Be a successful desert gardener. Find everything you need to know to create and maintain a beautiful, carefree desert landscape in our weekly newsletter.
Recent freezing temperatures had a lot of gardeners scrambling to cover their plants. But covering landscape plants is rarely necessary and depends on how cold it will get and on how cold hardy your plants are. So I created a Desert Plant Cold Hardiness Guide with the cold hardiness temperatures of over 180 plants. I hope you find it helpful for the next freeze. π₯Ά
π΅ π΅ π΅
Most gardeners love sharing plants and cuttings, and hate seeing a good plant go to waste. Landscaper Damonich Meister decided to do something about it and started Anita Cactus, a free cactus and plant trimming and removal service. This is a tremendous service that's a win-win!
Last summer, one of their cactus rescues made the news as one of the local "feel good" stories of the summer! (You'll find contact info below.)
In this week's newsletter, we cover:
Featured plant: Feathery cassia
Free cactus removal service
Weird use for sports tape
Cold Hardiness Guide
Upcoming gardening events
and more!
Feathery Cassia: Sunny Winter Flowers
This large evergreen shrub puts on a showy display of fragrant, sunny yellow flowers in the winter. (Here's a picture of one blooming on my street now!) It may have flat, sickle-shaped leaves or fine, needle-like foliage in silver or green, depending on the subspecies.
If you have a cactus, agave, or other plant that you no longer want, contact Anita Cactus.
Visit their Facebook page for more info, or call or text 440-850-1820 to set an appointment. (Please be ready to send a picture of your plant.) Their service area includes Tucson and beyond to Marana, Oro Valley, Oracle, Rita Ranch, Phoenix, and Sierra Vista.
Desert Plant Cold Hardiness Guide
How "low can it go" before your plants experience cold damage? Before you make the effort to protect any plant from frost, make sure it needs protecting! Know for sure by finding the cold tolerance of your landscape plants.
"Recent heavy rains and wind caused one of my hop bush branches to split. Should I prune it now or wait until spring?"
I had that happen to a hop bush, too, and here's what worked for me. I taped it up with sports tape which is soft and stretchy and won't hurt the plant. By spring, the tape was breaking down and was easy to remove. I was thrilled to see the split had healed! (I must give credit to my chiropractor-husband for this idea.) Give nature a chance -- sometimes you'll be rewarded for your patience. And if that doesn't work, you can prune it in the spring after the danger of frost has passed.
Upcoming Garden Events & Classes
There's always more to learn about gardening. Here are some of the upcoming highlights. * Winter Cactus Care @ Green Things * Stinknet: Our New Wildfire Fuel @ Pima County Master Gardeners * Roses: Winter Pruning for Spring Blooms @ Tucson Botanical Garden
Not in Tucson? Look for online classes denoted with this icon. π» You can participate in these no matter where you garden.
Garden Quote
"I have seen women looking at jewelry ads with a misty eye and one hand resting on the heart, and I only know what theyβre feeling because thatβs how I read the seed catalogs in January."
β Barbara Kingsolver, author
January Gardening Guide
January is the second coldest month, but there are still plenty of things to be done in the desert garden. Hereβs a look at what you can plant this month, how to adjust your watering schedule for winter, how to care for holiday plants, and more.
Be a successful desert gardener. Find everything you need to know to create and maintain a beautiful, carefree desert landscape in our weekly newsletter.
β