Standing strong is the answer

Paloverde tree - broken limb is to the side

That means survival in the desert.  The conditions are harsh most of the time and the wind is fierce.  It blows at hurricane force a few times a year.  We’ve had our heavy patio chairs thrown like sticks onto the lawn and the wind sent the grill sailing right off the patio once.  I was cooking inside at the time and was flabbergasted to see it fly by the kitchen window.

This time our grill cover was ripped off so we tied it down with heavy twine.  The rope we had on it was broken by the wind.  Two chairs ended up lying on their sides in the lawn and a big limb broke off the Paloverde tree, reducing it in size by about one third.  I’ve never lived in a place where the wind blows this hard.  Sometimes it reminds me of living on the farm as a child when a hurricane was coming.

 Broken Paloverde limb

 

We used to stand at the door and watch things blow by in the wind.  Once we held the screen door open to get a better look and it slammed back against the house with a bang.  Mama had a fit and yelled for us kids to get away from the door.

People should fear the wind as much as the ocean.  It packs a lot of power.

The Paloverde limb is too heavy to move.  I have no idea how much it weighs.  We’ll have to chop it up on the spot and haul it to the trashcan in pieces.  Luckily the tree isn’t phased by losing a third of itself. 

 This broken limb is huge and very heavy

 

I think these trees are hardy as they grow fast.  We’ve had to cut them to the ground when they freeze.  And look at this tree now.  It’s astonishing to see how it survives and even thrives in these conditions.

Here is the Paloverde tree in May loaded with yellow blooms

More plants making a comeback

This Paloverde survived the winter

Sunni's Photo's



The palms weren’t the only thing that froze around here last winter. We had two Paloverde trees in our backyard and one of them died, or so we thought. My husband decided to cut the dead one off below the ground even though I wanted to give it a while longer to see if it would rejuvenate itself. So, we cut it up in April and put the pieces in the trash. He tied off the drip line and covered up the stump.

This Paloverde is making a comeback

Sunni's Photo's

Of course, we were shocked when we came back from San Diego a month ago to see it making a comeback. Apparently, it had been growing all this time under the ground to reach the surface. It was about six inches high when we arrived home and all this growth with no water. It didn’t take long for the chipmunks to discover it. In fact, I’m surprised it wasn’t eaten to the ground.

This is how we protected it when it was about 6 inches high

Sunni's Photo's

We erected a makeshift cover around it, the evening we arrived home, by using a piece of old chicken wire we had laying around on the side of the house. Naturally, this thing was stiff and rusty. In the process of surrounding the plant, a rusty barb stabbed me in the forearm. I have to wonder why I always hurt myself doing a project. It doesn’t pay to be too hasty with anything, but sometimes patience is not in the vocabulary.

After we completed the project, I came in and doctored myself with peroxide and Neosporin ointment. I did not intend to have to go and get a tetanus shot. Besides this was Friday night and the weekend was here. Everything had closed except the emergency room. I just kept my eye on the wound and kept it doctored and covered for a week. Since then I have healed up and I seem to be fine, so I guess everything is okay.

The plant now has the cover off because it is big enough that the chipmunks will leave it alone. It is actually a giant bush, having grown at least ten times its size already. This plant wants to live. There’s no doubt about that.

The rescued Elephant's Foot - It looks a bit like a person doesn't it?

Sunni's Photo's

Here is another one that wants to live. I’m so glad because this plant was a rescue from the trash when we lived in CA. This is an elephant’s foot and was very tiny when we saved it from its fate back in 1979. I would be sad to see it go after all these years.

I wrap this up every winter too, but this winter was a rough one. It lost all of its “leaves,” which look more like a horse’s tail than leaves. It takes a lot for me to give up on anything, so I watered this faithfully and it is finally growing. It’s going to be a one-of-a-kind plant that’s for sure and probably a conversation piece around here. When we lived in CA it was twice this height, but the top part got broken off in the trailer on the move to the desert. The poor thing has been through a lot.

I have to use great care with things here that aren’t desert natives. But care seems to pay off most of the time.



Sometimes you have to be resourceful

This is very true in many things, but today I’m going to talk about how it’s saving my plants. I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with something that would keep the chipmunks out of the ones they seem to be craving right now. They usually eat the flowers right off of my potted plants as soon as they appear. I think the bright colors attract them. That hasn’t been the usual problem yet, after I moved the lobelia to the courtyard. They don’t go there as much as they hang out on the back patio, probably because it’s in the shade by noon.

This is what the Sego Palms should look like

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My poor Sego palm trees have had it after the terrible winter we had. They lost all of their fronds this year despite me covering them up, as I do every winter. I have been coaxing them along since chopping all the dead fronds off and finally they are rewarding me with a few shoots to show me they’re still alive. Of course, I had not given up on them yet.

Chipmunks - These critters are the problem

Sunni's Photo's

Now the problem is the dozens of chipmunks in our backyard. They are ravenous and decided they like the tender new shoots, so I had to come up with a plan to give the plants a fighting chance. Mind you, there is plenty to eat out in the desert this time of year, but they prefer the oasis of my backyard instead. I keep numerous pans of water out there, as well as throw birdseed and peanuts out. The only way to keep them off my plants is to cover them with makeshift gadgets that I put together.
I had a cover that I made for the top of a dove nest when we lived in CA and a pair decided to nest in one of our hanging pots. The crows would hang about wanting to get at the eggs, so I took hardware cloth from Home Depot and cut it into three triangles to make a cone that I could place on the nest to keep them at bay. I cut three doors big enough so the parents could come and go and that worked out beautifully. It was worth scraping my arms up wiring the thing together. The crows never bothered it after that, although they could have easily gotten into it via the doors too. I guess they didn’t want to go to that much trouble and wanted easier pickings. Two eggs hatched. It was a joy to watch this marvelous sight of the little ones growing up and eventually leaving the nest.

Big Mama Palm with Chipmunk Proof Cover

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When we moved here, I decided to keep this apparatus not knowing if it would come in handy. Now I’m glad I did because I am using it to place over “Big Mama” palm to keep her new sprouts safe. The problem here is that I needed another one because I have one more palm that hasn’t sprouted yet, although I suspect it’s getting ready to because the chipmunks have been working it over. Naturally, we don’t have near the amount of stuff accumulated as we did in CA when I could go out to the scrap pile, if I needed something for a project. This was my dilemma yesterday after I got tired of chasing the little critters off those plants.

This palm has the new cover on it from nursery flats.

Sunni's Photo's

I finally decided the only thing I had, short of going to the hardware store, was some plant flats from the nursery. I decided to cut the bottoms out of these and use them for my project, so I went to pick the best ones that would work from the pile of stuff that we have on the side of the house. This turned into a two-hour venture because that plastic was heaver than I thought and I had to use a pair of scissors to cut it with because I didn’t have anything else. Once I cut the pieces, I took some twine and laced them together in a cone shape. Then I installed it on the plant. Voila! It fit nicely so I was excited and anxious to see what the little critters would do today when they discovered that the plant was no longer free pickings. By this time, it was getting rather late and most of them vanished into their burrows earlier.

Notice the growth in the center on Big Mama palm

Sunni's Photo's

After I watered the plants, I came inside to eat something because I hadn’t eaten all day. No wonder I was starving. It was almost nine PM. This week is my week of “batching it” with my husband in OR, so I keep my own schedule, which is really no schedule. I love it because I hate the rigidity of watching the clock all the time, but that is for another post.

I know they aren’t very glamorous, but what do you think of my creations?