High Desert Life

My garden center

Posted by: calpoppy, 04:27 PM GMT del 08 Maggio 2012

For lack of a better blog I thought I would show some plants that I thought were pretty nice to have in your own garden. I brought my camera to work on Monday and took a few pics, but I was just about sold out of everything!! So more pics when I order again this week.

Here is a flower that loves the heat will take some winter freezes and is just as cheerful as it gets. With an array of colors it fits in all landscapes! The Osteospermum.

This geranium is like a mini Martha Washington, Angel Eyes.

Hanging baskets are always fun and how easy it is to just pick one up already made. I used to years ago make up the baskets for the nursery I worked for. A lot of fun!

Here are some Centrathrus Rubras or a common name you might know Jupiters Beard. These seeded themselves around the pond. They are very invasive but so pretty!

How about a Rhythm and Blues petunia? A rambler style great for baskets, one of my favs this year.

Another hanging basket with the fairly new orange petunias.

Pink Lemonade Petunia, for hanging baskets or pots.

What nursery is complete without nursery cats! Introducing Taz.

She was once called the Tazmanian Devil kitten, as my jeans still bear the scars of her claws as she would climb up my legs and onto my shoulders.

Here she is thinking how cool birds are!!

Now you can't have just one cat, so her brother Bobby came to stay here too.

Here is Bobby with a chocolate flower. Berlandiera Lyrata, and yes it does smell like chocolate. And a very heavy re-seeder!

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1. calpoppy 04:37 PM GMT del 08 Maggio 2012
From the previous blog... Hi SP! The knitting lesson went very well, but I soon forgot the knit stitch!! Like right when I got home, LOL We had our lesson at a bakery and I was drinking iced coffee (way past my quota of coffee for the day) and between that and that darn sugary baked good that I just had to eat, I was a jittery mess. I think my brain did not like the combination. I did get casting on very well! So another lesson and I believe I will be fine with that part. It has been a wonderful weather week. In the 70's with a light breeze. The Spanish broom is blooming and the smell is amazing! The tomatoes have already started to bloom and also the squash. But my garlic really missed the winter cold and looks half the size of last years :( Had to go up to Wrightwood for a job and the lilacs were all blooming. The whole town smelled like lilacs. Plus the Jeffery pines up there smell like vanilla this time of year, the combination was great! I hope everyone has a great week! Member Since: Febbraio 18, 2008 Posts: 34 Comments: 2491

2. GardenGrrl 08:32 PM GMT del 08 Maggio 2012
First! Must write quick before someone else puts first in. I love Jupiters Beard but have never had it re-seed. Larkspur on the other hand has re-seeded so much every year that I have gotten cool mutations like double blooms and "tie-dye". Now you have my curiosity piqued by the chocolate flower. Am definitely going to try some of that. Member Since: Marzo 25, 2007 Posts: 220 Comments: 7353

3. BriarCraft 10:32 PM GMT del 08 Maggio 2012
What a fun new blog! Flowers are always nice. Even better is they are part of who/what you are. Taz and Bobby look like a nice pair of happy, healthy mousers. So Taz used to think you were for climbing, huh? She looks lovable now. I see Bobby has barely visible tigger stripes just like my gray kitty. Orange petunias?! I'll have to track down some seed for next year's flower beds. (This year, recovering from hip replacement, I'll be lucky if I can keep up with the weeding and mulching.) Member Since: Giugno 21, 2004 Posts: 50 Comments: 2511

4. Ylee 03:03 AM GMT del 09 Maggio 2012
Cal, I like the cactus photos! Are there a lot of them around your house? How long do they bloom? Take care! Member Since: Febbraio 3, 2011 Posts: 67 Comments: 11530

5. GardenGrrl 10:20 AM GMT del 10 Maggio 2012
Was just thinking about lilacs and how I have never seen any in Texas. Guess we get crepe myrtles for lilac subtitutes. Member Since: Marzo 25, 2007 Posts: 220 Comments: 7353

6. Ylee 05:22 PM GMT del 11 Maggio 2012
Cal, I done went and did it again! A harmless? trip to Lowe's found me in the garden area looking at flowering trees for 75% off! I found a pink weeping cherry in a 5.5 gal pot for 17.25, and I took that puppy home! :) We had an old box elder in front of the house that I cut down several years ago, and had removed most of the stump this spring, hoping to put a flowerbed there! Instead, I chopped out a fairly deep hole where the stump was, and planted the cherry there! Hope you are doing well! Have you got the Dell straightened out yet? Member Since: Febbraio 3, 2011 Posts: 67 Comments: 11530

7. Proserpina 05:37 PM GMT del 11 Maggio 2012
I love this flower-cat blog. Two of my favorite things ever! Those hanging baskets are fabulous, great color combinations and choices of plants. I did not know that you work with plants, at least it seems to me that you work with plants. I am so glad that I came visiting and finding this flower-cat pleasure. Member Since: Maggio 6, 2008 Posts: 153 Comments: 16827

8. SBKaren 08:39 PM GMT del 11 Maggio 2012
Love all the flowers! The pink lemonade is pretty too! I just love that deep, rich purple flower too. On petunias, or geraniums, or anything! Everything is flowering well here. We have lots of tomatoes and I'm reseeding my lettuce, as it has all finally bolted. I also planted green beans. We ate the last of the potatoes I pulled out of the ground the other night - with the boys :) The sun graced us today, but it's been off and on all week. Certainly marine layer in the morning, and sometimes sun in the afternoon. We attended our nieces graduation at USC this morning, and tomorrow she is having a beach party. I hope the sun comes out for that! Member Since: Febbraio 21, 2005 Posts: 192 Comments: 14229

9. MissNadia 10:14 PM GMT del 11 Maggio 2012
Hello Mrs. Poppy, Well it's been a month since two Coast Guard men were shot dead in a CG building on CG property on Kodiak Island, population about 7,000, just before the start of work. The "suits" from the FBI are still wandering around. I am sure the Kodiak Cops would have had someone behind bars by now. The "shooter" is probably in some foreign country. Member Since: Luglio 27, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 2692

10. Ylee 10:29 PM GMT del 11 Maggio 2012
Here you cal! A preview of this years' crop! The cam may not be on the new blog I'm working on(unless it starts up in the next few days), but they are saying May 2012, so it'll be real soon! Member Since: Febbraio 3, 2011 Posts: 67 Comments: 11530

11. sp34n119w 12:11 AM GMT del 12 Maggio 2012
The color on that first flower is definitely cheerful! I'm partial to the kitties and the cactus, though :) Glad you had fun knitting! Don't worry about forgetting - it'll stick! And there's always youtube for refreshers (if your computer's working!). And, yes, caffeine and sugar don't go so well with knitting for me, either, lol Aw, just look at those puppies Ylee brought! Too cute :) I know it's getting warm up there in the high desert ... wish I were there ;) Member Since: Gennaio 27, 2007 Posts: 78 Comments: 4069

12. Ylee 09:46 PM GMT del 12 Maggio 2012
Happy Mother's Day, Cal! Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow! Member Since: Febbraio 3, 2011 Posts: 67 Comments: 11530

13. calpoppy 09:48 PM GMT del 12 Maggio 2012
I am taking a break from the craziness of mothers day flower shoppers, got my feet up on my desk and a cat on my lap! Phew, what a day!!! I will be back tomorrow to comment on your comments!! Thank you Ylee!!! My puppy fix!!!! Oh ,and I have to tell you all about the baby barn owl. Member Since: Febbraio 18, 2008 Posts: 34 Comments: 2491

14. Proserpina 01:46 AM GMT del 13 Maggio 2012
Happy Mother's Day Member Since: Maggio 6, 2008 Posts: 153 Comments: 16827

15. WatchinTheSky 03:38 PM GMT del 13 Maggio 2012
Hope you have a great day! Member Since: Settembre 20, 2005 Posts: 116 Comments: 849

16. calpoppy 11:25 PM GMT del 13 Maggio 2012
Hi GG! They gotta have lilacs in Texas!! They love the alkaline soil and you have the cold. Plus even if you didn't have the cold they have the Descanso hybrids that were bred for mild winter areas. I have one lilac and it has a very powerful perfume! I bring in a few cuttings of the flowers and the whole cabin smells of lilac. Hi Briar! A break from gardening is not necessarily bad, you can re-think areas and check out nurseries to see what are the new flowers this year. I am backing off a little on my veggie gardening this year. Part of the reason is the trip to Alaska the other is I still have frozen peppers in the freezer from last year! Hi Ylee! Thank you for the Mother's day rose!!! And also the very cute puppies!!! I love the way the mother of the pups is at the bottom of the frame looking at what they are doing with her pups! The cactus here is the Beavertail cactus (magenta flowered ones) they can bloom up to six weeks. I have removed a paddle from the ones we find on hikes and have planted them in my cactus garden. So I have quite the show going on right now. That is an amazing deal on a weeping cherry!!! I sell them in 15 gallon containers for $80.00!!! I had a neighbor in the mountains who had a beautiful weeping cherry, it went all the way to the ground, until her husband got a hold of it! He cut it back to the main trunk thinking it had got out of hand :(((( It looked like a person with a really bad hair cut after that. Boy was she mad at her husband!! Hi Karen, I see you visited the flower seed fields! Nice pictures I will be back to your blog when I have more time!! Hi MissNadia! Yes, the shooting doesn't look like it will be solved to soon! I will ask my son today if he heard anything else. Hi SP! I like knitting, and I got a short lesson at work and finally (I hope) can remember the knit stitch! Now that it is getting hotter I can justify being inside practicing!!! Thank you Pros!!! I wish I had time to wish you all a Happy Mom's day individually!!!! Hi WTS! Thank you for the beautiful pic of the Desert Willow!!! Mine are looking good now, they have their true leaves and once they get those, look out they grow fast!!! I hope all you moms had a great Mom's day! I did, as my older son and his girl friend came over and fixed us lunch. And they did the dishes!!!!!!! She is a terrific!! No girlfriend of any of my sons has ever got up and just washed the dishes!! I want to keep her, LOL! Tomorrow the baby barn owl story! Member Since: Febbraio 18, 2008 Posts: 34 Comments: 2491

17. Ylee 01:26 AM GMT del 14 Maggio 2012
Hi, Cal! You needed someone to wash the dishes after the busy week you had! Your son's GF does sound like a keeper! A tree in a 15 gallon container sounds huge, as mine that was in the 5.5 is about seven feet tall! You must have some equipment to move them around, don't you? Hope you get some good rest; you've earned it! Member Since: Febbraio 3, 2011 Posts: 67 Comments: 11530

18. calpoppy 06:59 PM GMT del 14 Maggio 2012
Okay, barn owls!! I have a customer at the nursery that volunteers for the wildlife sanctuary in the town I work in. She came by to buy some plants and asked if I want to see what she just picked up from the sanctuary. It was a round, white fluffy ball of a barn owl! With quite the beak for such a little guy. He looked a lot like this I got to hold the little guy, the gal and I exchanged numbers so we can stay in touch. I want to photograph the owl growing up. Plus I would like her to turn him loose at my place. What was interesting, at least to me is the food they feed these rehab raptors. It is from Dick Van Patton's line of zoo food. This one is especially for meat eating birds. It comes frozen in chunks. Gone are the days of chopping up mice!! Though she does use live mice to train the fledglings to catch them. I hope in the near future I will have photos of the little owl plus others that she rehabs. Member Since: Febbraio 18, 2008 Posts: 34 Comments: 2491

19. BriarCraft 07:22 PM GMT del 14 Maggio 2012
Those owls are precious! So many baby birds look ugly until they get feathers. (Ever seen a baby parakeet? Ugly!!!) Soft little balls of white puff, wrapped around beaks that could probably take off a finger. I hope you are able to follow their growing up. If you could get them released at your place, I wonder what you'd have to do to entice them to stay? They'd certainly be well-fed with your rodent population, but where would they spend the day? Mr. Poppy won't be happy if he has to build a barn just for owls to live in. Member Since: Giugno 21, 2004 Posts: 50 Comments: 2511

20. calpoppy 06:10 PM GMT del 15 Maggio 2012
Hi Briar! They are cute! No barn for the owl but lots of rodents, that is for sure! Here is a new pic of Brody, sorry it is so small. I can't get it any bigger without degrading the quality! He is sooooooo cute!!! Member Since: Febbraio 18, 2008 Posts: 34 Comments: 2491

21. calpoppy 06:18 PM GMT del 15 Maggio 2012
I am baking ciabatta today. One of the easiest breads to make. I use a stainless steel square cutter and cut the dough into squares. They make a great sandwich bread when they are cut like that. Back to the garden center tomorrow! Member Since: Febbraio 18, 2008 Posts: 34 Comments: 2491

22. calpoppy 10:19 PM GMT del 15 Maggio 2012
Here is a new cactus, unknown variety. And here is a very vigorous cow's tongue cactus. Member Since: Febbraio 18, 2008 Posts: 34 Comments: 2491

23. Ylee 05:35 AM GMT del 17 Maggio 2012
Hi, cal! While I was scouting for my cam blog, I came across a cam of a garden center in Canada! It's pretty cool; I'll have to post it once it gets daylight! Member Since: Febbraio 3, 2011 Posts: 67 Comments: 11530

24. Ylee 05:14 PM GMT del 19 Maggio 2012
I found that cam, cal! Here it is, from Wheatly, Ontario, canada! Hope you're having a good weekend! Member Since: Febbraio 3, 2011 Posts: 67 Comments: 11530

25. Ylee 08:43 PM GMT del 20 Maggio 2012
Here is some background on the puppies' parents! The dad sounds most impressive! Member Since: Febbraio 3, 2011 Posts: 67 Comments: 11530

26. GardenGrrl 07:10 PM GMT del 21 Maggio 2012
Hey was at the good garden center yesterday. They actually had some Jupiters Beard but no chocolate flower. Guess I will order it on-line next spring. The main garden is 2/3rds full of xeric perennials that birds and butterflys like. Okay, except for the mini-roses. I like those. Member Since: Marzo 25, 2007 Posts: 220 Comments: 7353

27. calpoppy 08:04 PM GMT del 21 Maggio 2012
Thanks Ylee for the cam, it is cool! And the link for the pups! It is an interesting story that people should read!!! Hi GG! The chocolate flower you can get from High Country Gardens. They are located in New Mexico, lots of good xerics there!! If I could suggest a fall planting for it, that way there roots will be established before the horrific heat comes at them!! Or I can send you seeds, I have lots of those at work! I have carried two colors of the Jupiter's Beard, red and white. And guess what color comes from a cross between the two? You got it, light pink! Had one come up this year. Pretty color! Like your larkspur they just keep changing. Hot today, cool down for Friday, 63 degrees for a high!!! I am looking forward to that, enough of the 90's!!!!!! I see OGal is headed for Alaska tomorrow, I will be going in August. I can hardly wait!!!! Member Since: Febbraio 18, 2008 Posts: 34 Comments: 2491

28. WatchinTheSky 10:43 PM GMT del 21 Maggio 2012
Hi calpoppy, had to stop by and look at the photo of Taz, soo cute! Is it really going to be back to the 60s by Friday? Nice photos from work :) Member Since: Settembre 20, 2005 Posts: 116 Comments: 849

29. calpoppy 07:42 PM GMT del 22 Maggio 2012
Hi WTS! Yes 63 degree high on Friday!! Then back up to the nasty nineties!!! Taz is a great nursery cat! Since she has put on so much weight (the lumber guys have been feeding her burritos and pizza) she doesn't climb up legs any more. I have her on a diet now, hopefully that will help in her ability to catch rodents!! Wasn't SpaceX's launch great!!!!!! A whole new beginning for space exploration. Member Since: Febbraio 18, 2008 Posts: 34 Comments: 2491

30. Ylee 01:56 AM GMT del 23 Maggio 2012
Taz eats burritos and pizza? Never would thought a cat would eat that stuff, although one of my cats will eat an occasional ziti noodle with spaghetti sauce! SpaceX is awesome! Saw the launch on NASA TV from the boss' computer! Good stuff! Member Since: Febbraio 3, 2011 Posts: 67 Comments: 11530

31. BriarCraft 08:12 PM GMT del 23 Maggio 2012
Brody is cute. And mischievous? Looks like he's been in a food fight. Love the cactus flowers. There's something about the texture and bright colors that is unique to the cactus family. Maybe it's also something to do with knowing what a hard life they have and yet they manage to produce such beauty. Cats can surprise us sometimes with the things they like to eat. I have one cat who loves to eat cantaloupe rinds (not the whole thing, but several bites around the edge). Cats can't taste sweet, so I figure there must be some nutrient in the cantaloup that he craves. Then again, he also loves peanuts and potato chips -- not too different than pizza, it's the salt and grease that they like. Member Since: Giugno 21, 2004 Posts: 50 Comments: 2511

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