Thursday, June 3, 2010

The Bulls and My Willow

We should hit the mid-ninties today and 100 tomorrow. We are usually ten degrees cooler than Phoenix. Dry heat is good!

I apologize for the slightly blurry picture below. I borrowed a camera that day to show the damage the roaming bulls did to my desert willow. In 20 years they left it alone. The willows are a hardy shrub, so we just pruned the chewed branches. My neighbor has (had) a young maple almost 6 foot tall and the bulls ate all the branches. It can`t be saved. That was the only maple in our area and it was doing well. There are cattle guards the bulls manage to evade. Some people run the creatures off with BB guns. I don`t. We can`t afford a fence so we take what comes. The only plant untouched is my rosemary. DH wants to dig it up, but after 20 years of heat and frost that herb is hanging in there. I sweep the branches with my fingers as I walk by releasing that pungent aroma.


The next pic is my favorite gardening reference book. It`s 22 years old but filled with knowledge about desert gardening, pests, watering, zones. I love it. There are many different desert environments and this book covers all of them. You might be able to find a copy at Amazon.



It`s about 6:00 AM. Time to get started with the outside work. I like to be done by 10:00.

Have a great day,
Cathy

4 comments:

  1. That books looks like a great reference for sure! We'd love something like that for our area!
    We know exactly what you mean about your rosemary! There is nothing better than brushing against wonderful herbs planted around - mmmmmmm - the smell is totally worth having them, isn't it?!!

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  2. Boy...I thought I had my hands full with the White Tailed Deer & rabbits!! This would frustrate me if we had this problem!
    We are humid today with temps in the low 80's...showery & then we are to cool into the mid to upper 70's next week.
    Take Care.....
    Love,
    Marilyn
    xxoo

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  3. Hi there Kitchen Girls! Yes, the rosemary is great.

    Sunset does have gardening books available for all zones including Alaska and Hawaii. Check Amazon or Ebay.

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  4. Marilyn, I wish I had your 70 degrees! At least our humidity is very low.

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 I start this post with a picture of a lion that daily crosses through my son`s property. Beautiful ! This is near Prescott.