centerpiece. 

It won't be easy.

I guess that's why they say,

a garden is never 'done'.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

A Prickly Situation..

We have a prickly situation here....

 a Prickly Pear, situation.

This is the Prickly Pear 

(Opuntia engelmanii)

 I transplanted from the Deer Grove.

It has grown a lot, since then. In fact, this is just HALF

of it, when we moved it from the side yard,

to the Drive Bed.

This is how it looked last year,

This is how it looks now.

It's really spread out.

It's full of buds.

But, this is how they end up.

They try to open, but they get the life sucked out of them.

By these...

Hesperolabops gelastops.

In other words, Cactus bugs.

They suck the juices out of the pads.

See the damage to this new pad?

They've been making a mess, out of the whole thing.

The treatment is blasts of water, or soapy water...

or Neem...

There are hundreds of these vile little creatures.

And, they're fast...running to the other side of the pads,

when you walk up.

So far, I've been trying soapy water...

going around and around the cactus, trying to hit them.

More entertainment for the neighbors.

Maybe they think it's some kind of 'Cactus Ritual'...

So far, the bugs are still there.

I'll keep trying the soap.

Then, I may have to go to the big guns.

I'll let you know, how it goes.

The marks on this cactus are from the hail we had a week or so ago.

Can't do anything about that.

But, at least no bugs....

yet.

With gardening...

it's always something.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~