Let me share this!!!

     I found the most incredible book ever... I know that this book is specific to the environment... BUT, when a person finds something that is a gold mine of info... what-else can one do, but share!

"The" Garden Book

     I was in need for extreme guidance over Tangent. I was, what do you call it, "the blind leading the blind", but in this case, I was the only blind one wandering aimlessly through the desert. And to say, Doing the 40 days of wandering is very exhausting by the way.

    Okay! Yes, rambling... Whatever...

     Anyways, I found out  about  a  Master Gardener whose name is George Brookbank... He wrote, The book,  Desert Gardening  Fruits & Vegetables.

     It is like the bible for the desert gardener... I now have a major understanding in some of the questions that I have had for sometime..

     This man talks about the crazy seasons, the caliche soil, the specific insects that are a trouble here...  Well, except for the "SQUASH BUG!!!", that I am having to deal with!  But that's okay... Working on it, as I type... the fungus that affects only the desert area...  How to prune the fruit trees properly for this enviornment... 

     George, where have you been?   Well, nevertheless, I have found you! I fully intend to be a practitioner of this book!!


     As I mentioned in the paragraph above,    I am experiencing the infamous, "SQUASH BUG". I found three this very morning and afternoon... Can you believe it?
 

Dead Squash Bugs in soap water!

     I was in hopes that with spraying and the tillering and that extra effort... that I did, done, then conquered and eradicated them from my garden... So Tonight, the insecticide will be applied and enforced...  Do I hope this works? You betcha, will it work, not a clue..

    "I" on the other hand...Have some great news... I harvested my first zucchini, four eggplant, and two chocolate bell peppers yeah I know they are not chocolate but I just wanted to pick them any way...   Yep!Yep!

     Tomatoes will be coming soon with a another harvest of eggplant and zucchini,  Now if I can get these cucumbers to grow... all will be right with the world..

Grow already!

     I have learned this type of zucchini  is best for the desert region...
,

Grey Zucchini!

      I also learned about another type of cucumber that really isn't a  cucumber at all, it is a type of Muskmelon...  Ready for this, if you don't already know which I did not! 
     It is called the Armenian cucumber.. Now it seems similar to an English cucumber.  It grows to a length of 30 to 36 inches. But best pick at about 12 to 15 inches. Another name for it is snake cucumber, But can not be confused with snake gourds...

    Will I have better luck than the traditional cucumbers?  I must say, I think I might because, the Armenian cucumber are grown in an arid environment... Well, I wish I had a picture of it... but I can do the next best thing put a link in so you can see this incredible "fruit"!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Armenian_cucumbers.jpeg/220px-Armenian_cucumbers.jpeg


     I have so much more to talk and to post about, but I really have to do a little more reading and well spray for those squash bugs. "Stupids" so, off I go and start my mission!

An Amazing eye opener!

The Desert Botanical Gardens!!!
   

Glass Sculpture at the entrance to the gardens

    What an amazing weekend starter... Early Friday morning, as beautiful as it was, I had a most glorious stroll through the Desert Botanical Gardens... It was cool out, but not too much... then warmed up pleasantly... The trails were amazing and the environment was calming. When they say a picture says a thousand words, it is so true... The exhibits were very enticing to walk through, along with visitors, the residents were welcoming.
                                       

 Saguaro in flower

A Dove enjoying the a.m. warmth...

 

Bunnies everywhere (well jack rabbits I think!)

A collard Lizard basking in the morning warmth!

Posing for the camera a ground squirrel having a morning cleaning

     The colors were amazing and riddled with punch, in every setting.. We arrived there 8: 00 a.m. and we strolled around each garden until 1:00 p.m. ish.  The diversity of each garden devoted a theme of elegance.

     I tried to get names of all of these beautiful flowers, but I didn't find a lot of names plates, to be able to identify them, please forgive my lack of identifications!

      At one point we visited the Butterfly Garden exhibit. I had never visited such a wondrous sight in my life.. I waltzed in this area thinking that I would see the poor butterflies in a huge case and seeing a short lived life cycle of the airy flighty insects. 

A Zebra Long Wing enjoying orange slices

      I was never  so wrong.  I walked in this orchestrated door of  dancing flowers, there were hundreds of these dancing flowers.  The habitat was incredible, flowers for their feast everywhere, damp sandy areas for there drink, orange slices on pedestals, and the most gentle of helpers making sure that the dancing flowers were safe from accidental stepping upon holding feather dusters to place there delicate selves on a soft petal to be safe and float to their next destination...

A couple of Queen butterflies

      I couldn't believe my eyes,  with every one of these beauties that past looked like a repeat of the last one seen... Then as I looked a little closer, each mark on them, each curve they had, and each rich color shinning was different...  That made them different.. And I fell in luv all over again...

I never knew how busy they were!

I never how picky they needed to be either!

These were the species that lived in this exhibit! I counted 6 that I identified.

Queen - Danaus gilippus
Zebra Long Wing - Heliconius Charitonius
Julia - Dryas iulia
Pipevine Swallowtail - Battus philenor
Buckeye - Junonia coenia
Gulf Fritillary - Agranulis vanillae

I actually got to hold one!!!

Pipevine Swallowtail

 

Julia

     Well, nature has it's moment of love, you know, I had to take a picture of this one, well I had my husband do this one, Well, since he was right there ... But of course, I was the one noticing!  LOL!

     Whats better than being a butterfly... living with the beauty of flowers, flower hopping and having a friends to visit!

These two were entwined with lovemaking! 

      These must be a couple of hundred years old but I can't be for sure. They are just amazing of how huge they are!!!

Husband giving scale!!!

looks like worms entwined in a ball!

Alien spawn?

    I thought when I had seen the  above plant what alien landed and planted this, I did touch it, it was bubble like and sticky, it made me kind of shiver, it was so weird. I couldn't find the name, I wanted to in the worst way.. but no luck!

Looks like it's melting!

A sea of Yellow

    
     I have so many pictures of this incredible place. I choose a couple of my favorites.  I can go on forever... 
     If anything, get out of your house and take a hike, especially at such a calm and beautiful place of some sort, it's worth the enlightenment of meeting your MUSE!!!  I'm not sure I met my MUSE, but extending myself to try, was worth ever bit!!!

Week-end Projects... well project...

     HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Enjoying the morning

     This weekend, we started the cucumber project,,,, Oh em Gee, I can't wait to see if this is something that really works,,, My handy dandy Love, helped me, by making the the screens..

     He made them by using 1"x 2"x 8' 's that cost a couple dollars each... He cut them into pieces getting 2  24 in and 2  36in parts, then he screwed them together using el brackets.. After having to go to a different store for the chicken wire, which was a little irritating, but whatever...

       We got the 36" x 25' one inch mesh, "20" gauge... this was $21.00... We made sure that the legs were able to pivot and adjust to desired position or to store away!

PomegranateS
   
     I am so excited... I purchased a   (are you ready for this)  a Pomegranate (tree or bush) not sure!  Shrub??  Well, anyway, I know that I have been wanting one for a long time.. and I can't wait to see it come around!

      I wont be planting it in the ground yet! well only cuz' we aren't very sure about what we want to do! Tangent wants to expand you know!  Just not sure when!



Doesn't Act like A Bee!
but looks like one!

     Early Girl!

     I have a wonderful start off with my
"early girl" tomatoes..

      They a very lush and growing in a rapid pace..



 Jalapeño

       I did get a couple of Jalapeño pepper plants (these are Jumbo ones) which will be awesome when it comes time to stuff them with cheese, wrap them with bacon,    Oh My Mouth's watering already... 

THE RAINBOW OF BELL PEPPERS...
    My rainbow of bell peppers are fabulous!!!!


       They are turning big and beautiful... 

Chocolate pepper!

      Obviously not chocolate yet! But if I keep it  long enough on the stem...
it seems to want to look that way!

      Regular Green Pepper  !

     And Orange!

      Well these aren't the yellow bell peppers that I was thinking, but no complaints! I think they are maybe wax peppers...



Zucchini

     Zucchini,  Seems to be happy, It will be very happy if it wants to grow on to the trellis... I hope that I get some veggies "this" go around though!


   Green Beans!

  Green Beans are relentless, which pleases me! They like that particular area for sure, since they did popped up on their own...

Patty Pans!


     What can I say, Patty Pans eluded me last time and I felt defeated!  This time I think that this spot will be great. It isn't dead middle of heat and sun... So having them where the green beans are... I think that they have a chance to survive...





SPRING TIME FANCY!


Some beautiful favorite flowers o leave you with!

Jasmine!

Double Petunias

Shazam Showing off!