Be a successful desert gardener. Find everything you need to know to create and maintain a beautiful, carefree desert landscape in our weekly newsletter.
How about this wind? It's a good day to stay inside and plan what you'll do in this garden this weekend. A few things I'll be doing are cleaning up my wind-swept mess of a patio, dividing some perennials, and planting a new Texas ranger.
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Recently, social media (and my inbox) have been inundated with people freaking out over caterpillars on their plants. A good rule of thumb is to never kill anything on your plants before you know for certain what it is. It may be helpful, neutral, or in this case, you're seeing an essential part of the butterfly lifecycle. Learn more about why you shouldn't be concerned about caterpillars on your landscape plants below.
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A heads up -- next weekend is the Pima County Master Gardeners plant sale. And Tohono Chul's three day fall plant sale starts today. I try to mention events a week ahead so you have time to plan, but somehow this major Tucson event slipped by me.
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In this week's newsletter, we cover:
Featured plant: 'Pink Flamingo' muhly
Lifestages of butterflies (do not kill!)
Why fall (not spring!) is the best time to plant
What to do this month
Upcoming plant sale, classes, & events
and more!
βPink Flamingoβ Muhly: Cloud-Like Plumes
βPink Flamingoβ muhly is a hybrid of a Texas native that thrives in the Southwest. When in bloom in the fall, its plumes are so fluffy theyβve been described as looking like pink clouds or cotton candy. Hereβs how to grow this tough but gorgeous ornamental grass. βLearn more ββ
The Life Stages of a Butterfly (Do Not Kill)
Everyone loves butterflies. But this time of year, gardeners are seeing a stage of the butterfly lifecycle they don't love -- caterpillars. Some people are freaking out over caterpillars eating their plant leaves.
But you can't have butterflies without caterpillars!
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So please leave any caterpillars on your landscape plants alone. Not only because butterflies are a wonder to behold, but because they pollinate your plants, enabling them to reproduce!
Let the caterpillars have a few leaves. By the time you notice the damage, they are close to being through eating anyway. Desert landscape plants regularly lose leaves to heat, wind, drought, cold, birds, other insects, and pruning... and survive just fine. So please don't be concerned over losing some leaves to caterpillars. (Note that some caterpillars turn into moths, which you may not find as beautiful, but are equally important pollinators.)
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5 Reasons to Plant in the Fall (not Spring)
In temperate, four-season climates, spring may be the best time to plant, but things are different in the desert! In the desert Southwest, the concensus among the experts is that fall, not spring, is the best time of year to add new plants to your garden, with a few exceptions. βLearn more ββ
Upcoming Tucson Events
Fall is prime time for garden-related activities happening around Tucson. Upcoming highlights include: * Cactus Grafting Demo @ Green Things (10/19) * Cultivating Native Edible Landscape @ Watershed Management Group (10/20)
* Fall Plant Sale @ Pima Co. Master Gardeners (10/24)
Be a successful desert gardener. Find everything you need to know to create and maintain a beautiful, carefree desert landscape in our weekly newsletter.
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